Ms Merkel is due to land in Greece this morning for talks with her
counterpart Antonis Samaras and president Carolos Papoulias. But she is likely
to face angry protests in a country where many feel their already-struggling
economy has been dealt further harm by austerity measures demanded in return for
a bail-out. Greece is in its fifth year of recession and unemployment has
soared to 25pc. The country is currently in negotiations with the troika
(representatives from the IMF, European Commission and ECB) over whether it has
made enough progress implementing cuts and tax hikes to release its next €11.5bn
tranche of bail-out cash, without which it faces bankruptcy by November. Alexis
Tsipras, who leads the opposition Syriza party in Greece, said: "She does not
come to support Greece, which her policies have brought to the brink. She comes
to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system. We will give her
the welcome she deserves." Around 7,000 police will be on patrol on the streets
of Athens, backed up by rooftop snipers, water cannon and a helicopter, while
300 members of the coastguard have also been drafted-in to bolster the security
operation. As well as the large police presence, all large gatherings and
rallies have been banned in large parts of Athens (shown in the map below) from
9am to 10pm to "preserve the peace".I see austerity does not apply to the German
Chancellors security - evidently. Germany have squeezed every little last ounce
of competitiveness from Greece, and are now spitting in their faces. Mercedes
should be 20% more expensive than they are, minimum. The reason the Germans sell
so many is because they are using Greece and the other southern sovereign
nations to keep their exchange rate artificially low. It is a huge scam on the
Greeks. Meanwhile, Greece have to buy all in Euros. They should revolt and hang
their leaders.
Access Investments-Building Awareness - European Union-ROMANIA
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Athens-based journalist Damian Mac Con Uladh reports that the Greek government has even banned some TV crews from covering parts of Angela Merkel's trip today:
Ms Merkel is due to land in Greece this morning for talks with her
counterpart Antonis Samaras and president Carolos Papoulias. But she is likely
to face angry protests in a country where many feel their already-struggling
economy has been dealt further harm by austerity measures demanded in return for
a bail-out. Greece is in its fifth year of recession and unemployment has
soared to 25pc. The country is currently in negotiations with the troika
(representatives from the IMF, European Commission and ECB) over whether it has
made enough progress implementing cuts and tax hikes to release its next €11.5bn
tranche of bail-out cash, without which it faces bankruptcy by November. Alexis
Tsipras, who leads the opposition Syriza party in Greece, said: "She does not
come to support Greece, which her policies have brought to the brink. She comes
to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system. We will give her
the welcome she deserves." Around 7,000 police will be on patrol on the streets
of Athens, backed up by rooftop snipers, water cannon and a helicopter, while
300 members of the coastguard have also been drafted-in to bolster the security
operation. As well as the large police presence, all large gatherings and
rallies have been banned in large parts of Athens (shown in the map below) from
9am to 10pm to "preserve the peace".I see austerity does not apply to the German
Chancellors security - evidently. Germany have squeezed every little last ounce
of competitiveness from Greece, and are now spitting in their faces. Mercedes
should be 20% more expensive than they are, minimum. The reason the Germans sell
so many is because they are using Greece and the other southern sovereign
nations to keep their exchange rate artificially low. It is a huge scam on the
Greeks. Meanwhile, Greece have to buy all in Euros. They should revolt and hang
their leaders.
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7 comments:
Obviously what Greece needs is a loan that will enable it to pay of all those other 'last chance' grants/loans/bungs that has been donated by the mugs, aka the taxpayers who are in the EU.
The fact is that Greece, which traditionally has never paid it's debts, never did meet the criteria for membership of the EU and therefore should never have been allowed in. Regrettably such is the corrupt nature of the EU, once described by David Cameron, as "wholly unaccountable and unconstitutional", that 'ways and means' were found to bend the rules.
Since the crazy rules of the EU does not permit expulsion of a country, the only other way out is for Greece to default and opt out. Guess who's going to pick up the tab in that event? Unfortunately, it will not as it should be, confined to those countries in the Eurozone, The UK will be expected to pay a share and since our fearless PM decided for reasons that he has not chosen to share with us, to support that "wholly unaccountable and unconstitutional" institution, and again in his own words, "regardless of how little we get out of it" we the taxpayers will be picking up the tab for yet more of the EU's profligate and fraudulent practices.
Roll on the election when we can vote UKIP, the only party who has pledged to give us an in/out referendum.
Spain has already been granted help for its banks and will receive up to 100bn euros to be targeted at its financial sector. It is widely expected to formally request a sovereign bailout.
But upon arriving in Luxembourg, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that Madrid did not need any further help.
"Spain needs no aid programme. Spain is doing everything necessary, in fiscal policy, in structural reforms," he said.
"Spain has a problem with its banks as a consequence of the real estate bubble of the past years. That's why Spain is getting [EU] help with banking recapitalisation."
Greece will also be on the Eurogroup's agenda, as negotiations continue between Athens and the "troika" of inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank.
But Mr Juncker said: "I don't think that we will have any major decisions on Greece."
'Risks for recession in the advanced economies are alarmingly high,'
Just what we need the IMF pointing out what the rest of the world new a year ago, but wait! if you do what the IMF wants all will be saved, lol.
The IMF desperately wants the ECB to carry out unlimited bond purchases, print,print and print some more , only by borrowing and spending unlimited amounts can we save ourselves from having borrowed too much.
I think Christine Largarde is more concerned about the state of France and the French banks, which will be in line behind Spain and Italy for some free money.
As to China avoiding a hard landing, still living in dream land, 7.7% growth this year, they will have to massage every figure they have to infinity to get up to 7.7%
The head of Germany's opposition Left Party, Bernd Riexinger, said he would travel to Athens to join the demonstration against Merkel and to hold a speech. "Merkel's visit to Athens will heighten internal conflicts in Greece," Riexinger told Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper. "I will express our solidarity with the Greek workers and pensioners who are taking to the streets to protest against income cutbacks that are threatening their livelihoods."
Carsten Schneider, a member of parliament for the opposition center-left Social Democrats, noted that Merkel had last been in Athens in 2007 and should have visited Greece more recently. "The crisis has being going on since 2009 and just giving advice from one's desk in Berlin looks bad," he told German public television channel ARD in an interview on Monday.
Members of Merkel's center-right coalition said her trip was about acknowledging and supporting their reform efforts. "The visit isn't intended to bring any presents for the Greeks," said Volker Kauder, head of the conservative parliamentary group.
Hermann Gröhe, general secretary of Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, said the visit would be a "sign of solidarity" with Greece. "We support Greece on its difficult path. We want this country to make progress," he said.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called Merkel's trip "a European gesture, an act of acknowledgment of the Greek government which is under great pressure with its reform policy."
"The Greek government must and will do its homework. I refuse to just write the country off. The Greeks deserve fairness and respect," he told Bild.
Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Greek opposition Syriza party, says Merkel's visit should be an opportunity to change Europe's obsession with austerity.
Writing in the Guardian, the leftist leader said Greece's programme of sharp cutbacks has created a "vicious spiral of recession" that could spell calamity for Greece and its lenders.
Tsipras called for "a new plan to deepen European integration":
Such a plan must challenge neoliberalism and lead European economies back to recovery.
It should prioritise the needs of workers, pensioners and the unemployed, not the interests of multinational companies and bankrupt bankers. Syriza-USF has committed itself to this road. We know it is a difficult one.
But it is the only plan that can restore the European vision of social justice, peace and solidarity.
"Aias" water cannons outside of greek PM's office
The scale of the security operation set up to protect Angela Merkel today is quite startling.
An estimate 7,000 police are mobilised on the streets, complete with water cannons, and there are also snipers on the roofs, to minimise the danger of an attack on the chancellor. A helicopter will also provide aerial support.
This photo from Twitter yesterday shows the water cannons parked outside Antonis Samaras's offices.
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