Turkey, Greece to Develop Economic Ties Despite Differences

Renewed Tensions Over Gas Fields Off Cyprus

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS

Dec. 6, 2014 8:22 a.m. ET

ATHENS—Greece and Turkey confirmed Saturday their commitment to developing economic ties between the two countries but admitted to disputes over energy and Cyprus separating the two sides.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday wound up a two-day trip to the Greek capital Athens where he attended a forum on confidence-building measures between the two countries that have nearly gone to war three times in the last four decades.

Greece Expects Primary Budget Surplus for 2015

But Spending Plans Not Agreed with Creditors

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS and  ALKMAN GRANITSAS

Updated Nov. 21, 2014 7:03 a.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

ATHENS—Greece’s 2015 budget, submitted by the government to parliament on Friday, aims to meet the fiscal demands of the country’s creditors but comes without the prior approval of its troika of international inspectors.

Greek unemployment eases to 25.9 percent in August

ATHENS Thu Nov 13, 2014 5:11am EST

(Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate fell to 25.9 percent in August from a downwardly revised 26.1 percent rate in July as the country's six-year recession eases, Greek statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.

August's reading was the lowest since August 2012 when unemployment stood at 25.5 percent. The record high was set in September 2013, when unemployment hit 28 percent.

Greece's unemployment is coming down from record highs as the economy stabilizes after a severe recession but remains at more than double the euro zone average of 11.5 percent in August. Greek national output is projected to emerge from recession and expand by 0.6 percent this year.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos, editing by Deepa Babington)

Greece deserves respect for holding to its word

September 15 at 5:35 PM

Letters To The Editor

The Washington Post

Instead of applauding Greece for meeting its responsibility to NATO during a time of unprecedented economic crisis, Charles Lane chose to take an unnecessary, sarcastic swipe at the United States’ longtime ally in his Sept. 4 op-ed column, “ Bombs or benefits? ”

During the crisis, Greece has resisted compromising its defense budget. It is one of four NATO members to meet the alliance’s mandated standard to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Greece spends nearly 2.3 percent.

Is Greece losing its reform drive?

By Hugo Dixon JUNE 23, 2014

Reuters

By Hugo Dixon

Hugo Dixon is Editor-at-Large, Reuters News. The opinions expressed are his own.

Is Greece losing its reform drive? Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has stuck to a harsh fitness programme for two years. But just as it is bearing fruit, he has sidelined some reformers in a reshuffle. There is only one viable path to redemption for Athens: stick to the straight and narrow.

The Greek economy is not out of the woods yet, although the measures taken to balance public finances and restore the country’s competitiveness are having their effect.

Greece's Golden Dawn to enter EU Parliament for first time

Exit polls give the party, which denies it subscribes to neo-Nazi ideology, around a 10 per cent of the Greek vote

The Guardian

By Fiona Govan, Athens8:29PM BST 25 May 2014

Golden Dawn, Greece’s extreme Right party, looked set to enter the European Parliament for the first time after winning between 9 and 10 per cent of the vote, exit polls showed on Sunday.

The party, which denies accusations that it is a criminal organisation following neo-Nazi ideology, was Greece’s third most popular party in the election and looked set to send three MEPs to Brussels.

“Golden Dawn is the third political power in Greece, it’s the only party that shows such a steep rise,” said Ilias Kasidiaris, the Golden Dawn spokesman who is known to have a swastika tattoo on his upper arm, at party headquarters following publication of exit polls.

Greece’s Syriza Wins EU Elections in Warning to Samaras

By Marcus Bensasson and Nikos Chrysoloras  May 26, 2014 9:52 AM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

Greece’s main opposition Syriza party placed first in elections to the European Parliament without winning by a big enough margin to destabilize Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government, with almost all votes counted.

“In the short run there is no problem of government stability,” Dimitris Sotiropoulos, associate professor of political science at the University of Athens, said in a phone interview. “While both governing parties have lost several percentage points each, their combined popular support is above the popular support of the main opposition.”

Greek current account deficit shrinks in March

Thu May 22, 2014 4:21am EDT

ATHENS, May 22 (Reuters) - Greece's current account deficit

shrank in March from the same month last year, according to

balance of payments figures released by the central bank on

Thursday.

    The deficit stood at 44 million euros ($60.12 million) from

1.24 billion euros in March 2013.

    Tourism revenues rose to 195 million euros in March from 151

million in the same month in 2013.

***************************************************************

    KEY FIGURES (bln euros)        2014         2013

    January                                     -0.295       -0.314

    February                                   -0.709       -0.684

    March                                       -0.044       -1.241

    -------------------------------------------------

    source: Bank of Greece   

($1 = 0.7318 Euros)

 (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Karolina

Tagaris)

European Elections to Test Greek Coalition

There is one country where the European parliamentary elections really do matter—Greece.

By SIMON NIXON

The Wall Street Journal

May 18, 2014 5:45 p.m. ET

There seems to be a broad consensus—among voters and in the markets—that this week's European parliamentary elections don't matter very much.

Although the Parliament has gained new powers over the years, few voters identify with it. Polls suggest many will see the election as an opportunity to cast protest votes for populist parties. Most voters suspect the outcome will make little difference to the future direction of Europe, which will in any case continue to be set by national leaders and parliaments.

No Clear Winner in First Round of Greek Local Elections

By Nikos Chrysoloras and Paul Tugwell  May 19, 2014 9:23 AM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

The first round of local and regional elections in Greece ended yesterday with no single party securing enough support to declare a decisive victory.

“Personalities won over political parties, as independent candidates are ahead in the country’s three largest cities,” said Loukas Tsoukalis, president of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, an Athens-based think-tank. “The results show the fragmentation of Greece’s political landscape,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.

Greece qualifies for new debt relief after 2013 budget surplus

BRUSSELS/ATHENS Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:59am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece is set to obtain more debt relief from its international lenders after European officials confirmed on Wednesday that Athens had topped its fiscal targets and achieved a budget surplus in 2013.

Wednesday's announcement come on the fourth anniversary of Greece's official request for a bailout after it lost access to global bond markets. Earlier this month, Greece returned to the markets with the sale of five-year bonds.

The budget surplus is a sign of the progress Greece has made to fix its finances after four years of tough bailout-imposed austerity that wiped out almost a quarter of its GDP and sent unemployment to record highs of almost 28 percent.

Greece Expects New Record in Tourist Arrivals: Minister

By Eleni Chrepa  Apr 15, 2014 12:55 PM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

Greece’s successful return to bond markets is the most recent in a series of “positive messages” for the economy that included the country posting a record year for tourism and forecasting an even stronger 2014, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said.

“We have left the big difficulties behind us,” Kefalogianni said in an interview yesterday. “The trend is now turning and we’ll see the Greek economy start recovering this year.”

Greece posts wider primary budget surplus in Jan-Feb

ATHENS, March 11 Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:40am EDT

Reuters

(Reuters) - Greece's central government posted a primary budget surplus, before interest payments, of 2.1 billion euros ($2.91 billion) in the first two months of the year, compared to a surplus of 487 million euros in the same period last year, deputy finance minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday.

This is far above an interim target for a surplus in Jan-Feb of 1.047 billion euros. The figure excludes the budgets of social security organisations and local administration.

Year of the PIIGS? Greece leads 2014 stock market league table

Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have been the best performers in Europe so far in 2014

By Kyle Caldwell4:15PM GMT 25 Feb 2014

The Telegraph

Backers of the UK stock market are celebrating a steady start for the FTSE 100 in 2014 and a challenge of its 1999 all-time high of 6930. But its marginal gain of 1.3pc since the start of year is dwarfed by gains from some of the eurozone's most troubled economies.

Data from Russell Investments, an asset management firm, show Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Greece have been the best performers in Europe so far in 2014.

Greece resumes protracted bailout talks with lenders

BY HARRY PAPACHRISTOU AND LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS

ATHENS Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:02am EST

(Reuters) - Greece resumes bailout talks with its international lenders on Monday, hoping to end six months of wrangling over the release of new rescue loans it needs to avoid default.

At stake is the disbursement of funds to repay 9.3 billion of bonds maturing in May, the biggest single debt redemption Greece faces in the next three decades, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data.

The review by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund has dragged on since September, with disagreements about the extent of savings and reforms Athens must make to comply with the terms of its bailout.

Earthquake strikes off western coast of Greece, USGS says

By Jethro Mullen, CNN

February 3, 2014 -- Updated 0957 GMT (1757 HKT)

(CNN) -- A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck off the western coast of Greece early Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake hit near the island of Cephalonia, roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Athens, at a depth of about 14 kilometers (9 miles), the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Europe Puts Pressure on Greece to Meet Budget Targets

The New York Times

By DAVID JOLLYJAN. 27, 2014

BRUSSELS — European officials sought on Monday to keep the pressure on Greece to honor its previously agreed spending and privatization targets as they wrestled with the need to help Athens bridge a funding gap that could reach €15 billion over the next two years.

Greece declares emergency on quake-hit islands

The Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, January 27, 8:30 PM

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government announced emergency relief for the residents of the Ionian islands of Kefalonia and Ithaki on Monday, a day after they were hit by a strong earthquake that caused damage and slightly injured seven people.

Sunday’s quake, whose magnitude the Athens Geodynamic Institute revised to 5.9 from the preliminary 5.8, was followed by dozens of aftershocks that continued through Monday.

Greece holds investigation into migrants’ drowning

By Associated Press, Published: January 23

ATHENS, Greece — Greek judicial authorities said Thursday they are investigating the deadly sinking of a migrant boat that was being towed by a coast guard vessel, as officials denied survivors’ claims that officers badly mishandled the operation.

The small fishing boat crammed with 28 people had entered Greece illegally from Turkey. The Coast Guard said it was towing the boat to the small Aegean Sea island of Farmakonissi when it capsized and sank Monday leaving two people dead and another 10 — mostly children — missing and feared drowned.

Survivors who arrived in Athens claimed Thursday the boat was being led at speed to nearby Turkish waters to be abandoned. They said Coast Guard crew ignored their pleas to take the women and children on their boat before the accident, and then allegedly stood by as passengers struggled in rough seas.

Greece's anti-austerity Syriza party widens lead over conservatives

ATHENS Wed Jan 22, 2014 3:48am EST

(Reuters) - Greece's main opposition Syriza party has widened its lead over the ruling conservatives, a poll found on Wednesday, but most Greeks said they do not trust any party to rule the country.

The poll by Public Issue for the Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper found the anti-austerity party would get 31.5 percent of the vote if elections were held now, giving it a 3.5 percentage-point lead over Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's New Democracy.

Local and European Parliament elections will be held in May and Syriza, which has vowed to tear up the multi-billion euro international bailout agreement keeping Greece afloat, hopes a strong showing will strengthen its call for early elections.