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Monday, October 8, 2012

Merkel to Be Met by Greek Anti-Austerity Protesters


Christian Science Monitor

Merkel to Be Met by Greek Anti-Austerity Protesters
Businessweek (blog)
Greek protesters are gearing up for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's first visit to Athens since the financial crisis began, with plans for strikes, rallies and a petition demanding reparations for the Nazi occupation. Greece's need for bailouts and ...
Greek anti-austerity protests grow as 7000 police on duty for Merkel visit to ...Washington Post
Thousands of Greek protesters tell Merkel she is not welcomeReuters
Greek union members arrested in anti-austerity protestsChristian Science Monitor
The Guardian -MarketWatch -National Post
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The Greek message for Angela Merkel | Alexis Tsipras

Europe can survive this austerity-induced crisis, but only if it is reshaped for and by the people

As Angela Merkel visits Athens on Tuesday, she will find a Greece in its fifth consecutive year of recession. In 2008 and 2009, the recession was a spillover from the global financial crisis. Since then it has been caused and deepened by the austerity policies imposed on Greece by the troika – of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the European Central Bank – and the Greek government.

These policies are devastating the Greek people, especially workers, pensioners, small businessmen and women, and of course young people. The Greek economy has contracted by more than 22%, workers and pensioners have lost 32% of their income, and unemployment has reached an unprecedented 24% with youth unemployment at 55%. Austerity policies have led to cuts in benefits, the deregulation of the labour market and the further deterioration of the limited welfare state that had survived a neoliberal onslaught.

The government argues that only the austerity agenda can make the Greek public debt viable again. But the opposite is true. Austerity policies prevent the economy from returning to growth. Austerity creates a vicious spiral of recession and an increase in debt that in turn leads both Greece and its lenders to calamity.

All this is known to the European and Greek policymakers and elites, including Merkel, who aim to implement similar programmes in all European countries facing debt problems, such as Spain, Portugal and Italy. Why do they insist so dogmatically on this disastrous political and economic path? We believe that their aim is not to solve the debt crisis but to create a new regulatory framework throughout Europe that is based on cheap labour, deregulation of the labour market, low public spending and tax exemptions for capital. To succeed, this strategy uses a form of political and financial blackmail that aims to convince or coerce Europeans to accept austerity packages without resistance. The politics of fear and blackmail used in Greece is the best illustration of this strategy.

My party, Syriza-United Social Front, respects the ordinary European taxpayer who is asked to shoulder loans to countries in distress, including Greece. The European citizens should know, however, that loans to Greece are paid into an "escrow" account and are used exclusively to repay past loans and to re-capitalise near bankrupt private banks. The money cannot be used to pay salaries and pensions, or to buy basic medicine for hospitals and milk for schools. The precondition for these loans is even more austerity, paralysing the Greek economy and increasing the possibility of default. If there is a risk of European taxpayers losing their money, it is created by austerity.

This has to stop now. Europe needs a new plan to deepen European integration. Such a plan must challenge neoliberalism and lead European economies back to recovery. It should prioritise the needs of workers, pensioners and the unemployed, not the interests of multinational companies and bankrupt bankers. Syriza-USF has committed itself to this road. We know it is a difficult one. But it is the only plan that can restore the European vision of social justice, peace and solidarity.

This plan will succeed only if popular struggles radically change the balance of forces. These struggles have started already and have led to the rise of left and resistance movements throughout Europe. They keep alive democracy, equality, freedom and solidarity, the most important values of the European political tradition. These values must prevail. Otherwise Europe will regress to a dark past we thought gone for ever.


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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Why a US buyout firm is investing in Greece


Fortune (blog)

Why a US buyout firm is investing in Greece
Fortune (blog)
For example, what if Greece exits the Eurozone. But, long-term, we decided that the Greek issues we see today should not have long-term negative impacts on the company. It's a global business in an industry growing in the high teens. It has double ...

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Greek Merchant Fleet Gains Despite Crisis


Greek Reporter

Greek Merchant Fleet Gains Despite Crisis
Greek Reporter
The capacity of the Greek-owned fleet expanded by 3% to 263,635,420 deadweight tons (dwt), against 256,174,041 dwt in 2011 and 242,802,092 dwt in 2010, according to a survey titled 2012 Greek Fleet Statistics published this week by financial analysts ...

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Merkel's weighty trip to Greece

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Greece on Tuesday for the first time since the start of the financial crisis. Intended to be a gesture of solidarity, the trip will not be a meeting of equals.

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Euro Leaders: Retreat Is Not an Option


Wall Street Journal

Euro Leaders: Retreat Is Not an Option
Wall Street Journal
By MARK HAEFELE Military recruits around the world receive training on how to survive an ambush: While defensive measures are instinctive, the doctrine of "immediate, positive and offensive action" offers the best hope of survival.
Euro zone finance ministers meet to discuss Spain, GreeceReuters
Europe Still at Odds Over the Workings of Its Bailout FundNew York Times
Euro Weakens Against Most Peers Before German Production DataBloomberg
TVNZ -Washington Post -MarketWatch
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Merkel visits Greece


AFP

Merkel visits Greece
Examiner.com
Greece is to put 7,000 police on patrol and ban protests in parts of Athens to minimise the hostile reception for Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, when she makes her first visit to the city tomorrow. Last week, Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras ...
Sunday newspaper round-up: Greece, BAE Systems, Britain´s banksShareCast

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Athens police cracking down ahead of Merkel visit

Merkel's brief visit comes amid growing unrest in Greece over planned cutbacks



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Snipers on the rooftops as Angela Merkel visits crisis-torn Greece

Thousands of police will be deployed on the streets of Athens today - backed up by snipers on the rooftops - as Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor visits a country where she has been vilified as the embodiment of a "fourth Reich".


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Thousands of Greek protesters tell Merkel she is not welcome


NEWS.com.au

Thousands of Greek protesters tell Merkel she is not welcome
Reuters
| ATHENS Oct 8 (Reuters) - About 8000 demonstrators chanted anti-austerity slogans and hoisted banners warning Angela Merkel she was not welcome in Greece at a protest on Monday, the eve of a visit by the German chancellor. Organised by labour unions ...
Greek police plan crackdown ahead of Merkel visitNDTV
7000 police to protect Angela Merkel during Athens visitTelegraph.co.uk
Greece bailout: Tension in Athens over unpaid workersBBC News
Wall Street Journal -Bloomberg -The Guardian
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OPAP SA: Why Investors Shouldn't Write Off The Greek Gambling Monopoly


OPAP SA: Why Investors Shouldn't Write Off The Greek Gambling Monopoly
Seeking Alpha
That central insight by economist George Stigler explains a lot of the cozy history of the Greek gambling monopoly OPAP (GOFPY.PK) which for the better part of last decade fought tooth and nail against any type of liberalization pressed upon by the ...

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Why more Americans are wasting their youths than Europeans

Liberals and conservatives alike have turned Europe into the harbinger of what doom may come to America. “I think you’re going to see America on the road to Greece unless we change course,” Mitt Romney said in a recent interview. “Here in America, youth unemployment is ‘only’ 16.5 percent, which is still terrible — but things could be worse,” Paul Krugman wrote in April, citing youth unemployment rates in Spain of more than 50 percent. 

Read full article >>


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'Obviously more than a bilateral meeting'

Angela Merkel's visit to Greece is long overdue, but it's sending a positive signal. The visit is key to restoring a bilateral relationship and to move forward in the Euro crisis, says analyst Janis Emmanouilidis.

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Eurozone unlocks €500 billion war chest





AFP










The eurozone unlocked its long-awaited 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism on Monday amid fresh concerns over the economies of Greece and Spain. The fund will be operational by the end of the month, chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said.





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Greece says crackdown stopping illegal migrants


Greece says crackdown stopping illegal migrants
NECN
KOMOTINI, Greece (AP) — Police in northern Greece say a two-month crackdown on illegal immigration has led to a dramatic drop in the number of people trying to cross into the country illegally. Authorities said Monday that 1,337 suspected illegal ...

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Eurogroup Meets as Greek Clouds Loom


Eurogroup Meets as Greek Clouds Loom
Wall Street Journal
The IMF won't lend without a clear and credible medium-term promise of repayment and ECB President Mario Draghi has said that the ECB's own rules forbid it from restructuring the €50 billion or so in Greek bonds that it holds. Luxembourg Finance ...


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Greek anti-austerity protests grow as 7000 police on duty for Merkel visit to ...


Christian Science Monitor

Greek anti-austerity protests grow as 7000 police on duty for Merkel visit to ...
Washington Post
ATHENS, Greece — Greek police have increased security and are preparing to close down large sections of the capital Athens to contain protests against Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is visiting the city Tuesday for talks with the country's ...
Greek union members arrested in anti-austerity protestsChristian Science Monitor
Merkel to Be Met by Anti-Austerity Protesters in AthensBusinessweek (blog)
Greek power workers to be charged after police disperse protestReuters
Wall Street Journal (blog) -MarketWatch -Daily Mail
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Athens police plan crackdown ahead of Merkel visit

A pensioner shouts slogans during an anti-austerity protest in front of the EU headquarters in Athens on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. The 17 eurozone ministers will look Monday at Greece's budget proposals. They will hear from the troika — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — about its negotiations with the Greek government. No final troika report will be submitted, so no decision on a new payout of aid will be made.(AP Photo)Greek police have increased security and are preparing to close down large sections of the capital Athens to contain protests against Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is visiting the city Tuesday for talks with the country's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.



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Greek Electricity Workers Detained After Property Tax Protest


Kathimerini

Greek Electricity Workers Detained After Property Tax Protest
Wall Street Journal
ATHENS--Eighteen Greek power workers have been detained and will be formally charged later Monday after police broke up a sit-in protest at the state-owned electricity company's billing center. The protest was organized by the Genop-Dei labor union, ...
Greek police detain 18 union officialsBusinessweek

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