For one more time, Greece is in the Eurogroup’s Twilight Zone. Some of the creditors insist on putting obstacles in front of the release of the 2-billion euro bailout tranche. And no wonder, it is the usual “suspects”: Schaeuble, Dijsselboem & Co. Ok, everybody knows that Dijsselbloem is following Schaeuble’s …

The dignitaries who arrived at the airport early in the morning to wave Goodbye were almost as much as the passengers. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, Greek Minister for Migration Yannis Mousalas. If one …

He has been suspiciously quiet lately. Apparently because he had nothing new to say. But today, he thought it was time to raise hand and catch Athens’ eye. Just in case, the Greeks wanted to make some short of secret arrangements with noble guest EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici or something. …

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici arrived in Athens today. He talked with the Prime Minister and other important members of the cabinet about “prior actions”, austerity cuts, structural reforms and equivalent measures. One of Moscovici’s hot spots is whether the Greek government can scrap the 23% Value Added Tax …

I do not know if today is International Value Added Tax Day, but after the VAT in private education , now it is turn of  the V.A.T. in nursing homes. Almost 3 months after the V.A.T. in nursing homes rose from 13% to 23%, their Association came out with a …

No. There is no end. Refugees keep coming from Turkey to Greece and tragedies are endless. A baby, two little girls, a woman. They all died after their boat collided with a Greek Coast Guard vessel that was supposed to rescue them.  Four more migrants are reportedly missing. The latest …

Many got suspicious and reserved about the European Commission wonder package of €35 billion for Growth and Jobs in Greece. The “exceptional” package – as the EC loves to describe it – was first announced in June, as a pressure tool to Greek government to sign the agreement with the …

The European Commission is moving forwards. Slowly. Βut it is moving. President Jean-Claude Juncker is determined to ‘rescue’ Greece and goes into EU history as the protector of the European poor and needy. And he will. His Jobs and Growth Plan for Greece was adopted by the European Parliament and …

The long and winding road that leads to a 2-billion-euro bailout disbursement. The Euro Working Group agreed on Friday on …not one, not ten, not twenty… but forty eight (48) prerequisites (prior actions_ that Greece has to implement in the next two weeks in order to receive the first trance …

More than half a million immigrants and refugees arrived in Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea in 2015 and nearly 3,000 died or are considered missing, according to data released today by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “This year, a total of nearly 515,000 immigrants and refugees …

The European Union has time. A lot of time. Endless time. But it tries hard and as swift as it can be possible for its operational mode to solve important issues, like the Refugees’ Crisis. On Wednesday, the EU leaders met in Brussels to take important decisions on how to …

Good news.  The European Union finally decided to take action, before the long-term jobless reach the age of having to apply for retirement than for a job. Even though in real life, anyone over 35 is not exactly a catch for head-hunters and employers. After the EU commissioners, officials and …

Times are tough. There is no doubt about it. As times are doubtless tough, individuals, groups, states, countries and institutions need a target to help them cope with and through the crisis. But the targets set by individual and groups and institutions can be very different from each other. My …

On the island of Lesvos, hundreds of migrants attempted to get on board of a ferry without the necessary papers, clashes erupted between security units and the angry people. In Kos, a mob of angry residents hurled tomatoes and eggs, swore and booed the EU Migration Commissioner Avramopoulso and EC …

A tiny little boy with tiny blue shorts and a tiny red t-shirt. His body has been washed upon a beach in Turkey. A couple of meters away lies the body of his brother. Aylan was 3 and his brother Galip was 5. Together with their parents, Aylan and Galip …

Efforts, compromise and total surrender to creditors brought fruits: The European Stability Mechanism approved the financial assistance for Greece on Wednesday,, the first disbursement of the first tranche arrived on Thursday and it was directly forwarded to the European Central Bank for the payment of 3.2 billion euro maturing today. …

In a letter sent today to Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras requests financial support from the European Stability Mechanism in form of two loans in order to serve Greece’s domestic and external debt and thus for the period of two years 2015-1027. In a two-page letter …

In an quite odd movement, the European Commission decided to release on Sunday, the creditors’ proposals it offered to the Greek government on 26. June 2015, that is before June 27th 2015, the Friday’s Eurogroup meeting. The publishing of the creditors’ proposals are “in the interest of transparency and for …

Right after the Euro Leaders Summit, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told journalists that the Commission will offer to Greece a mysterious  €35-billion aid package also called “Development Plan” or “Investment Package”. Juncker said that the package will be given to Greece from now -2015 – until 2020. Five years …

Democratic procedures in Europe? Well… Hardly… Most likely it is about a mechanism of Institutions that rule setting aside democratic elected governments and ministers. A very serious claim about the Eurogroup meeting of last Thursday is made by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. In his article to the Irish Times, …