Keep Talking Greece

UPD: Greek media on strike over health/pension funds, Oct 31/2012

October 31, 2012 5

Greek media went on 24-hour strike on Wednesday at 6 a.m. after Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras decided in a surprise move to integrate journalists’ insurance funds into the broke national health organization EOPPY. This decision caused strong reactions in the Greek parliament when the amendment was announced as part of the …

Ex French FinMin Baroin Examined Impact of Greek Euro Exit in 2011

October 30, 2012 Comments Off on Ex French FinMin Baroin Examined Impact of Greek Euro Exit in 2011

Francois Baroin, the former French finance minister, examined the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone with his advisors, according to advance extracts published Tuesday on the website of French magazine L’ Express from his forthcoming book on his experiences during the debt crisis. “It was a discussion …

George Soros: “Helping Greek Migrants would show European Solidariy”

October 30, 2012 9

Billionaire George Soros plans to establish charitable “solidarity houses” to help what he calls “Greek migrants”. These solidarity houses would serve as community centres for the local population and also provide food and shelter to migrants. In his open letter published on The Guardian, George Soros underlines the necessity to show European solidarity …

Athens: National Intelligence Personnel Protested Austerity Measures

October 30, 2012 Comments Off on Athens: National Intelligence Personnel Protested Austerity Measures

Some 200 employees of Greece’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) demonstrated outside the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection on Tuesday evening. EYP personnel protested the austerity measures and handed to the general secretary of the ministry a list with their demands. According to Greek media, the national security of …

NYT Op-Ed: Greece Arrests the Messenger

October 30, 2012 3

Hey! Caught red-handed and exposed even on the other side of the big river! Renomated New York Times sharply criticized “Greece’s slow and cumbersome justice system” and “mainstream Greek politicians”: the first for showing a “stunning swiftness” to arrest investigative Kostas Vaxevanis, and the latter for “shamefully stripping the poorest and most vulnerable from …

Greece in Governance Black-Out: PASOK & DEMLEFT Disagree with Samaras “Negotiation with Troika Completed”

October 30, 2012 5

Coalition partner and leader of PASOK, Evangelos Venizelos was angered over PM’s Samaras statement that the negotiation with the Troika has been completed, considering the negotiation has to continue until short before the Eurogroup meeting. With PASOK’s reaction and Democratic Left insisting in not voting for the labour rights ‘reforms’, the …

Greek PM Samaras’ New Old Dilemma: Measures or Chaos

October 30, 2012 5

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras issued a statement on Thusrday noon saying the negotiation with the Troika has been completed. Samaras announced that Greece has completed the austerity measures of 13.5 billion euro and the budget for 2013, two preconditions for the debt-ridden country to receive the loan tranche of …

UPD Athens: Man Threating to Blow Himself Up Surrendered to Police

October 30, 2012 2

A middle-aged man claiming to carry explosives is threatening to blow himself up in downtown Athens. According to Greek news portals, the man is sitting on a bench of a park near the presidential manor and the prime ministers’ office. Greek police has cordoned the area, while mediators have moved to the spot …

Public Order Minister Presents Parliament with Suspected Golden Dawn Crimes

October 30, 2012 Comments Off on Public Order Minister Presents Parliament with Suspected Golden Dawn Crimes

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday presented Parliament with a list of violent and criminal acts that have been attributed to deputies and officials of the ultra-nationalist party Golden Dawn in police reports from around the country. The lengthy document was submitted to the House following calls for an …

EUROPOL Dismantles International Network Smuggling Migrants to EU

October 30, 2012 Comments Off on EUROPOL Dismantles International Network Smuggling Migrants to EU

In a joint cooperation with Europol, Greek, Italian and German authorities dismantled an international criminal network smuggling Iraqi and Kurdish migrants to EU. The criminal organisation set up by Iraqis had transferred more than 1,500 people and earned around 12.5 million USD. The criminal used to move migrants from Turkey …

Berlin: Students Verbally Attack Ex PM Papandreou (video)

October 29, 2012 3

The prime minister who took Greece to IMF had an unpleasant surprise in Berlin. While he was enjoying dinner in a restaurant in Berlin, a group of Greek students stormed in and started to verbally attack him. “Shame on you!”, “You ridiculed the country!”, “You eat with people’s money!”, “Go, …

Mini Crash: Athens Stock Exchange Plunges -6,28%

October 29, 2012 Comments Off on Mini Crash: Athens Stock Exchange Plunges -6,28%

Athens Stock Exchange suffered a mini crach on Monday, plunged by -6.28%, the General Index fell below 820 units and the banking sector with losses of 15% as Greece’s lenders refused to make any concessions on labour rights ‘reforms’ and junior coalition government partner Democratic Left insists on not voting in favor of the …