International migrant-smuggling ring dismantled in Greece

The Washington Post

By Associated Press December 12 at 10:20 AM
ATHENS, Greece — Greek and British authorities say they have dismantled an international ring suspected of smuggling hundreds of migrants to Britain and other European countries using falsified travel documents.

A Greek police statement says that 24 suspects were arrested last week in the Athens area, and another nine in Glasgow, Northampton and Manchester in Britain.

Greece Needs Fiscal Breathing Room

We’ve exceeded our targets and ended up with a surplus. The wise thing to do would be to give it back to the citizens.

The Wall Street journal

By FRANCISCOS KOUTENTAKIS
Dec. 12, 2016 3:17 p.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
This will be the second year in a row that Greece has beaten its primary fiscal targets. In contrast to the pessimistic projections of its creditors, Greece’s authorities have proved themselves capable of delivering on the country’s promises.

Prime Minister Announces Handouts as Strike Cripples Greece

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSDEC. 8, 2016, 3:21 P.M. E.S.T.

The New York Times

ATHENS, Greece — As thousands of Greeks protested against government spending cuts during a general strike that crippled the country Thursday, struggling Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced one-off measures to ease the burden on pensioners and island residents.

Tsipras said the government would distribute a total of 617 million euros this Christmas to some 1.6 million low-income pensioners, replacing a holiday bonus scrapped by Greece's bailout creditors.

In a nationally televised address, Tsipras said the cash would come from a larger-than-expected surplus in Greece's primary budget, which excludes the cost of servicing the country's crippling debt.

Tsipras has seen his popularity plummet after a series of income cuts and tax hikes demanded by creditors. His left-wing Syriza party trails the main opposition conservatives by more than 10 percentage points in opinion polls.

Βερολίνο: "Οι εξαγγελίες Τσίπρα δεν συζητήθηκαν στο Eurogroup"

Άγνοια των παροχών Τσίπρα είχε το γερμανικό υπουργείο Οικονομικών και το Eurogroup. Ως επικοινωνιακή φυγή προς τα εμπρός λόγω των εσωπολιτικών πιέσεων βλέπουν γερμανοί αρθρογράφοι τις χριστουγεννιάτικες παροχές του.


deutsche welle

Ούτε το γερμανικό υπουργείο των Οικονομικών, αλλά ούτε και το Eurogroup γνώριζε για τις χθεσινοβραδινές εξαγγελίες του έλληνα πρωθυπουργού σχετικά με τις παροχές προς τους χαμηλοσυνταξιούχους και το πάγωμα του ΦΠΑ στα νησιά των Αιγαίου με μεγάλη προσφυγική ροή. Σε ερώτησηπου απηύθυνε η Deutsche Welle προς την εκπρόσωπο του γερμανικού υπουργείου Οικονομικών, εάν είχε γνώση των εξαγγελιών Τσίπρα το υπουργείο της, η Φρεντερίκε φον Τιζενχάουζεν μας απάντησε ως εξής: «Όχι, το θέμα δεν συζητήθηκε ούτε και στο Eurogroup της περασμένης Δευτέρας. Αλλά είναι υπόθεση των θεσμών να αξιολογούν τέτοιου είδους μέτρα».
Ο γερμανικός τύπος κάνει αναφορά στο αιφνιδιαστικό, όπως το χαρακτηρίζει, διάγγελμα του έλληνα πρωθυπουργού προς τον ελληνικό λαό με παροχές προς τους συνταξιούχους και τους κατοίκους νησιών με πολλούς πρόσφυγες. Ορισμένοι αρθρογράφοι εκφράζουν έκπληξη για αυτήν την κίνηση του κ. Τσίπρα σε μια κρίσιμη περίοδο έντονων αντιπαραθέσεων και αγώνα δρόμου προκειμένου να κλείσει η δεύτερη αξιολόγηση.

Greece, Not Italy, Still Poses Biggest Challenge to Eurozone

A crisis in one country only becomes a crisis for the whole eurozone when a collective European response is required, Simon Nixon writes

The Wall Street Journal

By SIMON NIXON
Dec. 7, 2016 3:27 p.m. ET
4 COMMENTS
Not for the first time this year, the doom-mongers have been confounded. The Italian referendum over the weekend resulted in a resounding defeat for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who promptly announced his resignation. Yet the sky didn’t fall in, the euro dipped and then rallied, and Italian bonds and bank stocks barely budged. Other European assets were also largely unmoved.

Give Greece Credit, Even Just for Treading Water

25DEC 6, 2016 1:23 AM EST
By
Mark Gilbert
Bloomberg

Here are two things I'll bet most people don't know about Greece. The country's just-appointed minister of economy and development, Dimitri Papadimitriou, was lured away from his position as head of the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College in America. He's not a member of the ruling Syriza party. And the man appointed secretary general for public revenue in January is Giorgos Pitsillis, a professional tax lawyer. He's not a party member, either.

Europe's Still Dithering Over Greece

Bloomberg
Editorial Board
DEC 7, 2016 12:30 AM EST
This week, the European Union’s finance ministers granted some new debt relief to Greece. The new “short-term” measures are better than nothing -- but they’re less than a convincing solution to a problem that has dragged on far too long.

The deal, sketched out and agreed to in principle earlier this year, should help the Greek government convince voters to keep accepting much-needed domestic reform. That’s good. It isn’t enough, though, to put the country’s debts and budget plans on a sustainable footing. That’s why the International Monetary Fund, whose support will be necessary to achieve that larger goal, isn’t yet on board. After years of muddling through, the issue still isn’t resolved.

EU Offers Greece Near-Term Debt Relief, Demands More Reforms

by Nikos Chrysoloras , Corina Ruhe , and Jonathan Stearns
December 5, 2016 — 2:59 PM EST December 5, 2016 — 4:12 PM EST
Regling says steps may cut debt by 20 percentage points of GDP
Debt measures ‘very promising,’ says Greece’s Tsakalotos

Euro-area finance ministers agreed to measures that will help ease Greece’s debt burden, while insisting that the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras adopt “serious” reforms that will ensure the nation maintains a proper fiscal record after the end of its current bailout.

Finance ministers from the currency bloc meeting in Brussels clinched steps that could cumulatively reduce Greece’s debt by 20 percentage points relative to gross domestic product through 2060, Klaus Regling, managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, said Monday. The measures include easing the repayment schedule of bailout loans, waiving a coupon penalty that would amount to about 200 million euros ($215 million) and swapping debt to mitigate interest rate risk.

Greece gets short-term debt relief from eurozone

By Pan Pylas | AP December 5 at 4:14 PM

The Washington Post

BRUSSELS — Greece won some short-term debt relief from European creditors on Monday even though it failed to clear the latest hurdle in its bailout program that has prevented the country going bankrupt and crashing out of the euro.


At a meeting of the 19 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels that was largely overshadowed by the Italian referendum result that forced Premier Matteo Renzi to offer his resignation, Greece’s creditors offered some immediate help to the cash-strapped Greek government.

Eurozone Finance Ministers Agree to Some Debt Relief for Greece’s Bailout

Maturities extended and interest rates locked on some Greek debt but no agreement yet on IMF participation

The Wall Street Journal

By VIKTORIA DENDRINOU and  NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Updated Dec. 5, 2016 4:10 p.m. ET

BRUSSELS—Eurozone finance ministers, seeking to get the International Monetary Fund to participate in Greece’s bailout, agreed on a package of short-term measures that could ease the country’s debt load by around a fifth in 2060.

The ministers, gathering in Brussels for their monthly meeting on Monday, had hoped to move closer to agreeing on a set of overhauls Greece must enact under its bailout—which could reach €86 billion ($92.3 billion)—as well as a series of debt-relief measures from its European creditors. Both steps are required to get the IMF to participate in the bailout.

Fearing abandonment by Trump, CIA-backed rebels in Syria mull alternatives

The Washington Post

By Karen DeYoung and Louisa Loveluck December 3 at 6:03 PM
Three years after the CIA began secretly shipping lethal aid to rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, battlefield losses and fears that a Donald Trump administration will abandon them have left tens of thousands of opposition fighters weighing their alternatives.

Among the options, say U.S. officials, regional experts and the rebels themselves, are a closer alliance with better-armed al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, receipt of more sophisticated weaponry from Sunni states in the Persian Gulf region opposed to a U.S. pullback, and adoption of more traditional guerrilla tactics, including sniper and other small-scale attacks on both Syrian and Russian targets.

China says Trump clear about Taiwan, in touch with his team

Mon Dec 5, 2016 | 5:20am EST

Reuters

By Ben Blanchard and Roberta Rampton | BEIJING/WASHINGTON
U.S. President-elect Trump is clear about China's position on the Taiwan issue and China has maintained contacts with his team, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as Trump took to Twitter to complain about Chinese economic and military policy.

Trump's unusual call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday prompted a diplomatic protest on Saturday, though U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence played down the telephone conversation, saying it was a "courtesy" call, not intended to show a shift in U.S. policy on China.

Markets stabilise after Italian referendum

5-12-2016
BBC

The euro was hit after Mr Renzi announced his intention to resign. At one stage the euro hit $1.0505, its lowest level against the US currency since March 2015.
But it rebounded from that low to stand at $1.0634, a fall of just 0.3%.
Shares in Italian banks opened lower before recovering ground.
The troubled Monte dei Paschi was down by more than 5% in the first few minutes of trade, but then rebounded and had edged into positive territory. Shares in Unicredit and Intesa also fell sharply at first before recovering.

Greece sees final solution on debt crisis amid euro uncertainty

Sun Dec 4, 2016 | 12:22pm EST

Reuters

Political uncertainty in Europe has created fresh momentum for a "comprehensive and permanent" solution to the Greek debt crisis before the year ends, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

Euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss short-term debt relief for Greece, and Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble said it must implement reforms instead of hoping for further debt forgiveness.

Greece remained optimistic for a final debt deal, however, just as Italians are voting on a constitutional referendum on Sunday and a victory for the opposition 'No' camp may push the euro zone toward fresh crisis.

Greece and Its Creditors Get Back on a Collision Course

Greece’s woes oblige the eurozone to do something it has rarely appeared capable of doing: take a collective political decision, Simon Nixon writes.

The Wall Street Journal

By SIMON NIXON
Updated Dec. 4, 2016 1:44 p.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
In a continent beset by multiple crises, Greece remains the cradle of European dysfunction. The country may have dropped out of the headlines in recent months, its multiple challenges seemingly buried under a tide of bailout cash. Yet it still presents the greatest risk to the survival of the eurozone. That is because Greece’s circumstances oblige the eurozone to do something it has so far appeared incapable of doing, except under conditions of extreme financial stress: take a collective political decision.

WHY THE FRAGILE STABILITY IN GREECE MAY NOT LAST MUCH LONGER

A crunch summit with creditors begins Monday.
BY JOSH LOWE ON 12/3/16 AT 2:59 PM

Newsweek

It was late November in Athens, and the city felt empty. A string of surprise thunderstorms kept people imprisoned indoors and outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square—where anti-austerity protests raged throughout the summer of 2015—was bare but for a few brave tourists and one quizzical-looking stray dog watching the Evzones guards perform their distinctive, shuffling shift change routine, complete with pom-pom shoes and kilts. With so much unrest elsewhere in Europe, it would be easy to think Greece is heading toward relative quietude.

The coming weeks could change all that. On December 5, the finance ministers of the Eurozone will meet in Brussels for their last scheduled summit of the year. On the agenda is the ongoing second review of Greece’s bailout program, which since 2015 has allowed the country to receive financial assistance from European creditors that will eventually total €86 billion ($91.7 billion) in exchange for carrying out reforms including shrinking the public sector, reining in government spending and raising taxes.

Greece needs reforms, not debt relief: Germany's Schaeuble

 Sat Dec 3, 2016 | 6:30pm EST

Reuters

Structural reforms rather than debt relief will help Greece to achieve sustainable growth and stay in the euro zone because rates and repayment are putting hardly any burden on its budget, Gerany's finance minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss short-term measures to lighten Greece's debt burden and to assess Athens' progress in reforms required within its third bailout program.

Asked in an interview by Bild am Sonntag newspaper whether it might be time to tell German voters that a debt cut for Greece was inevitable, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: "That would not help Greece."

Eurozone Bailout Fund Proposes Short-Term Debt Relief for Greece

ESM proposes extension on some maturities and locking in the interest on some loans to ease Greece’s debt load

The Wall Street Journal

By VIKTORIA DENDRINOU
Updated Nov. 30, 2016 7:57 a.m. ET
2 COMMENTS
BRUSSELS—Confidential proposals drawn up by the eurozone’s bailout fund could reduce Greece’s debt load by about a fifth in 2060.

A six-page document, dated Nov. 25 and seen by The Wall Street Journal, was produced by the European Stability Mechanism, the Luxembourg-based eurozone bailout fund. It outlines measures that could be taken in the near future to reduce Greece’s large debt load.

The paper proposes to ease Greece’s debt load by extending some maturities and locking in the interest on some of Greece’s loans to shield it from future interest-rate increases.

The Latest, Greatest Threat to the Euro: Populism

Elections and referendums in the year ahead pose a far different challenge from the financial crisis of recent years

The Wall Street Journal

By GREG IP
Updated Nov. 30, 2016 11:32 a.m. ET


The euro has survived sovereign default, recessions, banking crises and bailouts. It may not survive populism.

In the coming year, the eurozone will host at least five elections or referendums that could bring a populist, euroskeptic party to power. In effect, the common currency is about to play multiple rounds of Russian roulette.

The populist threat is qualitatively different from the financial crisis that first erupted in Greece in 2009 and eventually engulfed half the region. In that case, what worried private investors was that a country, or its banks, would default on its debt and be forced to leave the euro. Investors fled, driving interest rates sky-high and plunging the continent into recession.

Tired of Syriza, Greece embraces a mainstream party

The centre-right New Democracy party is dull, technocratic and leading the polls
Dec 3rd 2016 | ATHENS


The Economist

THE headquarters of New Democracy, a centre-right political party, is in an unexpected part of Athens. The building, surrounded by warehouses, housed a branch of a Japanese technology firm before standing derelict for years. Few other political types are nearby. The rent, at €9,800 ($10,400) a month, is a tenth of what the party’s old office used to cost. Yet the relocation, which happened in August, is also symbolic. As the opposition party has moved to a cheaper part of town, so too does it hope that it can present itself to the public as a new, improved alternative to the Greek government. With Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister (pictured, on the left), growing less popular, New Democracy may well have a chance.