Keep Talking Greece

Greeks Have a Good Feeling: Lenders Positive on Program Extension…

September 15, 2012 Comments Off on Greeks Have a Good Feeling: Lenders Positive on Program Extension…

Greeks got the feeling, that the climate is changing, it’s turning from negative-rejecting to positive- supportive. Some hints in this direction came from here and there yesterday, claim the Greek media. The country’s international lenders hint Greece may get the desired two-years extension. That apparently the total message from the Eurogroup meeting in Nicosia on …

Compensation of Greek President to Be Cut into Half: Just €11,561/Month

September 14, 2012 6

The monthly compensation a Greek President receives will be cut into half. With decision of the finance ministry and effect from September 1st 2012, the monthly compensation of a Greek president will be 11,561 euro. After the cut, he monthly compensation for the President is be equal to twice the salary of …

Greek Transport Ministry to Combat Ticket Dodgers with Free Tickets

September 14, 2012 Comments Off on Greek Transport Ministry to Combat Ticket Dodgers with Free Tickets

Greek Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure decided to introduce new measures to combat “ticket evasion”. Passengers returning ten cancelled tickets will be awarded with one ticket of charge. The Ministry targets to decrease the so-called ticket dodgers by 50 percent until the end of the year and so to avoid …

Swiss Banks Turn Down Greek Parliament Request to Open Bank Accounts of MPs

September 14, 2012 4

Bankers in Switzerland are not willing to cooperate with the Greek authorities asking the opening of potential bank accounts of members of the Parliament. According to Proto Thema, bankers in Switzerland cited the famous Swiss “banking secrecy”. Before the elections in June, former parliament speaker Philippos Petsalnikos had asked all MPs to authorize …

Shortage of Drugs Due to Pharma Embargo to Greek National Health Service

September 14, 2012 Comments Off on Shortage of Drugs Due to Pharma Embargo to Greek National Health Service

The never ending story of the Greek patient: While private pharmacists continue to block prescription medicine on credit, drugs have started to disappear from the pharmacies shelves of EOPYY. Patients have now to seek state pharmacies in hospitals to get life-saving medication. Gerasimos Voudouris, president of National health Care Services EOPYY, …

Greek Party Leader Tweets Obama in …Greek!

September 14, 2012 2

Leader of Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos got angry about US-President Barack Obama. Because Obama invited former prime minister George Papandreou to attend the Democrats’ congress. Not to mention the rumours that Obama allegedly offered a advisor’s position to Papandreou in view of the presidential elections in November. As Panos Kammenos saw no …

IMF Official’s Statement “Greece will Need 3. Bailout” Angers Greek FinMin and the IMF

September 13, 2012 13

The statements of Greece’s representative to International Monetary Fund annoyed Athens. “Greece will need a third bailout” Thanos Catsambas said in an interview to Wall Street Journal published on Thursday. Prompt was the angry answer by Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras to said – more or less -Catsambas has nothing to say …

Greek Gov’t Priority: Saving the Public Sector and Have All Greeks Pay the Price

September 13, 2012 2

Things look bad for the Greek private sector, in fact for all working Greeks, if we believe the leakages to the Greek press by several government sources concerning the progress of the11.5-billion-euro package of austerity measures. What we have been hearing since yesterday watching the news on TV is this: …

Want the Parthenon Marbles Returned to Greece? Say it with a “Click”!

September 13, 2012 Comments Off on Want the Parthenon Marbles Returned to Greece? Say it with a “Click”!

This is the initiative of Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) in Great Britain. You can visit their website and vote YES, the Parthenon Sculptures on display in the British Museum should return to Greece and exhibited at the New Acropolis Museum. Or Vote NO, keep them where they are. You can also participate …

Athens: Disabled on Wheelchairs Protest Welfare Cuts Outside Finance Ministry

September 13, 2012 1

Pictures of shame in the heart of the Greek capital: men and women on wheelchairs, blinds with walking sticks. They had to stage a protest rally in order to get an appointment with the Finance Minister. Knowing the famous “Greek reality” one can easily imagine, how they moved from one state …

Greece in IMF: 700K People With Zero-Income, 23.6% Unemployment in Q2/12, 700K With Zero-Income

September 13, 2012 3

One in five Greeks in best productive age are without work. 700,000 long-term jobless are without income as the unemployment allowance runs only for 12 months. Since last year, 1,000 people lose their work place and source of income – on a daily basis. these are the latest date published by Greek Statistics Authority …

Barroso: “United States of Europe” with “Pool Sovereignty”

September 13, 2012 10

The grandeur with the vision of an aspiring Orwellian Big Brother, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, revealed the plan of the “United States of Europe”: A federation of European member states, with common foreign and defense policy in addition to the ‘successful’ common economic and monetary union, …