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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Greece on Track for More Aid, Official Says

August 26, 2013

By JACK EWING

The New York Times

BERLIN — The highest-ranking German in the European Central Bank said Monday that Greece could be eligible for additional aid and debt relief next year if it continued to fulfill promises made for the assistance it was already receiving.

This Age of Bubbles

August 22, 2013

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The New York Times

So, another BRIC hits the wall. Actually, I’ve never much liked the whole “BRIC” — Brazil, Russia, India, and China — concept: Russia, which is basically a petro-economy, doesn’t belong there at all, and there are large differences among the other three. Still, it’s hard to deny that India, Brazil, and a number of other countries are now experiencing similar problems. And those shared problems define the economic crisis du jour.

Greece could return to debt market in late 2014, Stournaras says

BERLIN | Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:11am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece could return to debt markets to test the water in the second half of 2014 if his country returns to growth in the first half of next year and manages a primary surplus, its finance minister said in a German media interview out on Monday.

Greece will need third aid deal, German Finance Minister admits

By Gernot Heller

AHRENSBURG, Germany | Tue Aug 20, 2013 8:20am EDT

(Reuters) - Germany's finance minister admitted for the first time on Tuesday that Greece would need a third aid package, as a source in Athens said the sums involved in any new deal would be far smaller than previous rescues.

"There will have to be another program in Greece," Wolfgang Schaeuble told a campaign audience in northern Germany, in comments that raised prospect of a step that could be deeply unpopular domestically just five weeks before national elections.

Euro Zone Returns to Growth, but Malaise Lingers

Updated August 14, 2013, 7:52 p.m. ET

Currency Area Emerges From Longest Postwar Economic Contraction

By MARCUS WALKER in Berlin and CHARLES FORELLE in LondonCONNECT

The euro zone's marathon recession has ended, spurred by solid economic performances in both Germany and France. But the modest recovery won't go very far in fixing the bloc's deeper problems and threatens to stoke a sense of complacency in European capitals.

The currency bloc's return to slow growth—confirmed by data published Wednesday that showed its economy grew at a 1.1% annualized rate in the second quarter—is likely to encourage European politicians to claim that the region's debt crisis is receding. Once-frantic efforts to fix the common currency's flaws are already showing signs of petering out.

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.

Contraction Shows Signs of Slowing for Greece

August 12, 2013

By DAVID JOLLY

The New York Times

The Greek economy posted its 20th consecutive quarterly decline in the three months through June, government data showed on Monday, but a slower pace of contraction provided a glimmer of hope for beleaguered Greeks.