Category Archives: Greece

Sep 6 2012

EUSSR requires 6-day working week in Greece

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RT

A leaked email sent to the Greek Ministries of Finance and Labor from the Troika says Greek private sector workers should work six days a week and longer hours.

The letter, which was published on August 31, shows that the Troika expects the Labor Ministry to implement a number of other new measures. They include reducing the notice period before firing a worker, and cutting certain severance packages by 50 per cent by giving employers the right to reduce workers’ time in service. Restrictions on overtime are also expected to come into effect.

“It also wants a dismantling of the labor inspectorate which is the public service that is responsible for implementing labor law. So it’s not only about making the labor market more flexible,” Panagiotis Sotiris from the University of the Aegean told RT.

The email was sent ahead of meetings between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partners, the PASOK Socialists of Evangelos Venizelos and the Democratic Left of Fotis Kouvelis, according to the financial newspaper Imerisia.

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“I think we are going to see a total dismantling of labor law which would possibly even include a 7 day work week. It’s also interesting that they are trying to reduce the number of hours between shifts to only 11 hours. So their idea is that an employer can call up an employee at any time, giving the employee no stability of working hours,” Sotiris said.

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Jun 6 2012

The Banker’s New Greek Strategy: Starve them into Compliance

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By Soren Dreier, Zen-Haven

The news from Athens continues to bleak over the past few weeks. A 90 year old mother and her 60 year old son jumped to their deaths off on apartment building (See Ekarthimeini article here).

A 62 year old pensioner hung himself off of a tree on the outskirts of Nikaia (See Athens News article here). Migrants are being attacked and are desperate to leave the country. Pharmacists are now refusing the government benefits card and demanding cash only for life saving drugs because they fear not being paid in Euros by the Greek bureaucracy, as payments are already many months behind in reimbursements.

Sadly, soup lines are the longest since the end of World War II as the middle class has fallen into dire straits of poverty, forcing dumpster diving by parents and children around the nation.

Even with all of this hardship, the banksters of Brussels and Berlin have noted the anger and frustration of the Greek electorate and fear a victory by the anti-austerity forces but attempting to force the gyro (they’re out of turnips) to bleed is a field of expertise that the financial industry is unfortunately well known for.

The bankers have elected to engage in a new strategy and it will create a humanitarian crisis unseen on the Continent since the siege of Sarajevo and the misery of the Soviet occupation: Starve the Greeks into voting for compliance with austerity.

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Apr 13 2012

First New Concentration Camps in Europe Set to Sprout on Greek Soil

By Richard Cottrell, The Intel Hub

As if the current circumstances of austerity-riven Greece were not bad enough already, it seems that the country is set to have a dozen or so concentration camps dotted around the country.

In language that might have been lifted straight from the Nazi lexicon, these establishments will be known as ‘closed-hospitality’ centers.

The incarcerates will be undocumented – meaning unwanted – refugees flooding in from North Africa, particularly the once prosperous and richest country in the Maghreb belt, namely Libya.

Most of the Mediterranean countries are in the thick of the refugee tide, but Greece is so far the only country that plans to compulsorily pen them up.

The first ‘reception center’ is scheduled to open at a former army base near Athens in the next few weeks.

Why the sudden haste, you ask? The answer is simple. A general election is scheduled for May 6th.

All the parties straddling the spectrum from left to right are playing the immigrant card for all its worth, but none more so than the main establishment parties: Pasok (theoretically socialist) and New Democracy (nominally center-right).

Right now their electoral prospects look decidedly dim. New Democracy, led by Antonis Samaris, is barreling on about 22% in the opinion polls, Pasok rates scarcely better at 18 and a smidgeon percent.

The nightmare entertained by the EU-imposed Greek Quisling, Lukas Papademos, is that neither party will end up with sufficient seats to ensure a majority in the Vouli, the national parliament.

As the two principal challengers shed votes by the hour, Greek voters are turning to a plethora of fringe parties rooted in both the left and right.

They may squabble fiercely among themselves but they are united by one core belief: total opposition to the EU/IMF austerity package which has ripped the heart out of the Greek economy.

The indecent haste of the mainstream figurines wildly wind milling the immigrant camps to attract voters’ attentions speaks for itself.

But to catch the flavor, listen to the chillingly titled ‘Civil Protection Minister’ Michalis Chrisohoidis grand-standing for his party, which is Pasok.

“We have a commitment to start operating these closed-hospitality centers, and we will keep to that commitment. The first centre will operate before the general election in greater Athens, and it will act as a model to show Greek citizens that these facilities are safe for the public and will operate to high standards of health and hygiene,” he said.

Am I alone in detecting some singularly inappropriate language here? After all, was it not the Nazis who indulged in ‘health and hygiene’ as a constant reprise, particularly when it came to the ‘closed-hospitality’ camps established for the benefit (and ‘hygiene’) of European Jews? Can we ever forget the horrific deception of the gas chambers as fumigators?

At best, Greek politicians are indulging in cheap populist barrack-room politics.

But what is more disturbing is that the issue of the camps has — temporarily at least — deflected the attention of voters away from the rape and pillage of their own homeland by the globalist smash and grab gang.

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Mar 15 2012

Now even the eurozone admits it has condemned Greece to never-ending austerity

By Jeremy Warner The Telegraph

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There’s a general view out there that with private creditors having agreed their 50pc haircut, the “Greek problem” has been solved, at least for now. Unfortunately, it has not.

According to Reuters, an unpublished “Compliance Report” by EU executives has concluded that Greece will have to impose a further fiscal squeeze in 2013/14 amounting to some 5.5pc of GDP in order to meet the targets that underpin the second international bailout. The chances of Greece being able to do this are about zero, though that is my conclusion, not that of the report.

According to the report, the austerity measures already adopted by Athens should be enough to bring the primary deficit down to the agreed 1.5pc this year. However, “current projections reveal large fiscal gaps in 2013-14″. The projected shortfall is reckoned to be about 5.5pc of GDP. All this, of course, assumes that Greece achieves the output levels forecast by the Troika, the chances of which are again about zero. So infact, the required squeeze will be even larger, further undermining growth and digging an even deeper hole.
Unabashed, the report states that “substantial additional expenditure cuts will have to be announced and adopted by Greece in the coming months, in particular when Greece updates its medium-term budget in May 2012″.

Where is Greece expected to find these cuts? Further savings in welfare payments, pharmaceutical spending, defense and restructuring of central and local administration are said to be under discussion. Has anyone told the Greek electorate, which is due to go the polls next month, about this? Apparently not.
Menacingly, the report adds that continuation of international financial assistance can only be expected if policy implementation improves.

A second bailout from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund worth €130bn was finally agreed on Monday, which in theory should keep Athens financed through to the end of 2014. However, the money is to he drip fed, with later tranches dependent on meeting the troika programme. Spain has had its deficit target for this year reduced, so the eurozone has shown itself to be flexible. But Spain isn’t in the programme. The treatment meted out to those in receipt of financial assistance may be somewhat harsher.
This is what Citigroup had to say about developments in a note published on Tuesday morning:

With the last night’s decision, the 2nd Greek bailout package is finally on its way. However, in order to get the full disbursement of this package Greece has to implement the requested austerity measures and structural reforms, which will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the Troika. Given Greece’s poor track record on implementing such measures and particularly in view of the uncertainty over whether a new Greek government (after the election, which probably will take place at the end of April/early May) will go ahead with these measures, it is very uncertain if Greece will meet the Troika requests and will get the full programme funding. Taking into account large extra liabilities in 2012, as recently reported by the IMF, and because our expectations for economic growth for Greece are much weaker than the Troika’s, the expected debt-to-GDP ratio of 117% for 2020 looks far too optimistic to us. As a consequence, we continue to expect further debt restructuring in Greece at a later stage and see the probability of Greece leaving the euro area at around 50%.

Actually, I’d put the chances at way above 50pc. The only question is when. Regrettably, it looks as if the whole miserable mess is going to keep us in column inches for quite a few more months yet.

Feb 17 2012

Report: Insider Documents Detail a March 23 Greek Default Plan; Gov to Freeze Bank Accounts

…Eliminate Euro, Restrict Capital Flow

By Mac SLAVO at SHTFPlan.com via Infowars.com

That a default in Europe is coming has never been the question. For the astute observer the only thing at issue is how and when it will happen. While the mainstream financial media and government officials have tried to spin this story as one that involves only Greek debt, the fact of the matter is that this isn’t isolated to a single country. Italy, Portugal, Ireland and most other European countries are in exactly the same boat.

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Despite all of the propaganda and machinations from leading financial powers like the United States, Germany, and France, it’s should be clear that there is no viable solution to the debt debacle facing Europe. As such, we should understand that a situation similar to what led to the Great Depression of the 1930′s is now unfolding once again. The ability of entire nations to pay off their debt is now in question, and given the sheer size of the numbers we’re talking about, any reasonable person could agree that there is simply no plausible resolution that will make all parties whole again.

This has been playing out in Greece for nearly three years, and we may very well be just weeks away from the dreaded moment when it finally becomes official. An exclusive report detailing internal bank documents from two major Wall Street players says that we may have much less time than we think as insiders prepare for a financial doomsday next month:

Via The Slog:

A written document giving firm dates and detailed actions for a planned Greek default has been in the possession of two top Wall Street bank currency trading bosses since the second week in January. The Slog has separate but corroborative sources affirming the existence of the document, and a conviction among senior bank staff that – at least at the time – the plan represented “a timetable, not a contingency”.

The plan gives a firm date of March 23rd for default to be announced after the close of business.

Senior bankers on Wall Street have been given detailed documentation setting out a timetable to Greek default, including firm dates and technical ‘orders’ about last use of the euro as a currency there. The revelation arrived at Slogger’s Roost last Monday, since when I have been trying to obtain corroboration. This arrived in the early hours of today (Thursday). One of the banks is Barclays Capital (Barcap) run by controversial figure Bob Diamond. The other must remain anonymous for the time being, in order to protect sources.

The document asserts that Greece will officially be declared in default by all the ratings agencies after the close of business on Friday march 23rd. At the weekend all Greek bank accounts will be frozen, with emergency measures detailed to prevent the flight of capital. Included in the paperwork is a list of very limited exceptions to the ‘no withdrawals’ order. All major banks ‘are instructed not to deal with euro exchange as of open of business in Greece on Monday 25th march. All Greek markets will close for one day ‘at least’.

As yet, I have been unable to establish the source of the documents. But one of my informants admitted, “I have strongly suggested to Greek business friends and clients that they sell up fast, do a sale and leaseback on property, empty bank accounts, and change to a hard currency.”

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Feb 15 2012

UE : De la corruption à la dette, la dette grecque expliquée

Par Aldous à Agoravox special Thanks to Aurelien for sharing

Beaucoup d’idées reçues circulent sur les origines de la dette grecque, accusant pèle mêle un atavisme national poussant les Grecs à jouer les cigales et à faire la sieste, stigmatisant une fraude fiscale allant du pêcheur de poulpes au milliardaire armateur possédant une flotte de supertankers.

D’autres cherchent des poux à l’église grecque, exemptée de taxe foncière et présentée comme « le plus gros propriétaire foncier du pays », oubliant un peu que la conservation des nombreuses églises du pays n’est pas à la charge de l’état contrairement à ce qui se passe en France.

Toutes ces images d’Epinal ont sans doute un fond de vérité mais elles ne suffisent pas du tout pour expliquer la dette publique abyssale de la Grèce.

Par contre elles servent d’utile cache-sexe à une vérité bien plus gênante : la corruption généralisée qui gangrène les relation économiques au sein de l’UE et qui est le principal générateur de ce que les juristes appellent la Dette Odieuse, c’est-à-dire une dette contractée contre l’intérêt des citoyens, non solvable et par le moyen de la corruption.

Voici donc quelques points étapes qui ont massivement contribué à enfoncer la Grèce dans la dette :

Arrière plan historique

-1967-1974 La dette a quadruplé pendant la dictature des colonels. C’est open-bar pour les vendeurs d’armes américains qui fourguent tout une flotte de chasseurs F104G Starfighter, F102 Convair, F4 Fantom et F5 Freedom Fighter. Il faut bien payer son dû à Oncle Sam qui a mis la Junte au pouvoir.

Dès la chute du régime, on change de fournisseurs : Pour entrer dans la CEE la Grèce fait les yeux doux aux vendeurs de canon européens : Dassault (chasseurs Mirage) et à Krupps (Chars Leopard)

La grande bouffe européenne du XXIe siècle

(les dates sont celles des contrats, pas des mises en examen)

1999-2000 La firme américaine Raytheon vend son système antimissiles Patriot. 10 millions d’euros en pots de vin via des cadres de Siemens selon le témoignage de Reinhard Siekaczek.

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2000-2002 Le constructeur automobile allemand MAN est mis en examen par le parquet de Munich pour avoir soudoyé les autorités dans plusieurs pays pour obtenir des contrats parmi lesquels celui de fourniture de véhicules à Athènes et au Pirée (une centaine de Trolleys bus, des véhicules militaires…).

2004 : Gabegie Olympique.

Le budget initial prévu 1,3 milliard de dollars.

Coût réel estimé 14,2 milliards de dollars.

Cout réel incluant les pots de vins : plus de 20 milliards de dollars.

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Pourtant un seul cas de corruption fait l’objet de poursuites en Grèce comme en Allemagne : celui du Groupe Siemens qui a fourni le système de sécurité c4i (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) qui n’a jamais fonctionné (10 millions € de pots vins).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14433472/…

Siemens décroche aussi en 2004 la digitalisation des centres téléphoniques de la compagnie nationale de télécoms OTE (100 millions d’euros en pots de vin)

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Siemens arrosait le personnel politique des deux bords, les hauts gradés et la haute administration grecque pour décrocher des contrats mirifiques . Les pots de vins dépasseraient le milliard d’euros.

L’ Allemagne a refusé d’extrader l’ex-patron du groupe Siemens-Hellas en Grèce.

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La construction du métro d’Athènes a donné lieu aussi à 50 million € de pots de vins, dont le bénéficiaire était la compagnie allemande Ferrostall.

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Feb 14 2012

Extinguishing Democracy in Land Where it Began

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Greek protesters threw stones and firebombs at riot police who responded with tear gas in Athens as clashes erupted on the sidelines of a protest against new austerity cuts

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

By Christopher Booker

Greece’s plight has alerted the world to the way the EU extinguishes democracy.

It is peculiarly appropriate that the country that gave the world the words “democracy” and “tragedy” should now be the beacon which alerts the world to the fact that the EU is extinguishing democracy – part of a wider tragedy that will eventually lead to the extinction of the EU itself. But what of our own country’s part in this horrible drama?

It already seems an age since we were told, last June, that David Cameron had “won his fight” to prevent the EU extracting a loan of billions of pounds from Britain to help Greece pay off some of the colossal debt it has run up since it was so foolishly allowed to join the euro. The next move, we learned, was that we would have to lend the money anyway, not through the EU but through the IMF.

George Osborne still cannot promise that he will be able to resist this demand, even though he knows we are having to borrow an additional £2.5 billion every week just to pay for the ever-rising deficit on our own Government’s spending. Thus, in order to lend £17 billion through the IMF to Greece, which it will never be able to repay, we would have to borrow even more money than we are doing already.

The latest contribution to this tragi-farce, it seems, is Sir Mervyn King’s decision to roll the printing presses and conjure a further £50 billion of imaginary money out of thin air. As Fraser Nelson explained in Friday’s Daily Telegraph, this will keep interest rates on annuities at rock-bottom, and thus rob Britain’s pensioners of an estimated £74 billion.

So our pensioners’ money will be disappearing into a bottomless pit of debt, not least to help save the euro, which the EU cannot allow Greece to leave, because this might set off a domino effect, bringing down in turn all those other eurozone countries that have run up debts they cannot repay, and plunging Europe’s and the world’s economy into unimaginable chaos.

There were those of us who long ago came to see that the dream of building a politically united Europe had all the makings of a tragedy doomed eventually to end very badly, and to carry what remained of European democracy with it. But I confess that not even in our worst nightmares did we foresee that it would end quite like this. And even now the end game has hardly begun.

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Nov 14 2011

The great euro Putsch rolls on as two democracies fall

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

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Crowds gathered outside the Italian presidential palace after Silvio Berlusconi resigned on Saturday.
Photo: GETTY

Europe’s scorched-earth policies have begun in earnest. The inherent flaws of monetary union have created a crisis of such gravity that EU leaders now feel authorized to topple two elected governments.

As I long feared, the flood of cheap credit into Southern Europe and the slow death of Club Med industry by currency asphyxiation have together created such a dangerous situation for world finance that informed opinion is willing to turn a blind eye to EU sovereign trespass. Some even applaud.

The Greeks were ordered to drop their referendum on measures that reduce their country to a sort of Manchukuo, with EU commissars “on the ground”, installed in each ministry, drawing up lists of state assets to be liquidated to pay foreign creditors.

Europe had the monetary and fiscal means to contain the EMU debt crisis long enough for Greeks to give or withhold their crucial assent to this ultimatum in December.

It chose – under German-Dutch pressure – not deploy those means. Instead it forced Greece to capitulate by cutting off an agreed loan payment.

In Italy, the European Central Bank has engineered the downfall of Silvio Berlusconi by playing the bond markets, switching purchases on and off to enforce compliance with its written dictates (“La Lettera”), and ultimately allowing 10-year yields to spike to 7.45pc to drive him out.

Europe’s president Herman Van Rompuy swooped in to Rome to clinch the Putsch. “Italy needs reforms not elections,” he said.

We are not that far from use of EU judicial coercion, and then EU police power, and ultimately EU “border troops” – for those old enough to remember Soviet methods of fraternal assistance.

Chancellor Angela Merkel tells us that peace in Europe can no longer be taken for granted, and she is right. Her own Gothic actions and her inflexible imposition of 1930s Gold Standard contraction and debt-deflation on Southern Europe is itself preparing the ground for Europe’s civil war (hopefully pacific), a rebellion by the South against the North.

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Nov 14 2011

Socializing losses: Trilateral takeover of Europe?

By Adrian Salbuchi for RT

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Anti-austerity protesters hold a Greek flag reading ‘not for sale’ during a student parade in Athens, attended by the Greek minister of education (AFP Photo / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI)

The sovereign debt crisis tightening its grip on Europe has claimed the scalps of two prime ministers – those of Greece and Italy. Looking at the men poised to replace them, one cannot but ask – is this another turn of the screw for ordinary people?

Greece and Italy hold huge swathes of public debt they are unable to service unless they get massive European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund support, as a prelude to refinancing by international banks.

Greece has replaced its prime minister after he dared to say he would put a further round of harsh austerity measures to a referendum vote. The country’s new PM is Lucas Papademos, former vice president of the ECB and of Greece’s own Central Bank, and a member of David Rockefeller’s (JPMorgan Chase/Exxon) powerful Trilateral Commission.

As for Italy, instead of Silvio Berlusconi they got the former European Commissioner Mario Monti, who happens to be European chairman of the Trilateral Commission.

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