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

Greece’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it had agreed with the European Commission to set a flat 10 percent tax on player winnings from both online and slot machine games operated by state-owned betting agency OPAP from next year. OPAP, one of the prime assets set for privatisation as part …

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One in three Greeks work without social security. According to data collected from the country’s biggest insurance fund IKA for the time between January-July 2012, controls conducted by labour inspectors showed that 12,629 employees were working without social security. That is, people work without enjoying any health care or having any perspective to get …

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I am paralyzed. I am not able to recover from the shock: Giulia Philippoy-Corleone is not among us anymore. Giu – as her friends called her – was killed in a traffic accident on September 12th 2012 in Keratea, in the west of Athens. Her family and friends are now desperately seeking …

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I am totally baffled! And with me, millions of Greeks following the negotiations between Athens and the Troika, the bargain on the austerity measures to come with the €11.5-billion package. On Friday, we read about the raise of retirement age from 65 to 67, on Monday we read “the Troika doubts the …

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Athens famous riot dog, the “Indignant dog”, the legendary Loukanikos, has ended his career as protester. On Thursday night a report in a Greek news portal and some mentions in Facebook claimed that he was not more in Athens and that he had been apparently adopted by loving pets’ parents and he …

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 Greece’s Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law (‘Αρειος Πάγος) decided to take radical measures against members of the Parliament caught in flagranti (to catch red-handed, in action) in committing felonies: Arrest! The circular sent to prosecutors and police departments does not namely refer to MPs of extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) however the …

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Huh?!? I did not know that trade unionists were receiving an additional pension, “the Unionists’ pension”. But that was the case according to a law of 1937! Presidents and general secretaries of primary and secondary trade unions as well as members of the administration of GSEE (umbrella for private sector unions) …

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I can’t help but to have pity with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She suffers from a permanent bleeding heart. Three weeks after she said that [German government’s] hearts bleeds over the sacrifices of Greek employees and low pensioners, she publicly reiterated her plight. However this time she added that “rich …

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 The news was too tough for the employee to bear. The man collapsed and passed away within minutes upon hearing that he had been dismissed. The 49-year-old man was employed at a company in Heraklion, Crete. The moment his employer announced his dismissal due to economic crisis imposed job cuts, the …

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Workers at Athens Metro, Tram and Urban Train (ISAP/HSAP) will launch a 24-hour strike on September 20th 2012.  However they leave the possibility open for a change in the date, should their colleagues in blue buses and trolleys decide to launch similar actions. With the strike, workers in Athens public transport …

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It’s official! You can’t insult the President of the European Union and get away with it. Especially if you neglect to submit your appeal to a court ruling. A European court announced on Monday that eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage (UK) had lost an appeal against a fine imposed by the European Parliament …

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 It looks as if property owners in Greece will have to put their hands even deeper in their pockets. After the several property taxes will allegedly be unified into one tax, when the new taxation system will be due, the state will seek other ways to make property owners regret for …

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