Keep Talking Greece Greek News in English, Blog, Wit & Drama

Employees at IKEA branch Kiffisos in Athens walked out  on Tuesday to protest salary decreases by 11%. In agreement with the Retail Workers Association the employees launched a work stoppage on Tuesday. They are currently outside the shop and do not prohibit customers from doing their shopping… only that there is …

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The majority of schools in the prefecture of Trikala, Central Greece, are not able to supply heating oil even though temperatures have dropped to 10 degrees Celsius. Teachers are planning to complain at the local government even though it’s clear that there is no money available to cover such needs: neither …

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“The student who stunned politicians” is the title of the video, with Vasilis Themistoklis, 27, speaking to politicians about how the real life looks like when young labourers work for 450 euro per month. How the real horror the Greek politicians created looks like when one has to live within. …

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The video “Greece Welcomes You” to promote Greece became the target of sharp criticism from the very first moment it was uploaded on YouTube. The 4-minute long footage was showing a flash mob happening dancing a bit of syrtaki and a lot of breakdance. Among the audience, the passersby so …

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The mammoth tranche of 44 billion euro will be disbursed to Greece in two tranches, Greek media reported on Tuesday, hours before the start of crucial Eurogroup meeting. The first tranche of 34 billion euro will be released on December 5th 2012, while the rest 10 billion euro will flow …

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 Fire broke out on ferry boat “Crete II” while it was sailing 4-5 nautical miles away from the port of Patras, Peloponnese. The fire broke out in the garage deck short before midnight and burned down some 30 trucks. While the automatic fire extinguishing system of the ship managed to prohibit the …

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Just hours before the crucial Eurogroup meeting tomorrow Tuesday, Greece’s lenders – the notorious Troika -sent a fax to the government posing a new demand: the dismissal of 20,000-22,000 civil servants until 2014. According to news portal in.gr, the government rejected the Troika demand, with finance ministry sources saying “we …

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With two legislative actions and fourteen ministerial decisions the Greek government caused serious damage to two state powers of a sovereign state:  the Legislative and the Executive. Bypassing the Parliament, the government drafted legislative actions that give the Finance Minister super powers. Inspectors at ministries, local governments and public utilities enterprises will monitor …

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Residents will be called to fill up the holes if municipalities fail to meet austerity budget targets. According to governmental legislative act clause of ‘divergence’ from fiscal targets, residents in municipalities with debts will dig deep in their pockets paying hikes in fees including those for properties. Municipalities will be under …

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Employment in the Greek commerce sector shrank by over 12 percent in the past year and there is going to be no improvement in 2013, a report by the sector΄s main association claims. In a preview of its annual report, set to be released Monday, the National Confederation of Greek …

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With slogans and banners against the loan agreement, municipality workers and civil servants took to the streets on Monday, protesting the measure of ‘labour reserve’ that will forcefully sent home workers with only 75% of their salary and thus as of next month.  Municipality workers launched nationwide mobilizations protesting the labour …

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There is quite some dispute nowadays in Greece whether about the celebrations to commemorate the 39th Anniversary of Students’ Uprising against the military dictatorship at Polytechnic University in 1973.  In a society suffering from harsh austerity measures,  it is obvious that there is criticism about the so-called “Polytechnio Generation”: students …

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