I am perplexed. I have no idea what Greek Pro-Europe protesters want. They want Greece to stay in Europe without any concessions? They want the Euro but without austerity? No, the Greek Pro-Europe protesters do not belong to the extreme-leftists of SYRIZA, neither to “I reject all and everything” Communist …
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Baltakos-Gate stirs Greece’s political world, as the PM suffers from strong headaches
“I decided to play a specific role for the good of the party and Greece, we could not leave 500,000 Greeks trapped in Golden Dawn and do nothing. Somebody had to maintain contacts with them. I was telling them what they wanted to hear.” With these words former cabinet secretary …
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No crisis can heal Greek public officials from corruption: president of children’s hospital arrested
“God and justice” cannot save many people in a country where corruption keeps on infecting public officials. On Christmas Eve the president of Aglaia Kyriakou children’s hospital in Athens was arrested by police on suspicion of accepting bribe. “What suspicion?” one would wonder. Haris Tombouloglou was found to be in …
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ND & PASOK owe €365K to social security fund; it’s the government, stupid!
Coalition government parties Nea Dimocratia of PM Antonis Samaras and PASOK of deputy Prime minister Evangelos Venizelos owe to Greece’s social security fund IKA 365,000 EUR in social contributions. Responding to a written question from MPs, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said checks on unpaid contributions in June revealed that New …
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Nea Dimocratia MP supports cooperation with Golden Dawn
Vyron Polydoras, lawmaker of Samaras’ Nea Dimocratia, made a surprised statement on Monday. Speaking to private Real FM, Polydoras said that Nd should open the door to Golden Dawn. Asked by Real FM reporter whether ND should cooperate with Golden Dawn, Polydoras replied: “Certainly. We demonstrate sensitivity towards Golden Dawn …
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Zizek’s “Gulags” turn Greek politics into …”Gulash”
There is Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. He is apparently known for controversial comments triggering strong reactions. Whether Zizek has a weird sense of provocative humor or he believes what he says, I really cannot tell. And then there is Alexis Tsipras, leader of left-wing SYRIZA, leader of main opposition party …
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Public opinion survey: SYRIZA in government with …Samaras as PM
What do austerity- and recession-hit Greeks want? Apparently left-wing SYRIZA in the government but with conservative Antonis Samaras as Prime Minister. This weird preference is the result of the latest public opinion survey that gives SYRIZA 29.5% in the respondents’ choice. According to Public Issue survey: SYRIZA 29.5% Nea Dimocratia …
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ND gen/secretary voted against lifting of Golden Dawn MP’s parliamentary immunity
Manolis Kefaloyiannis, General Secretary of conservative Nea Dimocratia is under political pressure after he downvoted the lifting of parliamentary immunity of Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris. “I do not reign, elected politicians do not resign. If they want,, they can expel me,” Kefaloyiannis told reporters on Thursday, a day after …
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Thessaloniki: Gas canisters attack at three politicians’ offices
Attacks with gas canisters at the offices of three politicians occurred on Tuesday night, short after 8:30 p.m. in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece. With a time difference of just a few minutes, small cooking gas canisters exploded at the office of two former ministers and one active deputy minister. All three …
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Athens prosecutor charges three ex ministers for not full assets declarations
Two former Nea Dimocratia and one ex PASOK ministers were charged by a prosecutor for not fully declare their assets. Three formers ministers – Petros Doukas, Yiannos Papantoniou and Giorgos Voulgarakis – were charged on Wednesday over failing to fully declare their assets in annual derivation of wealth (“pothen esches”) …
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UPD Thessaloniki: ex mayor gets life sentence over €18 Million embezzlement
“With all respect, I repeat I have nothing to do with the case. I am sure some will die with regrets,” ex mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos told the Thessaloniki criminal court upon hearing the judge announcing his life sentence in prison. “However, it will not be us,” the presiding judge replied. For …
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MP Kourakis’ “Church-Tax” proposal sparks new dispute between ND-SYRIZA
Left-wing SYRIZA lawmaker Tasos Kourakis made a ‘revolutionary proposal’: that clerics’ wages should be funded not by the state but by those who declare themselves to be Christian orthodox and thus through a special tax similar in other European countries like Germany. The funding scheme was proposed by Kourakis in …
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“War” between SYRIZA and Public Order Minister over Terrorism
A new round of angry dispute broke out between main opposition party SYRIZA and the Minister for Citizen Protection and Public Order, Nikos Dendias (Nea Dimocratia), when the latter brought up new allegations linking the left-wing party with phenomena of a smooth form of terrorism. During a meeting of the parliamentary committee …
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‘Day After’ for Greece’s Coalition Government with PASOK Falling Apart
With a marginal majority of 153 votes Greece’s coalition government under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras managed to pass the austerity package bill through the Greek Parliament. An austerity bill that is hard if not impossible to be implemented when in combination with the Budget 2013 will send millions of people to …
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Public Opinion Surveys: ND-SYRIZA Close, Golden Dawn on the Rise
Two public opinion surveys published on Saturday show the Samaras’s party Nea Dimocratia and left-wing SYRIZA are head to head, while extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) is on the rise. On both surveys, GD is third party in the preference of respondents. One survey shows that SYRIZA leads with 1.2%, while …
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Greece’s Army Chief of Staff Resigns On Grounds of “Return of Retired Army Officers”?
Greece’s Army Chief of Staff Cosntantinos Ziazias dropped a “bomb” in the early morning hours of Wednesday. He resigned citing reasons of “ethics and dignity”. Ziazias’ resignation came hours before a government meeting (KYSEA) with top brass from the political and military leadership of the country on military and defence policy. But most …
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Prosecutor to Investigate Greek Left-Extremist Calling for “Guerilla War” Against “Occupation Forces”
I – and many millions other Greeks – would not know that there is a man openly calling people for a “Guerrilla War” against “the forces of occupation”, meaning Greece’s lenders. We wouldn’t have the slightest idea that such a “resistance war” is carried out with “molotov cocktails, weapons, knives, clubs, excecutions and kidnappings of …
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ND Elections Spot “Why, Sir?” Triggers Lots of Ironic Reactions – Compare with Argentina’s Anti-IMF Spot… (videos)
The elections spot of conservative Nea Dimocratia featuring school kids asking their teacher “Why isn’t Greece in the Euro, Sir?” triggered a lot of especially ironic reactions, not only because children were used for political purposes. And if this wasn’t enough, some really mean Greeks checked out the internet to find out the …
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Samaras Reveals Ambitious Economic Programme of Nea Dimocratia
Greece’s conservative party leader, Antonis Samaras (Nea Dimocratia) revealed the party’s economic programme 17 days ahead the June 17 elections. “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” Samaras said during his programme presentation on Thursday afternoon in Athens. Jobs, no new taxes, no new horizontal cuts, cancel emergency taxes or scale them back are …
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