AHEPA Will Not Tolerate Isolation of GREECE; Calls on United States to Remain Engaged and Support

“AHEPA is concerned deeply about the inability of the European Union and Turkey to manage the flow of refugees to Europe, specifically to GREECE.

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AHEPA Will Not Tolerate Isolation of GREECE; Calls on United States to Remain Engaged and Support

“AHEPA is concerned deeply about the inability of the European Union and Turkey to manage the flow of refugees to Europe, specifically to GREECE.

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More migrants trapped in GREECE as Balkan countries enforce limits

The European Commission said Friday that it is putting together a humanitarian aid plan for GREECE as Balkan countries placed further restrictions on ...

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The world in photos this week

_A selection of photos from some of this week's biggest news that you might have missed._ REBEL FIGHTERS INSPECT A PIECE OF A ROCKET THAT LANDED IN AN AREA THAT CONNECTS THE NORTHERN COUNTRYSIDE OF DERAA AND THE QUNEITRA COUNTRYSIDE IN SOUTHERN SYRIA ON FEBRUARY 22. Alaa Al-Faqir/Reuters SYRIA DEMOCRATIC FORCES FIGHTERS LOOK THROUGH A SCOPE AND A PAIR OF BINOCULARS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF AL-SHADADI TOWN, IN SYRIA'S HASAKA COUNTRYSIDE. REUTERS/Rodi Said MACEDONIAN POLICEMEN STAND IN FRONT OF A GATE OVER RAIL TRACKS AS MIGRANTS WAIT BEHIND AT THE GREEK-MACEDONIAN BORDER. ADDITIONAL PASSAGE RESTRICTION IMPOSED BY MACEDONIAN AUTHORITIES LEFT HUNDREDS OF THEM STRANDED NEAR THE VILLAGE OF IDOMENI, GREECE, ON FEBRUARY 23. Marko Djurica/Reuters SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER

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Why we celebrate Erasmus's GREEK gift to the West

In early 1516, the famed scholar and humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam published in Basle the world's first New Testament printed in GREEK.

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Why we celebrate Erasmus's GREEK gift to the West

In early 1516, the famed scholar and humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam published in Basle the world's first New Testament printed in GREEK.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thetimes.co.uk

Homemade GREEK Yogurt

Rather than using a whole-milk GREEK yogurt making your own yogurt is a better alternative. It won't taste like a sheep's milk yogurt, of course, but it will ...

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The Refugee Tragedy of Greece

Austria and several other European countries decided this week to "choke off the flow of refugees from Greece." Such a selfish decision shows the European Union in chaos. Platitudes of common policy, even employing NATO naval forces to stem the illegal migrant flows into Greece, become questionable. Naked nationalism and fear are rising in the EU the Mediterranean. The consequence of Greece's northern neighbors shutting down their borders to Syrian and Afghan war refugees already in Greece is certain to make the present dramatic refugee situation in Greece considerably worse. For several years, but especially the last several months, every day hundreds of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan land on the Greek Aegean islands. These islands welcome and accommodate tourists for a few months per year. But the ceaseless flood of impoverished and suffering war immigrants has overwhelmed the islands and Greece. Neither the small islands nor Greece have the infrastructure, space, or money for large number of refugees. Second, these refugees are primarily Moslems. Modern Greeks are primarily Orthodox Christians. These religions of Islam and Christianity, and their faithful, don't easily mix. This is particularly true in Greece because Greece had had a terrible and genocidal experience under Turkish Moslem occupation. Third, it is Moslem Turkey that facilitates the Moslem migrant stream from Syria to the Greek islands. Turkish gangsters charge Syrians and other Moslem migrants large sums of money to carry them through Turkey and, finally, dump them to flimsy and easily sinkable inflatable rubber boats for the crossing of the hazardous waters of the Aegean for Greece. Greece, the European Union, the United Nations and the United States have failed to properly handle this dramatic invasion of a country, Greece, by countless unarmed and desperate people. Greece has the misfortune of having elected incompetent and ideologically backward politicians in the government. These politicians, and especially the young and misinformed Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, act as if they govern a country they thoroughly dislike. They are under the delusion of international respect for an open borders policy. Perversely, it's like these Greek politicians are agents of Turkey. Germany and France run the European Union like a company town. Germany in fact is trying to gain in peacetime what it never won during WWII. Germany pretends Greeks have forgotten the ferocious occupation of their country by Nazi Germany. In addition, Germany plundered occupied Greece of archaeological treasures. Those treasures have yet to be returned to Greece. These invisible hostilities between Germany and Greece bubbled up to the surface when bankrupt Greece came begging to the EU. Germany-run EU responded with a vengeance. It brought in America's International Monetary Fund known all over the Third World for its harshness. Together, EU and IMF, fashioned agreements with Greece perfectly fit for colonies. While Greece has been in the purgatory of debt and taking daily orders from Germany, refugees started crawling the shores of the Aegean island of Lesbos. When the migrants filled Lesbos, the Greek government hired ocean liners to provide temporary accommodations and send many to its northern borders for moving to other European countries like Germany. But even these hastily conceived policies are falling apart. European countries are saying enough is enough. EU and America, especially America, are responsible for the refugee flood from the Middle East. The US attack on Iraq in 2003 opened the gates of hell for the Mediterranean. The devastating civil war in Syria and the emergence of barbarism all over the Middle East are the products of American occupation of Iraq. Time has come for America to bring the Syrian conflict to an end. The Europeans should insist on that. Ending the war in Syria is also ending the refugee exodus. EU and US have to order Turkey to stop playing with fire, the religious fire of supporting the barbaric Moslem group calling itself ISIS. In fact, Turkey is responsible for so many transgressions against the West it's time to kick it out of NATO. Turkey, for example, routinely violates Greek air space. But the real danger is in Turkey's resurgent Islam. The country has imperial illusions for a second caliphate. Moreover, Turkey could probably provoke war with Russia, a trigger for WWIII. The earlier the US expels Turkey from NATO, the greater prospects for peace in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. EU and US also have the duty to take the refugee burden off Greece. The country has no ways and means to satisfactorily deal with such a large Moslem population. The EU should prevent any more refugees from getting to Greece and it should find a suitable place in the Middle East for the temporary settlement of those refugees already in Greece. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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GREECE seeks to curb migrant flow, trapped left to own fate

GREECE moved to slow the flow of migrants from its islands to the mainland on Friday as hundreds of refugees left reception centers with nowhere to go ...

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Greece-Austria migration row heats up

Polls opened at 8:00 am (0430 GMT) and with many still waiting in line when they were supposed to close at 6:00 pm, the interior ministry said. "I hope that the Indian women's team would continue to build the momentum for the ICC World T20 2016," Shashank ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thestatesman.com

Terror in the Sky -- Hezbollah Seizes TWA Flight 847

[2016-02-12-1455237245-1718180-1.jpg] _Note: Our accounts contain the personal recollections and opinions of the individual interviewed. The views expressed should not be considered official statements of the U.S. government or the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. ADST conducts oral history interviews with retired U.S. diplomats, and uses their accounts to form narratives around specific events or concepts, in order to further the study of American diplomatic history and provide the historical perspective of those directly involved._ On the morning of June 14, 1985, Hezbollah terrorists were able to seize Trans World Airlines flight 847 en route to Rome from Athens and divert it to Beirut. Onboard were 139 passengers, eight crew members, and several Shiite Hezbollah terrorists. The hostage crisis lasted for 17 days -- the plane landed twice in the Beirut International Airport, twice in Algiers, and once more in Beirut. The world watched as the events unfolded live on CNN, which had premiered just five years earlier. The terrorists had a list of demands, including the release of those involved in the 1983 bombing of U.S. Embassy Beirut. Through careful negotiations, terrorists Mohammed Ali Hammadi and Hasan Izz al-Din allowed a number of hostages to be released in exchange for fuel and food during one of the stopovers in Algeria. After landing in Beirut for the last time, the terrorists kept the remaining hostages in a Lebanese prison where they were kept mostly unharmed. After the crisis had ended, Israel ended up releasing over 700 Shia prisoners over the following weeks, though it asserted that the prisoners' release was not related to the hijacking. This account was compiled from interviews by ADST with Parker W. Borg (2002), Deputy for the Office of Counterterrorism and Ambassador to Algeria Michael H. Newlin (2006). You can read the entire account on ADST.org [2016-02-12-1455237278-2234139-2.jpg] NEWLIN: The phone rang and the Operations Center [the 24/7 crisis and communications hub] from the State Department said, "A TWA airplane has been hijacked from Athens. It is reportedly headed towards Algiers. It will be there momentarily. You are to get in touch with the President of Algeria and ask that they let the plane land. Algeria, because of a previous hijacking, had said they were not going to let a hijacked aircraft land. And get firm assurances that they will not let that airplane take off again." I did manage to get in touch with the President's Chief of Staff. I relayed my instructions. He said, "Well, on humanitarian grounds, we will let the airplane land." The Operations Center called and said, "Here is a message that you are to deliver to [pictured, Algerian] President Bendjedid immediately." So I started taking it down. I said to Nat Howell [Deputy Chief of Mission in Algeria], "Get in the car and go to the airport, the plane will be landing soon. I have got to take down this darn message." So I remember at one stage I said, "This is far too long." By the time I got the message written and started having it translated, I left for the airport and got there just after the plane landed. There were two hijackers on board. One of the hijackers, who they later called Castro, leaned out the window of the cockpit with a .45 pistol. The Algerians shouted at him, "Get back in that plane; no display of weapons." Then we heard that there had been a third hijacker who for some reason had not been able to get on the plane in Athens. And that the Greeks were eager to get rid of this individual. They didn't want him incarcerated in Greece. I called the Operations Center and said, "Now this may be an opening here that can be used." They said, "Absolutely no negotiations with the hijackers. You can't talk to the hijackers." I said, "I am not talking with the hijackers. I am telling you we ought to see if this doesn't present an opening." Sure enough the Greeks put the third hijacker onboard a plane for Algiers. Sure enough the plane arrived from Athens with the hijacker on board and Greek officials. So the Algerians used that bait [the third hijacker] to get the women and children released from the plane. I didn't know -- I had no idea -- that they had then agreed the plane could fly to Beirut. So I was greeting the women and the children as they got off the bus from the plane when the plane started up and took off for Beirut. So we took the women and the stewardess to our residence and tried to reassure them that we were going to work on getting everybody released. The stewardess furnished us a report on the hijacking and her description of the hijackers. [2016-02-12-1455237320-7378780-3.jpg] When the plane landed in Beirut, the hijackers shot and killed a Navy SEAL [Robert Stethem] that they had found from his Navy credentials and threw the body out on to the tarmac to show that they were serious. They got several other hijackers to join them and then they flew back to Algiers. The plane was kept at the far end of the runway. Then the Algerians started negotiating with them. Their demands were for release of some prisoners that the Israelis were holding. I think there were 400 of them or something like that. So these negotiations sort of took on a life of their own. Finally, about another third of the passengers were released in Algiers. They were men. [2016-02-12-1455237353-1285200-4.jpg] In the meantime we began to get word in the media that a Delta strike force was being sent to Italy. I was very concerned over that. So I told Washington, "Tell Secretary [George] Shultz that under no circumstances should this strike force try to rescue these people by force. The Algerians will resist and certainly the hijackers will blow up the plane. It will be a disaster." They said, "Yes, we will pass that on." So then a couple of days negotiations dragged on, and the Algerians hinted to me that they were about to assure the hijackers that they could arrange for the Israeli prisoners to be released if they would release all of the remaining hostages. I said, "I cannot speak to that. I don't know that." The hijackers could on their own radio hear that the Delta force was in Italy. It was early one morning, and we had developed in the embassy the ability to monitor unclassified communications. So I was told that there was a great commotion on the runway and the hijackers were threatening to kill more of the passengers. I was in touch with my contact urging him not to let the plane take off. The Algerians finally let the plane take off; they did not want Americans killed on the tarmac in Algiers. That was the end of my involvement in it. The plane flew to Beirut. BORG: There were some Defense Department people at the time who thought that we would insert a Defense Department team of divers who would hang out, pretending they were tourists, outside the Beirut airport, which is on the water, and they would be scuba diving off Beirut airport. We said, "No, that is just too much nonsense. There's no way that we can do anything like that. We can't have a program like that." These were the first incidents that I recall when we got most of our information from CNN because CNN was on the scene in each one of these places and we were not relying on reporting from the embassies or occasional broadcasts from the main networks, but CNN was on the spot. I believe that this established a precedent for all future terrorist activities or all international incidents that some way CNN became the big player in terms of keeping us informed of what was happening. Q: It also kept the hijackers informed too, which meant that you had to work around the cameras. BORG: That's right. We were constantly on the phone with people in the different embassies trying to sort out solutions to this, but it's hard to say that we did much that resolved it. [2016-02-12-1455237404-9974664-5.jpg] But the issue of taking down the plane, they were certainly not going to do that. If I remember correctly, there was one plan that the pilot was going to declare that...he didn't have adequate fuel and was not going to be able to make it to Beirut and so was going to try to bring the plane down in Cyprus, where one could attempt to resolve the crisis in a friendly environment. The feeling was that they already had a large number of hostages in Beirut and that if they added all the passengers on this plane and they began mixing the passengers on the plane with the hostages on the ground in Lebanon, we'd have a much greater disaster than we already had. So Lebanon was considered at this time an extremely dangerous environment, and we didn't want the hostages to end up there. They did end up there. [By Monday afternoon, June 17, the 40 remaining hostages had been taken from the plane and held hostage throughout Beirut by the Hezbollah.] We were able to arrange the release of all of the different captives with the exception of the one that was killed, so, yes, from our perspective it ended up successfully in that there was only one casualty that we didn't add to the number of hostages that were already being held and they didn't mix. NEWLIN: It turned out the Israelis were prepared to release the prisoners for their own reasons. So I think that it worked out that finally some prisoners were released as a result of the negotiations that McFarland had. So all of the hostages were finally released. But thanks to the Algerians it was possible for 2/3 of them to get released in Algiers. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Girl in wheelchair sits silently at shut Macedonian border for hours

IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - Wheelchair-bound Zhino Hasan, 17, sat silently and alone for most of Friday in front of a closed border gate, hoping that Macedonia would relent and allow her and her family to resume their northward trek through the Balkans to Germany.

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Greece-Austria migration row heats up

Polls opened at 8:00 am (0430 GMT) and with many still waiting in line when they were supposed to close at 6:00 pm, the interior ministry said. "I hope that the Indian women's team would continue to build the momentum for the ICC World T20 2016," Shashank ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thestatesman.com

Refugee Crisis Disunity: A De Facto Solution Takes Shape in the Balkans

Angela Merkel is still hoping for a European solution to the refugee crisis. But with patience running out, Austria has joined countries on the Balkan Route to impose Plan B. But with the closure of borders, the situation in Greece is becoming dangerous.

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Balkan nations cap migrant numbers as EU warns of 'disaster'

[Iraqi migrants walk towards the transit center near Gevgelija at the Macedonian-Greek border after being turned back by the police from the Macedonia border with Serbia, on February 26, 2016]Four Balkan countries on Friday announced a daily cap on migrant arrivals, deepening the crisis gripping the European Union, as Brussels warned of "disaster" if an upcoming summit with Turkey failed.

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Balkan nations cap migrant numbers as EU warns of 'disaster'

[Iraqi migrants walk towards the transit center near Gevgelija at the Macedonian-Greek border after being turned back by the police from the Macedonia border with Serbia, on February 26, 2016]Four Balkan countries on Friday announced a daily cap on migrant arrivals, deepening the crisis gripping the European Union, as Brussels warned of "disaster" if an upcoming summit with Turkey failed.

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EU’s evil Plan B: Cutting the Balkan Route, Bottling up thousands of Refugees and Migrants in Greece

The closure of borders in the north of Greece has created chaos: thousands of refugees and migrants wandering from Athens to Idomeni without knowing where to sleep and what to eat, where to lay their kids and elderly to sleep. FYROM, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria has closed their border today. […]

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GREEK economy minister optimistic that institutions will return to Athens soon‏

GREEK Economy, Development and Tourism Minister George Stathakis expressed his optimism that the representatives of the country's creditors will ...

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Nato sails to rescue in migrants crisis

Alliance launches mission with German, Turkish, Canadian and Greek warships to locate smuggling boats

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Greece Refuses Austrian Minister Visit as Refugee Tension Rises

The government minister responsible for shipping, Theodoros Dritsas, told Mega TV the plan was "a controlled deceleration of refugee movement and flow of immigrants from the islands to the port of Piraeus". "Otherwise there is a risk that the whole system ...

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U.N.'s Ban urges European countries to keep borders open for refugees

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Friday about increasing border restrictions in the Balkans and Austria for migrants and refugees streaming toward Europe and urged all countries to keep their frontiers open. Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Turkey is hosting more than 2.6 million refugees and asylum seekers, and the influx to Greece from Turkey continues unabated. Seven European states have restored border controls within the Schengen passport-free zone, and others have said they would unilaterally tighten border controls unless a deal with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries shows results soon.

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ND Leader Confident His Party Will Win Next Elections

The leader of Greece’s main opposition party Kyriakos Mitsotakis is confident that New Democracy (ND) will win the next elections, whenever they are called. Nonetheless, he feels that an ecumenical government, not elections, is what the country needs at the present juncture as it is facing a myriad of problems. Mr. Mitsotakis expressed his confidence

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PM Tsipras Receives PES Leader Pitella; Later Tweets on Refugee Crisis

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday met with the president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, Gianni Pitella, with talks focusing on the refugee crisis. Pitella has welcomed Greece’s efforts on the refugee issue. On the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg on February 2,

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Nobel Prize-winning Economist Paul Krugman Says He Sees No Progress on Greek Debt Crisis

Nobel Prize Winner and Op-Ed Columnist for The New York Times, Paul Krugman, said in an extended interview he granted yesterday to Business Insider that he does not feel optimistic about Europe and sees no progress on the Greek debt crisis. “The European economy as a whole has been very weak with catastrophic effects on

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Greece Refuses Austrian Minister Visit as Refugee Tension Rises

The government minister responsible for shipping, Theodoros Dritsas, told Mega TV the plan was "a controlled deceleration of refugee movement and flow of immigrants from the islands to the port of Piraeus". "Otherwise there is a risk that the whole system ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT thevillagessuntimes.com

U.N.'s Ban urges European countries to keep borders open for refugees

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Friday about increasing border restrictions in the Balkans and Austria for migrants and refugees streaming toward Europe and urged all countries to keep their frontiers open. Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Turkey is hosting more than 2.6 million refugees and asylum seekers, and the influx to Greece from Turkey continues unabated. Seven European states have restored border controls within the Schengen passport-free zone, and others have said they would unilaterally tighten border controls unless a deal with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries shows results soon.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com

Greece comes out of 3rd MED Group with positive sign

Limassol, February 26, 2016/Independent Balkan News Agency By Spiros Sideris With the support of the greek positions on the refugee issue closed the proceedings of the 3rd Informal Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Mediterranean EU countries in Limassol. After the end of the works of the meeting the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias stated: […]

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EU Med countries oppose unilateral actions on refugee crisis

Kasoulides urged EU countries to enact all EU decisions on immigration so there "will be no unfairness to anybody." Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias blasted some European nations for imposing border restrictions on arriving migrants, saying that police ...

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7th 'Sympossio' journey introduces 'GREEK Street Food' to European cities

GREEK gourmet touring event “Sympossio” embarks on its seventh journey to European cities highlighting GREEK gastronomic culture, with the support ...

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7th 'Sympossio' journey introduces 'GREEK Street Food' to European cities

GREEK gourmet touring event “Sympossio” embarks on its seventh journey to European cities highlighting GREEK gastronomic culture, with the support ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.tornosnews.gr

GREEK Communist Party Leader Koutsoumbas Sees No End to Refugee Crisis

Koutsoumbas In a radio interview for Real.gr., GREEK Communist party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas said the causes behind Europe's refuge crisis are ...

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The Latest: Macedonia temporarily halts migrants from Greece

Greek officials say not one migrant has been allowed into northern neighbor Macedonia Friday, with nearly 5,000 people waiting at or near a border crossing. A Macedonian Interior Ministry official said the reason for the temporary closure is that Serbia ...

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Refugees leave Greek camp and walk to Macedonian border

Hundreds of migrants and refugees left an accommodation camp in northern Greece on Thursday morning, preferring to walk to the distant border with Macedonia in a bid to continue their trek to northern Europe. They set out on a journey of more than 80km to ...

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Greece Struggled With Migration Policy Even Before The Refugee Crisis

Every week, we bring you one overlooked aspect of stories that made news in recent days. Did you notice the media forgot all about another story's basic facts? Tweet @TheWorldPost or let us know on our Facebook page. The 2001 census documented over 750,000 ...

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Greek Farmers Insist On Promachon Roadblock

The farmers of Western Greece are continuing their struggle with roadblocks on main highways. The blockade in Promachon cut off customs at the Hellenic-Bulgarian borders, where the farmers have remained for over 35 days. Today’s decision appears to create further tension for the Hellenic-Bulgarian relations, as the Bulgarian truck drivers threaten with a comeback by

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Greece Struggled With Migration Policy Even Before The Refugee Crisis

Every week, we bring you one overlooked aspect of stories that made news in recent days. Did you notice the media forgot all about another story's basic facts? Tweet @TheWorldPost or let us know on our Facebook page. The 2001 census documented over 750,000 ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

Europe Refugee Crisis: GREECE And Austria Continue Feud As Over 120000 Refugees Arrive In EU

The rift between Austria and GREECE grew even wider Friday as Athens denied a request from Vienna's interior minister to visit a refugee camp, ...

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Tighter Greek border strands migrants

… waiting nearby. Desperation on the Greek border Fortress Central Europe EU … to take action. In northern Greece, protesters briefly blocked the entrance … plan to relocate refugees from Greece. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has …

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Europe Refugee Crisis: GREECE And Austria Continue Feud As Over 120000 Refugees Arrive In EU

The rift between Austria and GREECE grew even wider Friday as Athens denied a request from Vienna's interior minister to visit a refugee camp, ...

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Why socialists should oppose the European Union

Michael J Moeller, CC BY-NC-SA The approaching referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU is not the first of its kind. In 1974, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson pledged to hold a referendum the following year on remaining in the European Economic Community (as it then was). His decision was not particularly based on democratic imperative but because the Labour Party was fundamentally divided on the issue. The same could be said today. A majority of Labour MPs support continued membership, and the party’s official position is to back Remain but several Labour MPs have also committed to the Out campaign. Meanwhile, the position of party leader Jeremy Corbyn is somewhat uncredible, given his longstanding hostility towards European integration. WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE Back in 1975, many on the left of the Labour Party argued that membership of the EEC was incompatible with the pursuit of socialism in Britain. Some were concerned about the loss of sovereignty and some thought it was a “capitalist club”. Others in the party campaigned to remain. They argued that the EEC was important for trade and that, without it, Britain would become a “small island” with no influence in the North Atlantic. In the end, Britain voted overwhelmingly to stay in the common market. But that didn’t settle the issue in the Labour Party. In 1983 the party pledged to withdraw from the EEC and was rejected decisively in the election of that year. Over the course of the 1980s the Labour Party became more supportive of EEC membership, especially after its third successive election defeat. The EEC had begun to develop social policies in areas such as gender equality and workers' rights, culminating in the social chapter of the Maastricht Treaty. Some Labour Party members felt it now offered protection against the pursuit of economic liberal policies in Britain. The EEC was starting to look less like a capitalist club and more like the last defence of social democracy against an increasingly aggressive right wing, which wanted to restrict the powers of trade unions, weaken employment law and cut welfare expenditure. At the time, becoming pro-European was all part of the wider modernisation of the Labour Party. THE FALSE HOPE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION But the pro-European rationale has continuously been based on a false analysis. However plausible such a shift may have seemed, one of the reasons to be sceptical then and now is the clear implication for national sovereignty. It is possible to conclude that the British people were hoodwinked into signing away the right to determine their own affairs ever since 1973, when Britain first joined. Of course an explicit statement on the realities of membership was never made – that would have been unpalatable. So it was all too easy for pro-Europeans to ignore or disbelieve what it really meant. Instead they argued that it was in Britain’s self-interest to join. Often this appeal to self-interest was framed in terms of Britain’s absolute geopolitical and military decline and relative economic decline. It was argued that Britain could not go it alone and that to maintain its national power, it was sensible to join the EEC. Politicians lost confidence in the nation and came to see the EEC as a zimmer frame which could prop up the old country. Denis Healey summarised this neatly when he said that “their Europeanism is nothing but imperialism with an inferiority complex”. EEC partners twice rejected Britain’s request to join, which only reinforced this collective loss of confidence. The third application was so desperately sought that almost any terms would do – even if they were disadvantageous to Britain, including the large net budget contribution and policies damaging to British agriculture and fishing. Any subsequent attempt to improve those terms – such as Margaret Thatcher’s rebate in 1984 and Brownite opposition to the single currency – were regarded as Britain being an awkward partner. The pro-European leadership of the three major parties should have had more confidence in Britain. It was they who had post-imperial hang ups. Others would have been content to accept that Britain, although a declining imperial power, still had one of the largest economies, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and an independent nuclear deterrent. It still had the capacity to influence international affairs. RETHINKING THE LEFT-WING POSITION Pro-Europeans assume they know what is best, that those with legitimate grievances about the structure and implications of the EU are on the radical fringes of politics. They say they are ignorant or brainwashed by the populist press into thinking Britain can be a democratic and civilised country outside the EU. But leaving the EU doesn’t necessarily mean that neoliberalism will flourish in Britain. Recently, pro-Europeans on the left have argued the EU is again the last barrier to the free-market right. Yet, the EU is founded upon neoliberal economics. The true nature of the EU was revealed in the way it has treated Greece, whose people have felt the full force of neoliberal austerity. Voting to remain will lead Britain further into a federal Europe in which the hopes of social democracy become increasingly dim. Despite the current difficulties of the Labour Party, it is only through a Labour government at Westminster that social democracy will be enacted. Indeed, there are stronger hopes that Britain can be more democratic and more socially conscious outside of the EU than within it. Democratic because voters would be able to elect a sovereign government instead of letting a distant bureaucracy make decisions on their behalf behind closed doors. Social because any hopes that the EU can deliver left-wing policies have been dashed by the response to the Greek financial crisis. [The Conversation] _Kevin Hickson is a member of the Labour Party_ _Jasper Miles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above._

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Greece is filling up

The Facebook messages are desperate: "We are in the street. Sitting on earth. There is no place to sleep. I wish you come. When will you come here?" Phoebe Ramsay, the Canadian volunteer receiving these messages, was on her way to find Sham, Doha and Wisam ...

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Migrant crisis: Pressure mounts in Greece as borders tighten

Large numbers of migrants and refugees are stuck in Greece as Balkan countries announce further restrictions on the number crossing their borders. Greece is trying to slow the flow to its northern border, to prevent a build-up of people there. Slovenia and ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bbc.com

Dangerous drinking is a college problem, not a GREEK one

Earlier this year, I wrote an article in this paper in reaction to what, at the time, seemed like excessive suspensions of fraternity chapters on our campus ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT miamistudent.net

GREEK President Pavlopoulos On the Economic Crisis and Monetary Suffocation

The austerity policy has led the euro zone on the brink of an economic crisis and monetary “suffocation,” said President Pavlopoulos on Friday, during ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Greece Limits Migrants Leaving Islands As Refugee Crisis Escalates

Greece moved to slow the flow of migrants from its islands to the mainland on Friday as thousands of homeless refugees were trapped in the country by border limits imposed along a Balkan route to richer nations in northern Europe. From its northern frontier with Macedonia to its port of Piraeus in the south, Greece was inundated with refugees and migrants after border shutdowns cascaded through the Balkans, stranding at least 20,000 in the country. At Idomeni, a small community on the border with Macedonia, Reuters witnesses saw hundreds of families walking towards the frontier to join an estimated 3,000 more at a makeshift camp where many pitched tents in a field close to razor wire fence. More than 500 km further south, hundreds of people were temporarily accommodated at a disused airport west of Athens. Sleeping mats were strewn across the terminal among biscuit wrappers as many women sat on the floor, some weeping. "Planes bombed our homes, it was dangerous to stay there," said mother of three Rajiya Zara, 38, nine months pregnant. "I'm afraid for my children." Between 300 and 400 people refused to stay at the airport, and took off on their own. "Help Us," a large piece of paper held by one said. "We are human, open the borders", read another, scrawled on a sleeping mat. WE DIDN'T START IT Athens on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Austria in anger over the border closures and has threatened to block European Union decision-making unless the bloc comes up with concerted action to deal with the crisis. In the latest measure to slow the northward movement of migrants, the police chiefs of Slovenia, Austria, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia agreed to limit the flow to about 580 per day per country, Slovenian police said on Friday. The police chiefs are "obliged to limit daily transit through Western Balkans countries to a number which would enable a control of every migrant according to Schengen rules," the police said. Austria had earlier in the week hosted a summit of Balkan nations on how to regulate the migrant flows, but did not invite Athens. "Greece is being attacked by short-sighted countries, as if we were bombing Syria or created the refugee flows," said Nikos Kotzias, Greece's foreign minister. Greece asked its passenger ferry companies and travel agencies on Friday to cut back on bringing migrants and refugees from frontline islands to the mainland and said its own chartered ships would stay put for a few days. The moves, described by Greece's shipping minister as temporary, are designed to stem a flow of people mostly fleeing violence in the Middle East. Most refugees arrive in the European Union after a short but at times dangerous journey by small boats from Turkey to nearby Greek islands such as Lesbos. "We have taken some actions because of border closings, including an increase of temporary shelter spaces and a relative slowdown of the transport of migrants from the islands to the port of Piraeus," Shipping Minister Thodoris Dritsas told Skai TV. He said three ships chartered specifically to move migrants to the Greek mainland would be docked at the islands and accommodate refugees for "two or three days". "It is a small scale slowdown (of flows to the mainland)," he said. Macedonia, to the immediate north, is accepting only Iraqis and Syrians, witnesses say, with Afghans being turned back. Many of those who travelled the 550 km journey north only to be turned away sat in the stinking and overcrowded airport terminal on Friday, pondering their fate. "I want to go to Germany," said 18-year-old Nadershah Ahmedi, a student from Afghanistan. "When we came to Greece we heard the borders to Macedonia are closed for Afghans. Why can Syrians and Iraqis pass but not us?" -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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This Item Can Make Or Break A Refugee Family's Journey

Carry the Future has found a simple way to make life easier for refugee families. The organization collects new and used baby carriers and partners with local volunteers who hand deliver them to refugees across the globe. Cristal Logothetis, the founder of the organization, said volunteers approach families when boats full of refugees arrive on the shores of Greece, where they quickly fit parents with the baby carriers. Logothetis knows the carriers won't solve the refugee crisis, but she's happy to be making a difference in the lives of each family. Thus far, Carry the Future has donated 4,000 carriers to refugee parents. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Migrant crisis: Pressure mounts in Greece as borders tighten

Large numbers of migrants and refugees are stuck in Greece as Balkan countries announce further restrictions on the number crossing their borders. Greece is trying to slow the flow to its northern border, to prevent a build-up of people there. Slovenia and ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bbc.com

Dangerous drinking is a college problem, not a GREEK one

Earlier this year, I wrote an article in this paper in reaction to what, at the time, seemed like excessive suspensions of fraternity chapters on our campus ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT miamistudent.net

GREEK President Pavlopoulos On the Economic Crisis and Monetary Suffocation

The austerity policy has led the euro zone on the brink of an economic crisis and monetary “suffocation,” said President Pavlopoulos on Friday, during ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

World Press View: Greece’s Migrant Crisis Gets Worse

With thousands of migrants and refugees pouring into Greece daily the country is finding itself isolated by EU policies leaving it to fend for itself.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com