Greek far-right leaders accused of organised violence

Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:54pm IST

* Case triggered after left-wing rapper knifed to death in street

* Testimony said to reveal inner workings of far-right Golden Dawn

* Party vote soared with debt crisis, sees political witch-hunt

By Renee Maltezou and Deepa Babington

ATHENS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - She first got into politics in Greece last year - when she bought herself a bullet-proof vest and learned how to beat up immigrants with poles hung with the national flag.

Global finance chiefs ready defenses ahead of Fed exit

By Anna Yukhananov and Alonso Soto

WASHINGTON | Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:58pm EDT

(Reuters) - Global finance chiefs on Saturday told the IMF to stand ready to aid emerging market economies that could be destabilized by a sudden flight of capital when the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks back away from ultra-loose monetary policies.

The International Monetary Fund's governing panel, after a semi-annual meeting, acknowledged the risks posed by a transition toward more normal policies in advanced economies, and it urged nations not to delay preparations.

Ex-Minister in Greece Is Found Guilty in Bribery Case

October 7, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — In a landmark verdict, a former Greek defense minister and co-founder of the country’s once-mighty Socialist Party, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, was found guilty on Monday of setting up a complex money-laundering network to cover the trail of millions of dollars in bribes that he is said to have pocketed from government weapons purchases.

Leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn jailed before trial

By Lefteris Papadimas and Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS | Thu Oct 3, 2013 7:36am EDT

(Reuters) - The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party was sent to jail on Thursday pending trial on criminal charges, the first time an elected party chief has been put behind bars since a military coup nearly five decades ago.

The imprisonment of Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, who has watched support for his party wane after a supporter fatally stabbed a popular rapper, is a reprieve for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government that has vowed to wipe out the party, calling it a "gang of neo-Nazis".

Greece's Golden Dawn lawmakers freed before trial

By Renee Maltezou and Yorgos Karahalis

ATHENS | Wed Oct 2, 2013 1:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - Three senior lawmakers from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn were freed on Wednesday pending trial on criminal charges, an unexpected setback to the government's efforts to clamp down on a party it has labeled a neo-Nazi criminal gang.

The decision to free the men after an 18-hour court session raises questions about the solidity of the state's case against Golden Dawn after one of its sympathizers stabbed to death an anti-fascism rapper.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Merkel Blames SPD’s Schroeder for Letting Greece Into the Euro

By Stefan Nicola - Aug 28, 2013 1:00 AM GMT+0300

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pin the blame for the euro-region’s debt turmoil on her Social Democratic predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, saying he should never have let Greece into the single currency area.

Merkel, addressing a campaign rally in the northern German town of Rendsburg yesterday, said the debt crisis that emerged in Greece in late 2009 and dominated her second term had been “brewing for many years” going back to the euro’s inception.

Filmmaker Captures Unguarded Racist Hatred of Greece's Hostile Golden Dawn Party

Konstantinos Georgousis' Film Shows Group's Fury at Greece's Immigrant Community

By JAKE WHITMAN

Aug. 13, 2013—

ABCNEWS

In Greece, a country crippled by debt and years of failed leadership, a young filmmaker went inside the hate-fueled, rebellious political party known as "Golden Dawn" to capture its members' vocal hostility against immigrants in a society on the brink.

Parliament Votes to Indict Ex-Official in Greece

July 15, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — Greek lawmakers voted early Tuesday in favor of indicting former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou over the way he handled a list of more than 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, a possible source of much-needed tax revenue that was never exploited by the authorities.

In a secret ballot that followed a contentious debate, a majority of lawmakers in Greece’s 300-seat Parliament said that Mr. Papaconstantinou should stand trial on three charges: breach of trust, tampering with an official document and breach of duty.

Greece’s government: Up, but not out

Greece has performed better than expected, but still has much to do

May 25th 2013 | ATHENS

The Economist

WHAT a difference a year makes. Last May Greece seemed to be heading out of the euro. Lagging reforms, political in-fighting and violent protests had worn out creditors’ patience. An election failed to produce a clear winner. Athenians stashed euros in safety-deposit boxes and under mattresses amid fears of instability and a chaotic return to the drachma.

"Iron Lady" Thatcher mourned, but critics speak out

By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton

LONDON | Mon Apr 8, 2013 6:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - Britain and admirers worldwide are mourning Margaret Thatcher, who has died aged 87, as the "Iron Lady" who rolled back the state and faced down her enemies during 11 years as Britain's first woman prime minister.

Her impact on the 1980s was such that opponents, including Labour's Tony Blair and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, led tributes to a legacy that radically transformed the British economy along free-market lines now widely taken for granted and includes her role in the peaceful end to the Cold War.

Italy’s Borrowing Costs Rise at Bond Auction After Downgrade

By Chiara Vasarri - Mar 13, 2013 2:39 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Italian borrowing costs rose in the first bond auction since a credit rating downgrade last week that highlighted the economic risks of the country’s current political stalemate.

Greece Faces 150,000 Job-Cut Hurdle to Aid Payment: Euro Credit

Bloomberg News

By Maria Petrakis and Marcus Bensasson on March 11, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-11/greece-faces-150-000-job-cut-hurdle-to-aid-payment-euro-credit#p1

Greece is locked in talks with international creditors in Athens about shrinking the government workforce by enough to keep bailout payments flowing.

Identifying redundant positions and putting in place a system that will lead to mandatory exits for about 150,000 civil servants by 2015 is a so-called milestone that will determine whether the country gets a 2.8 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) aid instalment due this month. More than a week of talks on that has so far failed to clinch an agreement.

Greece charges three ex-ministers over income declarations

ATHENS | Wed Mar 6, 2013 12:42pm EST

(Reuters) - A Greek prosecutor charged three former ministers on Wednesday for failing to declare the source of their wealth, the latest high-profile politicians in legal trouble as public anger rises at a political class widely seen as corrupt.

Greek government backs its embattled statistics chief

By Dina Kyriakidou

ATHENS | Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:43am EST

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Greece's government on Thursday backed its embattled statistics chief, accused in felony charges of artificially inflating budget deficit figures to make the country's debt crisis appear worse.

Journalists in Greece Are Becoming Targets

By LIZ ALDERMAN

Published: January 12, 2013

The New York Times

¶ The Greek police on Saturday were looking for the people responsible for detonating makeshift bombs at the homes of five journalists in Athens, the latest in a series of actions taken against reporters in Greece who have raised questions about a deteriorating climate for media freedom.