Monday, September 30, 2013

Greek Arrest of Far Rightists Bolsters Government, for Now

Greece Moves to Outlaw the Golden Dawn Party
By ALKMAN GRANITSAS and NEKTARIA STAMOULI
ATHENS—Greece's crackdown on the country's far-right Golden Dawn party, with the weekend arrest of the group's top leadership, is a needed fillip for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's fragile coalition government.

But the boost may be temporary if the social problems that fueled the group's rise—unemployment, corruption, collapsing public services—aren't soon addressed by a government not many Greeks support, analysts say. And correcting those issues could take some time.
"There will be some political gains for the government and particularly Mr. Samaras, but after that, if the economy continues to stumble, those benefits will evaporate and the Golden Dawn phenomenon will return," said John Dimakis, a political analyst at Athens-based consultancy STR. "The crackdown on Golden Dawn won't bring jobs, or investments, or growth. And Golden Dawn is an expression of social needs that the political system right now can't cover."

UPDATE 5-Greek police arrest leader, lawmakers of far-right Golden Dawn

Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:16am IST
* Biggest crackdown on elected party since fall of junta

* Party members charged with participating in criminal group

* "Nothing can scare us!" party spokesman says

* Government rules out snap elections

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the leader and more than a dozen senior members of the far-right Golden Dawn party early on Saturday after the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a party supporter triggered outrage and protests across the country.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Golden Dawn arrests take Greece into uncharted waters

The crackdown on the far-right party will undoubtedly release new tensions on to an already poisoned political scene
Helena Smith in Athens
The Observer, Saturday 28 September 2013 17.56 BST

Before his untimely death at the age of 34, Pavlos Fyssas was a hip-hop rapper popular on Greece's anti-fascist scene but little known beyond the frontiers of that music genre or the borders of the country itself. On the night of 17 September all that changed.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Greece nominates new privatization agency chief, third in seven months

ATHENS | Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:36am EDT
(Reuters) - Greece has nominated a new chairman to take over at its privatization agency after the dismissal of its previous head last month, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

Constantine Maniatopoulos was named to head privatization agency HRADF, where asset sale delays and shortfalls in targeted revenues have been a source of headaches for Greece's international lenders overseeing the country's 240 billion euro bailout program.

Greece Arrests Senior Members of Far-Right Party

September 28, 2013
The New York Times
By LIZ ALDERMAN
ATHENS — The counterterrorism police conducted a crackdown on Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn party early Saturday morning, arresting 5 members of Parliament, including the leader of the organization, and 10 party officials. A search was under way for another lawmaker and more than 20 party members.

It is the first time that the leader of a political party and members of Parliament have been arrested in Greece since the fall of a military junta in 1974.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Greek bonds rally as German election draws near

Fri Sep 20, 2013 4:50pm IST
By Marius Zaharia

(Reuters) - Greek government bonds rallied on Friday as an election campaign in European paymaster Germany neared its end with little clarity about what it might mean for Greece's future in the euro zone.

Funding gaps facing Athens and the risk Portugal may not return to markets when its bailout runs out next year will be among European policy challenges for Germany's next government.

Τέσσερεις νεκροί, δύο ιστορίες...

Ακολουθούν δύο κείμενα, ένα για τον νεκρό Π. Φύσσα που έπεσε νεκρός μετά από τις μαχαιριές που δέχθηκε από τον Γ.Π. φερόμενο ως μέλος της Χρυσής Αυγής και δράστη του εγκλήματος, και ένα για τους 3 νεκρούς την 10-5-2010 στην ΜΑΡΦΙΝ, οι οποίοι εγκλωβίσθηκαν στο κτίριο της τράπεζας όταν αντιεξουσιαστές πέταξαν βόμβα μολότοφ στο ισόγειο με αποτέλεσμα να πάρει φωτιά το κτίριο. Ο αναγνώστης μπορεί να συγκρίνει το λόγο και το ύφος που η ίδια εφημερίδα, η ΑΥΓΗ, υιοθετεί στις δύο περιπτώσεις και να βγάλει τα συμπεράσματά του. Για όσους θέλουν να το ερευνήσουν περισσότερο, τα άρθρα που δημοσίευσε η πιο πάνω εφημερίδα μπορεί να τα βρει γράφοντας στο search box του Google, “inurl:www.avgi.gr μαρφίν 3 νεκροί” (χωρίς εισαγωγικά).
Για το τρέχον περιστατικό η αρθρογραφία είναι σε εξέλιξη.

Friday, September 20, 2013

On the edge

The mood in the Greek capital is at the boiling point

Sep 21st 2013 | ATHENS |From the print edition

A WHIFF of tear gas, the first in the city centre for almost a year, signalled the start of a new round of protests led by Greek teachers, school and university administrators, and members of the capital’s recently disbanded municipal police. All face being laid off in a long-awaited cull of public-sector workers. Riot police resorted to firing the tear gas on September 16th to dissuade a group of school guards from occupying the ministry of public administration.

Why Greece Is Not Weimar

By ROGER COHEN
Published: September 19, 2013
The New York Times
ATHENS — The perfect political storm for violent extremism has descended on Greece. It consists of national humiliation, economic disaster, high immigration, political division and international tutelage. Look no further than Weimar Germany to understand its ingredients
In the subdued streets of the Greek capital, where a vague menace hangs like a pall, tempers are frayed. The economy is turning slowly, after draconian cuts and two bailouts totaling €240 billion, but not enough yet to be felt. The cry of the extreme right resounds: We, the fathers of civilization, have been sold out by the international loan sharks!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Syria deal

Russian reading
Sep 14th 2013, 22:46 by J.P.P. | WASHINGTON, D.C
AMERICA and Russia have an agreement on removing or destroying Syria’s extensive collection of chemical weapons. The headline points are that Bashar Assad’s regime must submit a full inventory within a week. Should his government find that deadline too exacting, Vladimir Putin’s former colleagues in the SVR, the successor organisation to the KGB, can probably help out. Then the weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014. If Syria fails to comply with these terms it will face a chapter seven resolution in the UN Security Council which, for those who have not looked at their copy of the organisation’s charter since 2003, is the one that covers the use of force. Compliance will be in the eye of the beholder.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Greece says primary budget surplus means it on track to hit EU-IMF targets

By Harry Papachristou and Lefteris Papadimas
ATHENS | Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:53am EDT
(Reuters) - Greece said on Tuesday its budget was in surplus, not counting interest payments, and that it was on course to hit fiscal targets and fulfill conditions to seek additional debt relief from its international lenders.

The central government had a primary budget surplus of 2.92 billion euros ($3.87 billion) between January and August, the finance ministry said.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Can China lead Greece out of darkness?


9 September 2013 Last updated at 00:57 GMT
Mark Lowen
By Mark Lowen
BBC News, Athens
At Greece's southern port of Piraeus, the Chinese have arrived.
Rail-mounted cranes use a complex system of ropes and pulleys to offload containers from cargo ships onto lorries.
The equipment was built by China's state-run shipping company, Cosco, which paid 500m euros (£426m) to upgrade and run the terminal. It is Greece's largest inward investment and gives China a key access point to Europe.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Draghi cautious on recovery, says ECB ready to act


By Eva Taylor and Sakari Suoninen
FRANKFURT | Thu Sep 5, 2013 11:51am EDT
(Reuters) - The European Central Bank said on Thursday it was ready to cut interest rates or pump more money into the euro zone economy if needed to bring money market rates down and help the euro zone's "very, very green" recovery.

The bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, as expected by all 60 economists polled by Reuters.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Analysis: How much Europe is too much Europe?

By Luke Baker
BRUSSELS | Sun Sep 1, 2013 2:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - In the dark days of Europe's debt crisis in 2012, when it seemed Greece might be forced out of the euro and the single currency could implode, leaders believed "more Europe" was the only answer.