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Greece and the EU – Nothing But Political Theater?

February 3, 2015

Greece and the EU – Nothing But Political Theater?

 

Varoufakis’ Tour of Europe

Greece’s new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has toured Europe, trying to drum up support for – actually, we’re not quite sure what for exactly, as the precise nature of the Greek government’s demands is currently in flux (this is a parallel to Syriza’s ever-changing pre-election statements). Essentially, he seems to be gauging what they can get away with.

Not surprisingly, France’s political leadership has announced its support for a “debt deal” in principle(whatever that means), as the spendthrift French government is so to speak an ideological partner-in-crime of Syriza. However, the French government stopped short of supporting a partial write-down of Greece’s debt (Michel Sapin: “No we will not annul, we can discuss, we can delay, we can reduce its weight, but not annul”). Similar noises have issued from Berlin and Madrid.

We have argued all along that no EU government can afford to accept such a write-down, as then the guarantees issued for Greek debt would come due and the losses would become “real” – and appear on everybody else’s budget. We imagine that every EU leader Mr. Varoufakis has spoken to so far has impressed the political necessity of “extend and pretend” on him in no uncertain terms; details may well be up for debate though.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

Chaos, Fear, Panic Descend on EU’s Hallowed Halls of Power

February 2, 2015

Chaos, Fear, Panic Descend on EU’s Hallowed Halls of Power

According to Greek private broadcaster Mega TV, “You just killed the Troika” were the parting words that Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem whispered into the right ear of Greece’s new Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis at the end of what was clearly a tense meeting. Varoufakis’ response was a monosyllabic but no less emphatic “Wow.”

While Dijsselbloem’s statement verges on hyperbole – it’s hard to imagine that the Troika’s dreaded three-headed hydra could be slain by just a few harsh words from a Greek economist-turned-politician – it’s nonetheless a fair reflection of the atmosphere of chaos, fear and panic that has descended upon the EU’s hallowed halls of power since Syriza’s election victory last Sunday.

For the first time since the global financial crisis buffeted Europe’s southern shores, in late 2009, a country has voted in a government that refuses to play by the Troika’s rules. In just its first week of power Syriza provoked the Troika’s ire a number of times, by promising to raise the country’s minimum wage and state pensions as well as put a halt to much of the former government’s privatization program.

In fact, according to a statement by Varoufakis, Greece’s new government no longer wants to even have anything to do with the Troika. As the Greek dailyTovima reports, the message was clean, clear and aggressive:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

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