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Old May 23rd, 2012 #41
littlefieldjohn
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Default Greece Eurozone Exit: Countries Preparing For Scenario

quoteBRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) - Each euro zone country will have to prepare a contingency plan for the eventuality of Greece leaving the single currency, euro zone sources said on Wednesday.



Officials reached the consensus on Monday afternoon during an hour-long teleconference of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG).



As well as confirmation from three euro zone officials, Reuters has seen a memo drawn up by one member state detailing some of the elements that euro zone countries should consider.



The EWG consists of officials who prepare meetings of finance ministers and also form the board of the temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). It consists mostly of deputy finance ministers and senior treasury officials.



"The EWG agreed that each euro zone country should prepare a contingency plan, individually, for the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro," said one euro zone official familiar with what was discussed on the call.



"Nothing was prepared so far on the euro zone level for now, for fear of leaks," the official said.



A second official confirmed the EWG agreement. The situation in Greece, which faces elections on June 17, seems certain to be discussed at an EU summit later on Wednesday.



The Greek finance ministry denied in a statement that there was agreement to prepare contingency plans.



"The Ministry of Finance categorically denies the reports stating that during the teleconference of the Euro Working Group on May 21st 2012, it was agreed that each eurozone country should prepare contingency plans for the potential consequences of a departure of the Hellenic Republic from the single currency area," the statement said.



But Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere, asked by reporters ahead of the EU summit, said:



"All the contingency plans (for Greece) come back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid."



"We must insist on efforts to avoid an exit scenario but that doesn't mean we are not preparing for eventualities. I believe many countries have their contingency plans for the things they want to avoid at all cost, like terrorist attacks, and to say that we don't have a contingency plan would be irresponsible," Vanackere said.



The Greek election, the second in two months, is widely seen as a referendum on whether the debt-laden country should stay in the euro zone and undertake painful reforms and austerity, or leave and try its luck with its own currency.



Polls suggest the vote could go either way.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...84M0P420120523
 
Old June 17th, 2012 #42
littlefieldjohn
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Default Greek Election Results: New Democracy Wins

quote
"The pro-bailout New Democracy party came in first Sunday in Greece's national election and could gather enough support to form a pro-bailout coalition to keep the country in the eurozone.

As central banks stood ready to intervene in case of financial turmoil, Greece held its second national election in just six weeks to try to select a new government after an inconclusive ballot on May 6.

Sunday's vote was seen as crucial for Europe and the world, since it could determine whether Greece is forced to leave the joint euro currency, a move that could have potentially catastrophic consequences for other ailing European nations and the global economy.

Although official projections late Sunday showed that no party will win enough seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government on its own, Greece's two traditional parties – the conservative New Democracy and the socialist PASOK – would have enough seats to form a coalition together.


They have both expressed a willingness to work with other European nations to stay in the 17-nation eurozone.

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras says his top priority is to stay in the euro but has promised to renegotiate some terms of the bailout."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1603971.html
 
Old June 17th, 2012 #43
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Another rigged election, my bet is the Greeks will be out demonstrating early this week........
 
Old June 17th, 2012 #44
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Default Golden Dawn, Greek Far Right Party, Returns To Parliament

Quote:
Official projections showed the Golden Dawn party returning to the 300-member parliament with 18 seats, just three fewer than it had won in an inconclusive election on May 6, when no party won enough votes to form a government amid a deep financial crisis that threatens Greece's place in the Eurozone and could hurt the global economy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...m_hp_ref=world
 
Old July 11th, 2012 #45
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Cyprus prepares for up to 200,000 Syrian refugees

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 12:32 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters



* Emergency plan for influx of up to 200,000 refugees

* Lebanese refugees fled to island during 2006 conflict

* Cyprus holds EU presidency for next six months

By Luke Baker

NICOSIA, July 10 (Reuters) - Cyprus has drawn up plans to take in up to 200,000 refugees from the fighting in Syria, where the crackdown by government troops against opposition forces has intensified in recent weeks.

While the figures are a worst-case scenario, the number is equivalent to a quarter of the population of the Republic of Cyprus, a huge burden at a time of economic upheaval.

If such a crisis does erupt, officials are hoping the European Union will step in to help.

"We do not know what will happen in Syria, but in our planning we have estimated up to 200,000 refugees could arrive," Cyprus's deputy Europe minister, Andreas Mavroyiannis, a former ambassador to the EU and the United Nations, told reporters.

"It will be a very big strain on us if it happens, so we will need help for sure," he said during briefings in Nicosia.

In 2006, during a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, about 90,000 people fled to Cyprus by boat and on evacuation flights. Britain and the United States helped out, as many of those fleeing were foreign nationals.

At the time, Cyprus's economy was riding high.

But now, three years into a European debt crisis, Cypriot banks have had to write off up to 80 percent of their large holdings of Greek bonds, the economy is in recession, property prices have fallen sharply and at least two banks are in need of immediate recapitalisation.

Russia, a long-time ally of Cyprus, whose communist president was educated in Moscow, has already lent the government 2.5 billion euros to bridge this year's budget shortfall and may lend more money soon.

Some officials estimate Cyprus needs up to 10 billion euros to safeguard its economy, and it has made a request to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan, which was being discussed by euro zone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday.

The European Union is reluctant to lend money to Cyprus if it is also taking money from Moscow.

But if the EU imposes overly strict conditions on Cyprus, including inspection of a banking system that is a major conduit for Russian investment flows, then Nicosia may decide that it is better off taking more assistance from Moscow, or perhaps China.

At the same time the EU is especially keen to maintain Cyprus's stability at a time when it is responsible for running the EU agenda for the next six months as the rotating president. (Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Rex Merrifield)
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Old July 21st, 2012 #46
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Default Bill Clinton Heads to Greece

Bill Clinton Heads to Greece this Weekend to Promote “The Hellenic Initiative”

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012...ic-initiative/

Quote:
ATHENS – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will be in Greece this weekend to promote “The Hellenic Initiative,” an initiative organized by Greeks of the Diaspora that aims to help Greece overcome the current crisis. The program aims to raise $100 million to help Greek charities struggling during the country’s economic crisis and in its second phase to attract investments and improve Greece’s image abroad.
Quote:
Hellenic Initiative leaders, include Chicago money manager John Calamos, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris and Washington attorney George Stamas. The group wants to use donations to help Greece make structural reforms including improving tax collections to raise revenues in a culture of rampant tax evasion, and promote foreign investment, but its primary mission is to help charities it said have a record for accountability and transparency in a country where corruption is rife.
Quote:
Hellenic Initiative is a non-profit organization which aims at improving the quality of life of the Greek people during the crisis, the organizers said. They added, “We will focus on administering help to Greek families for medical treatment and social welfare and to organizations that fight poverty. “Time is pressing, that is why we are immediately starting the humanistic campaign for Greece,” it said in a statement.

Last edited by Dawn Cannon; July 21st, 2012 at 04:32 AM.
 
Old July 25th, 2012 #47
littlefieldjohn
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Default Voula Papachristou Expelled From Olympics: Greece Boots Track Star Over " Racist Twitter Message "

What the hell was so 'racist" about this comment??????quoteThe website Keep Talking Greece translated the offensive tweet by Papachristou (@papaxristoutj):

“With so many Africans in Greece… At least the West Nile mosquitoes will eat home made food!!!”

READ COMPLETE APOLOGYI would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.
My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races.
I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family.

MORE FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:



ATHENS, Greece — Greece has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the country's team at the London Olympics over her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee says in a statement Wednesday that Papachristou is "placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement."

Papachristou is in Athens. The committee says she was to travel to London shortly before the track events start.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...6pLid%3D183939
 
Old October 10th, 2012 #48
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October 10, 2012 | 18:47

Greece to prosecute anti-Merkel protesters

Source: Tanjug

ATHENS -- The Greek Public Prosecution on Wednesday issued indictments against 24 demonstrators, accusing them of committing a series of criminal and misdemeanor acts.




They protested on Tuesday in Athens against the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The ANA news agency is reporting that the charges against the 24 include attempts to inflict serious bodily harm on police officers, disturbance of peace by means of wearing masks, resisting arrest, attempts to free prisoners, illegal carrying of weapons, and engaging in "unprovoked insults".

The group has been detained and will be brought before a misdemeanor judge.

Some 30,000 people gathered to protest in Athens on Tuesday, while a smaller demonstration was also held in Thessaloniki.

They defied the authorities' ban on public gatherings and assembled in front of the parliament building in the Greek capital ahead of Merkel's arrival.

Greeks blame Germany, the EU's strongest economy, for being behind the strict austerity measures imposed on Greece in exchange for international assistance that the country requires as it struggles with the economic crisis.
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Old October 11th, 2012 #49
littlefieldjohn
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Default Greece plans shelter for 20,000 Syrians according to SkyNews

quote


Plans are under way to provide shelter on two Greek islands for 20,000 Syrian refugees, Greece's public order ministry says, while other officials said EU-level talks on the issue are ongoing.

The Conservative-led government of Antonis Samaras, 'foresees, if necessary, providing hospitality to 20,000 refugees from Syria who will be accommodated in special facilities on the island of Crete and Rhodes,' the ministry said in a written answer to a request by AFP.

The move would fulfill Athens' human rights obligations under the United Nations charter, it added.

The operation is code-named 'Ioni' after the first ancient Greek colony established in Syria, the ministry said.

No further information was given on whether the refugees will be lodged in hotels or other purpose-built facilities.

The Greek foreign ministry later noted that the issue was still under EU discussion and that Athens was currently focused on 'supporting' countries adjacent to Syria in handling the refugee influx.

'We are discussing at European level the means and funds that we can dedicate' to the enterprise, foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said.

'There is also a discussion on each member-state's welcoming capacity but we are not at that stage yet,' Delavekouras told a scheduled news briefing.

More than 32,000 people are believed to have died in Syria since the start of the uprising in March 2011 against President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad's regime has insisted the insurgents must stop the violence first as it turned down a call for restraint issued by the UN secretary-general.

Thousands of refugees from Syria are now in Turkey and Jordan.

Athens has traditionally maintained close relations with the Arab world and recently helped treat more than 2000 wounded from the uprising in Libya.

Authorities are now worried that the conflict in Syria will increase migration and refugee pressure on Greek borders at a time when the country's crisis-stricken services are struggling to handle hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already present in the country.

A plan to turn disused barracks around the country into holding centres for migrants is already under way.

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories...aspx?id=804863
 
Old October 16th, 2012 #50
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Default Samaras tries to blame the woes of Greece on "extremism and populism"

Recession-hit Greece needs hope to fight 'extremism': Antonis Samaras

ATHENS: Recession-hit Greece needs hope -- and a shot of EU-IMF loans -- to fight "extremism and populism" that threaten the fabric of its society, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Monday.

"No economic development plan can succeed if society collapses," Samaras told an economic conference organised by the International Herald Tribune.

"The only thing that retains cohesion is hope ... we need hope to eliminate dangers that are many and that you see every day around us ... (the dangers of) populism and extremism," the PM said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/16829752.cms
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Old October 27th, 2012 #51
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Default Bleeding heart story: sand nigglet brought to Cyprus

Quote:
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — No one knows how long little Bushr Al Tawashi wandered alone in the rubble of his home in the Syrian capital before rebel fighters found the toddler and handed him over to another family to look after.

Now, the 2-year-old is back with his parents — who believed he had been killed.

In their chaotic haste to escape fighting between government troops and Syrian rebels, Bushr's parents had assumed the boy was picked up by other members of their extended family who were staying with them when clashes broke out last summer in the Damascus suburb of Al Kaboun.

Heavy fighting prevented the parents from going back to search for Bushr once they arrived at a refugee camp and realized he was missing, said Stella Constantinou, a Cypriot lawyer.

Believing he did not survive the shelling, the boy's grief-stricken father, Machhour Al Tawashi, and his wife, Arin Al Dakkar, arrived in Cyprus on Aug. 6 along with their two other sons, ages 4 and 6, in search of asylum.

Word the boy was safe eventually reached the parents, who now live in the coastal town of Limassol.

"You can imagine how they felt when they were told their son was alive after bearing all this guilt thinking that he was dead," Constantinou said.

Al Tawashi told The Associated Press through an interpreter that someone had recognized Bushr since everyone knows each other in their tight-knit community, and called the family in Cyprus to deliver the good news.

The family then sought Constantinou's help to bring him to this Mediterranean island, which lies 65 miles (105 kilometers) west of Syria.

Al Tawashi's sister, who had joined the family in Cyprus, volunteered to return to Damascus on Sept. 9 to take care of the child until arrangements for his return could be made. She is now being prevented from leaving the Syrian capital, the lawyer said.

The Cypriot Foreign Ministry expedited the process of reuniting the boy with his family after his parents provided proof he was their child. Bushr's father then traveled to the Lebanese capital of Beirut, where he was reunited with the boy at the Cypriot Embassy. He brought Bushr back to the island on Thursday.

"I can't describe how I felt when I saw him, just overjoyed at seeing him again," Al Tawashi said Friday. "At first he didn't recognize me, but then we embraced and he started calling out 'Father, Father.'"

Al Tawashi said although he still has relatives in Syria, his home has been destroyed in the fighting and there's no way the family will ever go back.

"Absolutely not," the father said.

Activists say at least 35,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's government began in March 2011.

Constantinou said the toddler was just happy to be in his mother's arms again and called out to his older brothers.

"As a grandmother of a 2-year-old myself, there's nothing I wouldn't do to get that boy back to his parents," she said.
Crowd (mostly women) is ecstatic:

Quote:
Awwww I love hearing these kind of stories. I am glad this family can once again be together.
Quote:
What a great story. Poor little fella has probably been through hell and back.... now he can have the comfort of his parents and siblings.
Quote:
God bless them all.....
Quote:
I am so glad this child was reunited with his parents. I hope that the entire family can be reunited in Cyprus and build a safe and quiet life there.
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-toddler...195311354.html
 
Old October 27th, 2012 #52
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Thumbs up Here is a Greek nationalist site out of Cyprus

http://elamcy.com

They have mutual respect with the Golden Dawn. The Turks are flooding the island. Cyprus is and always will be Greek!
 
Old January 14th, 2013 #53
littlefieldjohn
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Default "Greece At The Brink of Civil War "

Quote:
I’m wondering how much this society can endure before it explodes,” said Georg Pieper, a German psychotherapist who specializes in treating post-traumatic stress disorders following catastrophes, large accidents (including the deadliest train wreck ever in Germany), acts of violence, freed hostages.... But now he was talking about Greece.

He’d spent several days in Athens to give continuing education courses in trauma therapy for psychologist, psychiatrists, and doctors—for free, this being a country in crisis. He was accompanied by Melanie Mühl, an editor at the daily paper Frankfurter Allgemeine. And in her report,
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleto...-11992352.html
she decries how “news consumers” in Germany were fed the crisis in Greece.

It was “no more than a distant threat somewhere on the horizon,” defined by barely understood terms, such as bank bailout, haircut, billion-euro holes, mismanagement, Troika, debt buyback.... “Instead of understanding the global context, we see a serious-faced Angela Merkel getting out of dark limos in Berlin, Brussels or elsewhere, on the way to the next summit where the bailout of Greece, and thus of Europe, is to be moved forward another step” [also read... The Curse Of The “Irreversible” Euro].
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/...ible-euro.html
But what is really happening in Greece is silenced to death in the media. Pieper calls this phenomenon a “giant feat of repression.”

And so they report their findings that cannot be dressed up in the by now normal euro bailout jargon and acronyms. There were pregnant women rushing from hospital to hospital, begging to be admitted to give birth. They had no health insurance and no money, and no one wanted to help them. People who used to be middle class were picking through discarded fruit and vegetables off the street as the stands from a farmers’ market were being taken down.

[I have seen that dreary activity even in Paris; if Mühl spent some time looking, she could see it in Germany as well. It’s not just in Greece where people, demolished by joblessness or falling real wages, are deploying desperate measures to put food on the table. And the largest consumer products companies are already reacting to it: The “Pauperization of Europe”.]
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/...of-europe.html
Heartbreaking, the plight of the Greeks. There was an old man who’d worked over 40 years, but now his pension had been cut in half, and he couldn’t afford his heart medication any longer. To check into the hospital, he had to bring his own sheets and food. Since the cleaning staff had been let go, doctors and nurses, who hadn’t been paid in months, were cleaning the toilets themselves. The hospital was running short on basic medical supplies, such as latex gloves and catheters. And the suicide rate doubled over the last three years—two-thirds of them, men.

“Collective trauma” is how Pieper described the society whose bottom had been pulled out from under it. “Men are particularly hard hit by the crisis,” Pieper said, as their pay had been decimated, or their jobs eliminated. They’re seething with anger at the utterly corrupt system and a kleptocratic government that have done so much damage to the country; and they’re furious at the international bailout politics whose money only benefits big banks, not the people.

These men take their anger to their families, and their sons take that anger to the street. Hence the growing number of violent gangs that attack minorities. The will to survive in humans is enormous, Pieper points out, and so humans are able to overcome even incredibly difficult situations. To do that, they need a functioning society with real structures and safety nets. But in Greece, society has been hollowed out for years to the point where it is collapsing.

“In such a dramatic situation as can be observed in Greece, the human being becomes a sort of predator, only seeing himself and his own survival,” Pieper said. “Sheer necessity pushes him into irrationality, and in the worst case, this irrationality transcends into criminality.” At that stage in society, he said, “solidarity is replaced by selfishness.”

And so he wondered, “how much this society can endure before it explodes.” Greece is on the brink of civil war, he went on, and it seems only a question of time before the collective desperation of the people erupts into violence and spreads across the country. A ricocheting indictment of the euro bailout policies.
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/...-of-civil.html
 
Old January 21st, 2013 #54
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Bomb blast at Greece shopping mall raises fears of extremism

The attack on a state bank branch injures two guards. Experts say it bears the hallmarks of a new generation of revolution-minded anarchists, nihilists and middle-class troublemakers.


A police officer stands guard and an ambulance waits outside a shopping center in an Athens suburb after a remote-controlled bomb exploded there. (Simela Pantzartzi / European Pressphoto Agency / January 20, 2013)



By Anthee Carassava, Los Angeles Times
January 20, 2013, 7:44 p.m.



ATHENS — Two security guards were injured in a bomb blast at a shopping center a few miles north of the Greek capital Sunday, stoking new fears of escalating violence and extremism in the economically stumbling nation.

The attack on a state bank branch in a massive shopping mall came less than a week after masked men opened fire with an AK-47 and a revolver on the headquarters of the governing New Democracy party, targeting the office of its leader, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

No group has claimed responsibility for either attack, and authorities have refrained from linking them.

On Friday, an anonymous caller claiming ties with Greek terrorist groups warned of "escalated attacks in the coming weeks," including "political assassinations." The self-proclaimed terrorist, who spoke English, refused to divulge further details.

Two days later and in similar warning calls, two media groups were advised of a fresh attack 40 minutes before the remote-controlled bomb exploded at the Mall shopping center in the Maroussi suburb.

Police managed to evacuate about 200 people, but two private security guards suffered limb and back injuries from shards of glass and bomb debris. The guards were treated at a hospital and released.

Crime experts appeared increasingly certain that the latest attack, part of a two-week surge in politically tinged violence, bore the hallmarks of a new generation of revolution-minded anarchists, nihilists and middle-class troublemakers.

"That they chose to target a bank [on Sunday] or a political party a week prior, is neither new or surprising given their long-standing anti-capitalist views," said Mary Bossi, a leading Greek terrorism expert and professor at Pireaus University. "But that they escalated their mode of action, striking at the very heart of a public area, is extremely worrying."

"It's a clear attack on society, the average citizen whom they see as having resigned to than having revolted against austerity and those enforcing it."

Homegrown terrorism waned in Greece after authorities busted November 17, the country's deadliest and most elusive terror organization, before the 2004 Athens Olympics. But numerous copycat groups and spinoffs have periodically burst into the limelight, waging mainly low-grade attacks and issuing complaints against globalization, poverty and capitalism.

The onset of Greece's financial crisis in late 2009, together with swelling resentment against the country's political elite, upper class and biting fiscal policies, has offered extremists fresh cause.

At this point, the sparks of their militancy have not started a fire.

"Three years into the crisis and these groups have found no appeal, sympathy or tolerance within Greek public opinion," said Giannis Panoussis, professor of criminology at Athens University. "Whatever political support they enjoyed from radical left parties has also vanished. Even the squats they once freely occupied are being taken over by rolling police raids."

"They realize that they have been left high and dry. That's making them mad ... so much more dangerous — even lethal."

The threat has put Greece's counter-terrorism unit on high alert, according to intelligence officials. Surveillance of potential terrorism suspects has increased.

Since coming to power in June, Greece's conservative-led coalition has vowed zero tolerance of "lawless behavior," a move that extremists from the far left — and right — have vowed to face down.

On Sunday within hours of the shopping mall blast, Prime Minister Samaras called key national advisors for a fresh round of security talks, appealing also to the voters and political parties to shield democracy.

"This wasn't just an attack against a building," a government announcement said. "It was a blow to democracy, normality and attempts to restore economic growth."

With the government trying to attract foreign capital to boost growth and jump-start the country's ailing economy, officials fear that renewed violence could sap investor interest and damage one of Greece's last moneymaking industries: tourism.

Carassava is a special correspondent.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,6314563.story
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Old February 7th, 2013 #55
littlefieldjohn
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Default The Supreme Court cancels the law on the acquisition of Greek citizenship

Quote:
The law on Greek citizenship, which was voted in 2010 and adopted with enthusiasm by immigrants, leftists and liberal political parties and various human rights organizations, has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Administrative Court.

As a result of the final decision of the plenum of the supreme judicial institution, all procedures granting Greek citizenship after the enactment of the law in 2010 until today are expected to be cancelled. The law entitled the children of immigrants who were born in Greece and studied at a Greek school for six years to Greek citizenship. Along with this, the results of local elections in the municipalities where immigrants from non-member countries of the European Union voted are likely to be revised under the same law again.

In the reasoning for its decision, the senior judiciary states that the provisions of the law are contrary to the Constitution because the conditions for the acquisition of Greek citizenship regulated by them are formal and insufficient. They are related to the applicant or his family’s time of residence in Greece, the attendance of a Greek school for a certain period of time and a clean criminal record. According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the most significant gap in the law is that it does not provide for a procedure to demonstrate the relationship of the applicant with the Greek nation. Furthermore, the magistrates add that the Constitution entitles only Greek citizens to vote and run in elections. Therefore, it is not possible for people who are not Greek citizens to be entitled to it without making the relevant amendments being made to the Constitution.

GRReporter contacted sociologist and long-time researcher on immigration issues Panos Hatziprokopiou for comment. He analyzes the reasoning of the Supreme Administrative Court as presented by the media because the decision was announced late last night.

"I think that the argument on the right to vote, which the decision grants only to Greek citizens and which can be changed only after a constitutional amendment, is somewhat more neutral, more technical compared with the others. It leaves a "gap" as regards this issue.

The criticism the judges make at the combination of formal and substantive criteria related to who has the right to apply for Greek citizenship is more important in my opinion. The first one is the knowledge of the Greek language, the second is their integration into the social and economic life of the country and the third is the involvement in political life. If we look at the experience of Western European countries, we will see that the acquisition of citizenship and the participation in elections are prerequisites rather than criteria for integration into the specific society. They are certainly not the only ones but they are some of the important prerequisites for it. So, I would note a contradiction between the decision of the Greek court and what is applicable in other European countries with stronger experience in immigration policy".

The researcher defines as interesting the position of those magistrates who were opposed to the decision that granting citizenship is a political choice as well.

"According to them, the Constitution provides the opportunity for applying some different policies and the legal text does not provide for finding a connection with the Greek nation. The second thing they state is that the Constitution makes a clear distinction between the people and the nation. I think this is a sufficient basis to make a clear distinction between the Greek citizen and the man, who belongs to the Greek nation".

Panos Hatziprokopiou believes that if the position of the magistrates who voted against the final decision prevailed, "it would be a step from the so-called right of blood (jus sanguinis) to the right of land (jus soli). I.e. who can be considered a citizen of a country: the one coming from the nation or the one living in a particular country? But the law is void, leaving a "gap" to be filled instead".

According to the researcher, the decision is indicative of the direction, which the next legal text on the subject will take. "Under these conditions, each subsequent law will apparently be conservative whereas the cancellation of the present one will lead to two basic consequences: First, what will happen to the approximately 12,000 people who voted in the local elections in 2011 and to those who run? Second, and more importantly, what will happen to the second-generation immigrants who have submitted their documents to acquire Greek citizenship under this law? I would like to recall here that these are people born and raised in Greece. The cancellation of the law is bringing us back to the impasse the children of immigrants had faced before the vote. These people are fully integrated into Greek society and they often have no connection with the country of origin of their parents".

A few weeks ago and in anticipation of the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, the Greek Union for Human Rights launched a campaign in support of the acquisition of Greek citizenship by the children of immigrants living in the country*.
http://www.grreporter.info/en/suprem...tizenship/8683
*

 
Old February 14th, 2013 #56
littlefieldjohn
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Default New Bomb Attack on GD Offices


Despite the terrorist attack, more than 1000 Golden Dawners protested against State-sponsored terrorism.

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The target of this attack was our office in Piraeus, Athens's biggest port. And it was a reckless, unprecedented attack, that put in risk lives of many innocents. A strong explosive device was detonated on the offices that are located in a building that also houses tuition centers, apartments and other offices. The explosion happened yesterday (13/02), on 21.30! When the explosion happened, the building still had people inside, and in fact, two floors down, children were studying. Fortunately, the fire was put down quickly, before it reached the other apartments on the same floor and there were no injuries.

Despite the nature of this attack, that put the lives of people unrelated to our Movement in danger, the Regime and the Parties of the Parliament still haven't condemned this attack! Just like they didn't condemned the attack on Whitetower, just like they never condemned the plethora of other attacks against the Social Nationalist Movement. And we can safely say that they will never condemn the attacks they themselves organize and support
http://golden-dawn-international-new...surrender.html
 
Old March 21st, 2013 #57
Bobby Bandanza
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Originally Posted by Bobby Bandanza View Post
http://elamcy.com

They have mutual respect with the Golden Dawn. The Turks are flooding the island. Cyprus is and always will be Greek!
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"Whatcha gonna do when Trumpamania and the largest rats of Judea Jew wild on you?!" - Me
 
Old May 9th, 2013 #58
littlefieldjohn
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Default Greek Youth Unemployment Rises To More Than 60 Percent

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ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek youth unemployment rose above 60 percent for the first time in February, reflecting the pain caused by the country's crippling recession after years of austerity under its international bailout.

Greece's jobless rate has almost tripled since the country's debt crisis emerged in 2009 and was more than twice the euro zone's average unemployment reading of 12.1 percent in March.

While the overall unemployment rate rose to 27 percent, according to statistics service data released on Thursday, joblessness among those aged between 15 and 24 jumped to 64.2 percent in February from 59.3 percent in January.

Youth unemployment was 54.1 percent in March 2012.

"It is by far the highest youth unemployment rate in the euro zone, highlighting the difficulties young people face in entering the labor market despite government incentives to create jobs," said economist Nikos Magginas at National Bank.
Athens has lowered the minimum monthly wage for those under 25 years by 32 percent to about 500 euros to entice hiring.


http://www.bayoubuzz.com/politics/us...nt-in-february
 
Old June 12th, 2013 #59
Chad Wentworth
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Default Greek State TV Shutdown Triggers Political Crisis

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's conservative-led government was facing a political crisis Wednesday after its decision to shut down state-run TV and radio triggered a wave of strikes and fierce opposition from within the coalition government.

The country's two largest labor unions called a 24-hour general strike for Thursday with flights from Greece's airports set to halt for two hours that day.

TV and radio signals from the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., or ERT, went dead early Wednesday, hours after the government closed the broadcaster down and fired its 2,500 workers, citing the need to cut "incredible waste." Since being bailed out three years ago, Greece has been on a cost-cutting drive demanded by its international creditors.

Several thousand protesters gathered outside the company's headquarters north of Athens for a second day — sheltering from torrential rainfall in the building's giant lobby — as ERT's journalists defied the order and continued a live Internet broadcast.

"We've managed to keep the broadcast going through the analogue signal and web links," said Panagiotis Kalfagianis, leader of Greek federation of broadcast employees.

"The government has tried, using the riot police and technical means, to cut off ERT's signal. In some cases they succeeded, and in some they have not."

Journalist unions have also launched rolling 24-hour strikes, halting news programs on Greece's privately owned broadcasters, while the government's center-left coalition partners demanded that ERT's closure be reversed.

The government defended its decision, insisting a new, more efficient and less costly, public broadcaster would be launched before the end of the summer.

"There was an enclave of waste and we got rid of it. They bother some people because they wanted to keep it going," conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said.

ERT started radio programming in the 1930s and television in the mid-1960s. Though it was widely regarded as reflecting government policy — it had a channel run by the military during the 1967-74 dictatorship — the broadcaster was also valued for showcasing regional and cultural content and for covering major sporting events such as the football World Cup and the Olympics.

ERT is largely state-funded, with every Greek household paying a fee through its electricity bills — whether they have a TV set or not. There are also several private broadcasters in Greece, including Mega, Antenna and Skai.

ERT employee Kaity Potha, 55, said the government was blaming the broadcaster's staff for its own incompetence, which included giving high-paid jobs at the broadcaster in return for political patronage.

"Our salaries have been cut 45 percent in the past three years," she said. "Every clown who governed Greece in recent decades dumped us not only with their own governing board but also with 200-300 new staff — their salaries have not been cut."

The surprise closure of ERT is one of the biggest crises to hit the three-party coalition government since it was formed nearly a year ago.

Samaras faces escalating opposition from his own coalition partners — the Socialist Pasok and Democratic Left party — for the decision.

The executive order to close ERT must be ratified by parliament within three months but it faces failure if it is not backed by all the coalition's members. The Democratic Left has already submitted legislation in parliament to cancel the order. Junior coalition party heads were to meet later Wednesday to discuss the closure.

The European Broadcasting Union, based in Geneva, Switzerland, expressed its "profound dismay" at the closure in a letter to Samaras, urging him to reverse course.

And EBU statement said state channels had a combined market share of 14.9 per cent in 2012, running on licensing fee that was among the lowest in Europe.

"This was anti-democratic and also unprofessional," EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre told the AP by telephone. "You can always increase efficiency, but that is not the way to do it.

Deltenre said the EBU was willing to provide assistance to keep the ERT protesters on the air, was planning to send a delegation to Athens, and would take up their complaint with the European Commission.

The decision to close ERT was announced during an inspection in Athens by officials from Greece's bailout creditors. Debt-stifled Greece has depended on rescue loans since May 2010. In exchange, it has imposed deeply resented income cuts and tax hikes, which exacerbated a crippling recession and forced tens of thousands of businesses to close, sending unemployment to a record of 27 percent.

The "troika" of bailout inspectors — the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — has been pressing Athens to start a long-delayed program to cut 15,000 state jobs by 2015. The shuttering of the ERT is the first time in the three-year bailout program that any state employee has lost their job.

Despite tensions over a number of austerity measures, the coalition government has surprised many by surviving its first year in power. It has also been credited with stabilizing the bailed-out Greek economy and easing the threat of an exit from the euro.

Left-wing opposition leader Alexis Tsipras slammed the closure as "illegal" during an interview on ERT's online broadcast.

"This is an action that challenges our democracy. It's a coup. It lacks the backing of a parliamentary majority because the two (minority coalition) parties have expressed their opposition," Tsipras said after a meeting with the country's president.

The European Commission said it had not sought the closure of ERT and "nor does the Commission question the Greek government's mandate to manage the public sector."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=190880510
 
Old November 1st, 2013 #60
alex revision
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Greek government unveils plans to toughen anti-racism laws, outlaw Holocaust denial

ATHENS, Greece - The Greek government has unveiled plans to toughen laws against racism and prohibit "malevolent" denial of the Holocaust, amid an increase in racist violence.

The draft legislation presented by the Justice Ministry on Friday provides for maximum three-year prison terms, and fines up to 20,000 euros ($27,000), for people found guilty of inciting racist crimes.

Similar penalties would apply to those convicted of denying the significance of genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes — in a way that could incite violence, hatred, or either threaten or insult ethnic, racial or religious groups.

The draft legislation will be forwarded to Parliament for debate.

Greece has seen a rise in violence targeting Asian and African immigrants since its financial crisis erupted in 2009.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/wo...480/story.html
 
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