Politics
Economy
Greek Banks Delay Large Withdrawals, Keep Refilling ATMS
ATHENS – Fearful of a stalemated June 17th election and worried over giving up the euro and returning to the ancient drachma, frantic Greeks in the days leading up to the polls took out more than $1.25 billion a...
Greece
Pick Euro or Drachma, Antonis Samaras Tells Voters
Greece will overcome the crisis and stay in the euro, the head of the conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samaras vowed ahead of a general election on Sunday critical for the country's economy. "We will exit the crisis. We...
Economy
The Greek Elections: The World is Watching
ATHENS – Some 9.9 million Greeks are eligible to vote in the critical June 17th elections that could decide whether Greece keeps austerity and the euro, or rejects the bailouts that came with the attached pay cuts, tax hikes...
Greece
German FT Article on “Demagogue Tsipras” Raises Vast Dispute
The outrageous editorial in The Financial Times Deutschland captured broad TV and radio attention, though it did not make it into the Greek press since it has just been published today.
Supposedly expressing Berlin’s neo-liberal, monetarist position, the paper admonished...
Economy
The Three Greek Election Scenarios: Lose, Lose, Lose
ATHENS – Greece’s critical June 17th elections have been framed as a euro vs. drachma dilemma, whether the country will stay in the Eurozone or be forced out and back to its ancient currency and into what most analysts...
Greece
Secret Polls Show Extremely Difficult Derby Among Greek Parties
The upcoming elections have to be Greece's most critical in all of its modern history. Former powerful parties, PASOK and New Democracy, lost many voters on May 6th due to their pro-bailout policy. On the contrary, leftist party SYRIZA...
Greece
Εx-PM Papandreou: Samaras and Tsipras, "Two Sides of Same Coin"
With two days until the elections in the country, Greece's former Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has made an appeal to the Greek people, saying that the country's current objective must be to implement widespread reforms.
Writing on his personal website,...
Economy
“We Are Moving from Being a Western Country to a Third-World Country"
Extreme political uncertainty, rampant corruption, queues forming at soup kitchens, and aid from non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—all these are more commonly associated with countries still developing Western-style economies.
“We are moving from being a Western country to a poor country,” George...
Economy
Reuters: Central Banks Preparing to Provide Liquidity if Needed After Greek Elections
Major central banks are prepared to move to stablilize financial markets if they are roiled by the result of Sunday's Greek elections, Reuters reported Thursday, citing Group of 20 officials.
"The central banks are preparing for coordinated action to provide...
Greece
Syriza Wants Greece In Euro Zone Without Loan Agreement
Greece's leftist Syriza party wants to keep the country in the euro zone despite not agreeing to the austerity measures accompanying Athens' second EUR130 billion agreement, its president said Thursday, ahead of this weekend's elections.
Speaking at Syriza's last major...
Economy
SYRIZA Leader Tsipras’ Privileged Life Belies His Image
ATHENS – As he campaigns himself as a man of the people and a working-class hero, Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras, 37, locked in a tight duel with New Democracy Conservative head Antonis Samaras to...
Economy
Clear 100-day Plan for New Greek Government
Regardless of the 17th June election winner in Greece, the new government would be given a final chance, reads an extensive Reuters report citing a German EU official. The report focuses on the progressive deterioration of relations between Germany...
Greece
Billionaire Panagiotis Aggelopoulos Backs Leftish SYRIZA Leader Tsipras
The son of Theodoros and Gianna Aggelopoulos, best known for being the president of the bidding and organizing committee for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, has published an article on rednotebook.gr supporting SYRIZA and its leader Alexis Tsipras....
Greece
SYRIZA leader Tsipras Agrees that "the Currency is not a Fetish"
Speaking on a show on Greek National Television NET, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said that "the currency is not a fetish" and that SYRIZA will say "no" to the proposition of the country's remaining in the eurozone if the...
Economy
Greek Jobless Rate Hits Record 22.6%; Women, Youth, Hurt Most
ATHENS – Pro-austerity parties got bad news on June 14th, three days before the critical elections that could determine whether parties opposed to pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions win power and vow to end the punishing measures,...