How the world sees Greece
Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis has proved once again that in Greek politics, a Minister doesn’t necessarily need to have any idea of the portfolio he is getting. Either that, or Mr. Kontonis lives on another planet. A planet where football, and ...
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Regional education authorities in Imathia, northern Greece, have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 17-year-old local girl who fell from a second-floor balcony in Rome earlier this month.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Technical teams representing Greece’s international creditors are to meet with government officials on Friday, following their arrival in Athens on Thursday, with talks expected to focus on the state of the budget before moving to matters such as a projected fiscal gap and specific reforms next week.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
The European Central Bank has assented to another marginal rise in the emergency cash available to Greek banks, as it raised the limit of the Bank of Greece’s emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) mechanism by 600 million euros on Thursday, intended solely to avert any unexpected liquidity problems. At the same time the state is hoping to draw 2 billion euros from the cash reserves of various state entities.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
The high jobless rate, the deterioration in labor relations and the widespread aspiration to be one’s own boss are driving business in this country, according to a global entrepreneurship survey conducted last year.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Defense Minister and junior coalition partner leader Panos Kammenos declared Thursday that Greece’s ties with Israel remain strong following talks with a visiting delegation from the American Jewish Committee.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou on Thursday told the special court where he is facing charges of doctoring the Lagarde list of Greeks with deposits in Switzerland that he did not remove the names of his relatives and that he is the victim of a set-up.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
The Greek Police is planning to enforce a new scheme in the coming days aimed at curbing crime in the capital’s historic center as well as other central districts and increasing a sense of safety for citizens, the force said in a statement.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
SELMA, AL – Presidents Bush and Obama and their wives, Congressman John Lewis and numerous of his legislative colleagues, and various clergy, including Greek Orthodox Archbishop Demetrios, traveled to Selma, the Alabama city most famously known for the 1965 marches that sparked a major turning point in American civil rights, to commemorate the 50th anniversary […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
ATHENS — The former finance minister who handled Greece’s first international bailout in 2010 has denied criminal charges of allegedly removing relatives’ names from a list of Greeks holding Swiss bank accounts with HSBC. Speaking in court Thursday, George Papaconstantinou claimed the three names were intentionally deleted to inculpate him. He accused his Socialist party of “throwing him […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
VIENNA— Germany’s finance minister sees chances of economic recovery for Greece and is expressing some understanding of voter frustrations that led to the election victory of the populist party now trying to secure more lenient bailout terms from the EU. Wolfgang Schaeuble says Greece is “not a hopeless case” and notes that until recently it […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
German Finance Minister, who has been picking fun of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, said, however, he didn't call his counterpart naive, but Greece isn't happy.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
If I were to start throwing around solutions for the situation in Greece, they would include: 1) A debt restructuring. Greece’s government can’t pay the present debt load of over 175% of GDP, so it won’t, and shouldn’t. 2) A major tax reform. Greece’s 45% payroll tax rate, plus its 23% VAT [...]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.forbes.com |
Germany's finance minister sees chances of economic recovery for Greece and is expressing some understanding of voter frustrations that led to the election victory of the populist party now trying to secure more lenient bailout terms from the EU.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT feeds.foxnews.com |
The former finance minister who handled Greece's first international bailout in 2010 has denied criminal charges of allegedly removing relatives' names from a list of Greeks holding Swiss bank accounts with HSBC.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT feeds.foxnews.com |
Greece ‘s former Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou declared self “innocent” in his apology today before the Special Court, where he is being tried for the infamous Lagarde List scandal. Moreover, he expressed his displeasure for his party’s (PASOK) stance over the case, saying that he has been isolated and “thrown to the dogs.” The former Minister’s parliamentary immunity was lifted so he could stand trial on accusations that he removed the names of three relatives from a list of Greeks with deposits at the Geneva branch of HSBC, which contained some 2,000 names in total. The trial has so far lasted just over two weeks. In his hearing today, he also railed against current PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, both for his handling of the case and the fact that he did not defend him while, as he described, in other corruption cases he would do so in Parliament. Papakonstantinou stressed that he made no distortion and no interference on the list, characterizing the whole case as a setup. “I am being judged every day,” the former Minister said, explaining that populist attacks against him are an everyday phenomenon. “They are saying that the Minister who signed the Memorandum and cut salaries and pensions got hold of the list and did not collect money [from those in it],” he described. Regarding the investigation completed prior to the trial, he said that his relatives and close associates, who have been cleared of all charges, were brutally reviled.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Alexis Tsipras risks leading Greece to disaster and the clock is ticking down, said a Wall Street Journal report. Commentator Simon Nixon said that from the moment Alexis Tsipras forced snap elections and since the six weeks he became Prime Minister, the Greek economy has plummeted. Now, the Greek leader has a few days only to prevent economic disaster. Tax revenue dropped more than 1 million euros in weeks and bank deposits outflow exceeded 20 billion euros. Greece can run out of funds any day now. Since Athens does not allow Eurozone officials to inspect its books, no one knows exactly when. Technical talks with Greece’s creditors have stalled because since February 20, when it was agreed to extend the bailout program for four months, “officials have been arguing about who would meet whom, where and on what terms. Technical work still hasn’t started.” Reforms proposed by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis have so far been rejected for the most part. Varoufakis’ idea to wiretap Greek citizens and tourists in order to catch businesses that evade taxes was met with international ridicule. So did his idea about “constructive ambiguity” in finances. This lack of ideas shows a government that wants to borrow more cash unconditionally. “As the clock ticks down to a Greek debt default, Athens seems to be counting on either the ECB or the Eurogroup to blink,” Nixon continued. According to the report, Tsipras tries to force the Eurozone to lend him money based on politics. But “even if politicians were willing to cut deals, other agencies have little room for maneuver.” Similarly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cannot lend more cash to Greece without an agreed-upon bailout program based on debt-sustainability analysis. It has already lent Greece a lot. “Besides, the risks of ripping up the Eurozone rulebook to help Greece may outweigh the risks of allowing Greece to exit the zone. In 2012, the contagion risks of a Greek exit were clear, but this time, there is no sign of a spillover to Spain, Portugal and Ireland,” the report continued. Instead, said countries are now among Europe’s fastest-growing. Yet, the risk of a Grexit for Europe cannot be overlooked. No one can predict the nature of the political backlash across Europe that will result from a possible implosion of the Greek economy. No one wants to be confronted by a full-blown humanitarian crisis inside the European Union, the writer argued. “A Greek exit would pose huge challenges. Most Eurozone policy makers are clinging to the hope that Athens will ultimately respect Eurozone rules and remain in the currency union,” the writer said. Nixon concluded that if Greece is to remain in the Eurozone, either the Greek Prime Minister must repudiate many of his electoral promises, or Greece must repudiate Tsipras. At the moment, “neither of those outcomes looks likely.”
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
At a time when the relations between Athens and Berlin seem to reach bottom, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble characterized the accusations that he described his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis as “foolishly naive,” after a Brussels Eurogroup meeting on Monday as “nonsense.” Schaeuble’s public answer comes just two days after the Greek Ambassador in Berlin made a demarche to the German Foreign Ministry in order to express Greece’s discontent over Schaeuble’s derogatory statements, following a Greek Foreign Ministry order. “There was an official complaint from our Ambassador in Berlin to the German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night,” Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras said on Thursday. “It was a complaint after what he [Schaeuble] said about Mr. Varoufakis. As a Minister of a country that is our friend and ally, he cannot personally insult a colleague,” Koutras explained. Commenting today on the development, Schaeuble told Reuters that he has never insulted Varoufakis. “No, I have not insulted my Greek counterpart, that is nonsense,” he said. Recently, the relations between German and Greek government have deteriorated. The leftist SYRIZA-led Greek coalition government has repeatedly attacked oversight of its work by a Troika of representatives from the country’s creditors; the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Berlin on the opposite, insists on the unpopular Troika’s role in the Greek bailout program negotiations.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras traveled to Paris today, where he met with OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Secretary General Angel Gurria in order to discuss a possible Organization event taking place in Greece and focusing on the government’s reforms program. The meeting was followed by an agreement signing between the two men and a joint press conference. According to Greek government sources, Tsipras reportedly discussed the reforms currently being planned in Athens, aiming to restore public administration and social justice, as well as tackle the long-standing problem of tax evasion. “The OECD will provide Greece with the know-how regarding the design and implementation of reforms, which is the Greek government’s priority. In the long term, it will help the Greek side implement and evaluate not only the progress of reforms but also their effectiveness,” a Greek official explained, while an OECD official has also confirmed that a deal had been signed. On his behalf, Tsipras highlighted that Greece can meet its financial obligations even if does not receive a further bailout installment. “There is no reason for concern… even if there is no timely disbursement of a tranche, Greece will meet its obligations,” he said. Regarding the meeting concluded earlier, he said that “we are here in order for the OECD to put its stamp on the reforms that the Greek government wants to push on and I believe that this stamp in our passport will be very significant to build mutual trust with our creditors.” Tomorrow, the Greek Premier will travel to Brussels, where he will be received by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and finally meet SYRIZA MEP and iconic Greek left figure Manolis Glezos in what is seen as an attempt to ease intraparty reactions to governmental plans. Yesterday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, in an interview to Athens-Macedonian News Agency noted that “it would be a major mistake to approach the Greek and European crises within a framework of alliances and such bilateral agreements; the Eurozone crisis, which the crisis in the Greek economy is a part of, is a problem for all of us and all Eurozone member-states,” while quoting European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi who recently argued that for the single currency to be successful, it must succeed everywhere. Commenting on the OECD’s role, Varoufakis explained that it will provide technical know-how and seminars on various issues, such as taxation, corruption and reforms in order to compose an efficient program.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greek ex-finance minister denies criminal charges over names deleted from Swiss accounts list
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com |
A transcript of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' speech at the Oraganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Dear Secretary General of the OECD, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am glad and honored to be here and speak before an ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
Britain’s defence strategy should be based on the threats the nation faces, not perverse political totemsIt isn’t just military planners who seem happier refighting the last war. Politicians are too. David Cameron chooses to stay tactically quiet about defence because he was humbled by losing the Syria vote in 2013. But Ed Miliband, who won that vote, is just as cautious. Labour remains haunted by its own defence ghosts, many dating back to the unilateralist 1980s.Few would go so far as to claim that defence is the paramount question facing Britain in the coming general election. Yet few would deny it is now genuinely one of the most important. This will be the first election since the 1980s in which defence may – and should – occupy a significant part of the political debate. But it is also in danger of being sidetracked. Related: What the armed forces can expect from the defence review Greece is one of four Nato members meeting the target, but only because its GDP has collapsed by a quarter Continue reading...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
A new sharpening of the bilateral relations between Greece and Germany was caused after Greek media accused the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of publicly insulting Greek Financial Minister Varoufakis. Schäuble has been quoted as saying that Varoufakis is ''foolishly naive'' at the discussions on the Greek financial situation in Brussels Wednesday. A complained was filed to the German Foreign Ministry Tuesday, as confirmed by the spokesman of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Constantinous Koutras, DW reported. He deemed the comment made by Schäuble to be ''an insult to a colleague.'' The Brussels discussions invloved representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Despite the strain in EU-Greece relations, the second round of talks continued Thursday in Athens. The Greek capital hosted EU representatives for the first time since leftist party SYRIZA came to power. "There will be a fact-finding mission in Greece, reporting to the Brussels Group, assisting the Brussels Group in its deliberations," Greek Financial Minister Varoufakis said. The aim of the talks is said to be finding a solution favorable to both sides regarding the Greek bailout plan. The EU gave the Balkan country an extension to the repayment scheme, but demanded high level of repsonsibility and reforms. Meanwhile, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras demanded Wednesday that Germany would pay its reparations due on account of the damages during the WWII.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.novinite.com |
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will help Greece create jobs and cut bureaucracy.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT rss.nytimes.com |
On the occasion of a conference of Mediterranean SOS Network
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Inspectors aim to collect information on Athens’ finances that will be conveyed to the “Brussels Group”
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Greece's creditors returned to Athens Thursday for the first time since the left-wing Syriza party came to power, with the radical new government denying it had allowed back the hated "troika" it had vowed to shun. Athens -- which has been scrabbling for cash to meet its next major debt repayments -- insisted it had not been strong-armed into submission. The compromise came as Prime Minister ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.yahoo.com |
Rhetoric and tactics echo older Greek drama
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com |
European and International Monetary Fund officials are currently in Athens assessing whether Greece is meeting the conditions for the tranche of aid from the current bailout program of 240 billion euros ($254.7 billion). “Even if, over the next period ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.wsj.com |
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the country will be able to fulfill its financial responsibilities, even if creditors don't a pay a tranche of aid.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.wsj.com |
by Anna Kandili Greek former finance minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou denied once more all charges against him, as he testified in his own defence during his trial at the Special Court in Athens on Thursday. “I am innocent”, was Papaconstantinou’s ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
OECD will offer the Greek side its know-how with regard to the reform planning and implementation
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Greece probably has less than a month's worth of cash on hand, and the ECB could pull the plug on banking system support at any moment
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
PARIS (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says his government will continue to repay its creditors even if it doesn't get part of a rescue loan pending the outcome of current bailout talks.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.yahoo.com |
Germany and Greece confirmed Thursday that the Greek ambassador in Berlin made an official protest late Tuesday to the German Foreign Ministry over comments made by Schaeuble. Schaeuble and his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis have traded barbs in recent weeks, with Schaeuble on Tuesday suggesting that Varoufakis needed to look more closely at an agreement that Greece signed in February: “He ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
Vadsaria is starring as Mary Goodwin, a brilliant bioengineer who is responsible - along with her brother Otto (Adhir Kalyan) - for bringing Ray back from the dead, reports Deadline. In addition to Greek, the actress has recurred on Revenge. Tim DeKay also ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.digitalspy.co.uk |
THINK of a right-wing Eurosceptic and the image that comes to mind is of an ageing, grumpily xenophobic man. To put it mildly, that is not the whole story. Take Golden Dawn, an ultra-right party in Greece. In January’s election, its showing was strongest among the 18-24 group, with 8.4% of that cohort. A fifth of Hungarians aged 18 to 33 would now back the far-right Jobbik party. Alternative for Germany (AfD), another populist party, does best among those under 30. Among Dutch people under 35 who plan to vote, 24% would choose the Eurosceptic Freedom (PVV) party. France’s young prefer Marine Le Pen (see article) to President François Hollande. Why do such parties attract the normally open-minded young? Maybe because recession hits them hardest. Net employment in the euro area fell by 6m between 2008 and 2013; half of those affected were under 25. In southern Europe, youth unemployment is appallingly high. And those who do work get ill-paid, often part-time jobs. ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.economist.com |
In an address before the Greek parliament, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Germany had a moral obligation to make amends for the atrocities wrought during three devastating years of Nazi occupation.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.scmp.com |
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says his government will continue to repay its creditors even if it doesn't get part of a rescue loan pending the outcome of current bailout talks.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT feeds.foxnews.com |
The European Central Bank (ECB) is said to have increased the emergency liquidity (ELA) available to Greek banks by 500 million euros, a fraction of the amount the Greek banks have requested, Greek news website enikonomia.gr reported ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
Rift deepens with Berlin incredulous at Greek minister’s claim to seize German property and repatriate antiquities unless Berlin pays €341bn for war crimesGermany has reacted with anger and defiance to Greek government demands for multibillion-euro reparation payments over first and second world war atrocities which have further deepened the rift between the two countries.Greece’s justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos said Athens was prepared to approve a court ruling to seize German property in the country – including the Goethe Institute, the German Archaeological Institute, German schools and holiday homes if Berlin refused to pay €341bn (£240bn) in compensation. Related: Greek PM: OECD agreement is passport to more trust - live updates Continue reading...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Rift between EU partners and verbal sparring of their finance ministers will only result in Greece collapsing or abandoning the euroIt is the politics of the playground. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, calls his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis “foolishly naive” in his dealings with the media. Athens lodges a formal complaint with Berlin, saying a minister of a country that is a “friend and ally” cannot go around insulting a colleague.Ya boo to that, says Jens Weidmann, the president of Germany’s Bundesbank. Greece is losing the trust of its partners and it is only right that the European Central Bank should think very hard about whether it wants to extend its exposure to the crisis-ridden country. Continue reading...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
The new Greek President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos will be sworn in on Friday at 18.00 local time before the Parliament plenary. After the end of the ceremony, he will lay a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
European Central Bank funding to Greek banks dropped sharply in February from a month earlier while borrowing from the domestic central bank jumped as lenders switched to emergency liquidity assistance (ELA), Bank of Greece data showed on Thursday. ECB lending to Greek banks against collateral fell 53 percent to 38.61 billion euros ($40.9 billion) from 82.24 billion euros in January, after the ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
Greece is in a position to meet its financial obligations even if does not receive a further instalment of its frozen international bailout, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday during a visit to France. "There is no reason for concern... even if there is no timely disbursement of a tranche, Greece will meet its obligations," Tsipras said after talks at the OECD group of ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
"The ECB in my opinion is pursuing a policy that can be considered asphyxiating toward our government," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Greece's Mega TV in an interview. The ECB has refused to give Athens any leeway to issue short-term debt to ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com |
As per Greece, EY notes that after six years of recession, 2014 was a turning point, with the economy finally returning to growth
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Schaeuble referred to Greece’s finance minister as foolishly naive in matters of communication.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Greece has accused Germany's finance minister of insulting his Greek counterpart. It comes as talks take place over the country's economic future, and as relations between the two countries reach an all-time low.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de |
With political instability reigning in Greece as it negotiates with international lenders, Cyprus is trying to show it's not inextricably linked with its neighbor.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |