Greek Americans Brace for Vote on Euro
Greeks around the world are following what is considered to be their homeland's most critical vote in 40 years. In one city in the US State of Florida, Greeks say they are frustrated by the political turmoil in Greece. Al Jazeera's Andy Gallacher reports from Tarpon Springs.

Greeks Go to Polls on Euro's Day of Destiny
Voters face stark choice between rejecting austerity and risking ejection from euro, or accepting punishing rescue deal

Whatever Euro's Fate, Europe's Reputation Savaged
REUTERS INDIA: Whether the euro lives or dies, the chaotic way Europe has tackled the crisis could undermine the region's geopolitical clout for years to come and leave it at a distinct disadvantage in a rapidly changing world.

With an apparently never-ending series of last-minute summits and telephone calls, Europe's leaders and finance ministers have held the bloc together in the face of growing strains between states, a rising political backlash and market alarm.

But with hindsight, outsiders say each measure proved too little, too late. US officials in particular complain European leaders have either failed to grasp the scale of the problem or proved unwilling to countenance the awkward political decisions necessary to fix it.

As a result, they say, what should have been one of the most stable parts of the world has now become one of the most unpredictable.

At one extreme, the euro area might be about to embark on a journey towards further fiscal and political union as an almost totally unitary "super state". At the other, it could unravel and collapse into an unstable mess of regional rivalry.

"From almost every conversation I've had in the last year - with Chinese, with Indians, with just about anybody - the message is always the same," says Fiona Hill, a former senior officer for the US National Intelligence Council and now head of the Europe programme at Washington think tank the Brookings Institute. "Europe can no longer be trusted. It seems to be moving from being a source of stability to a driver of instability[.]"

Long-held certainties were being challenged, she said. Even non-euro member Britain suddenly appeared at risk of breaking up, with Scotland due to hold a referendum on independence that experts say could yet go either way. » | Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent | LONDON | Saturday, June 16, 2012

Debt Crisis: Tensions Mount as Angela Merkel Attacks French Economy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Deepening splits between Angela Merkel and François Hollande erupted into the open on Friday as the German chancellor attacked Paris for allowing the French economy to stall.

Mrs Merkel warned the policies of the new Socialist president could destroy the eurozone by bringing the sovereign debt crisis to France itself.

The bleak assessment came on the eve of an important weekend that will see elections in Greece and France and a key G20 meeting of world leaders in Mexico.

"Europe must discuss the growing differences in economic strength between France and Germany," she said.

Tensions are running so high that Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, was forced to deny that Paris had broken off the Franco-German partnership, following Berlin anger at a Franco-Italian summit in Rome on Thursday.

There was a growing sense of crisis in European capitals after David Cameron, the Prime Minister, took part in a tense conference call with Mrs Merkel, Mr Hollande and Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister.

G20 leaders meet in Los Cabos on Monday afternoon for talks dominated by the deepening eurozone crisis and the result of close elections that could put Greece on course to leave the EU's single currency.

Eurozone finance ministers are on standby for an emergency telephone conference on Sunday night, if Greek exit polls put the radical Left Syriza coalition in the lead, to trigger contingency plans, including possible capital controls in the event of a run on banks in Greece, Portugal or Spain.

A victory for Syriza could prompt a default and Greek exit of the eurozone. Read on and comment » | Bruno Waterfield in Berlin | Friday, June 15, 2012

Greeks Face Stark Choice at Ballot Box
Greek voters return to the polls on Sunday, after a previous election in May failed to produce a goverment. The result could determine whether Greece sticks to the terms of its international bailout, and remains in the eurozone. Polls suggest the two main parties are running neck and neck, and neither is likely to win enough seats to rule alone. On the one hand conservative New Democracy is experienced but also accused of years of mismanagement. On the other, the left-wing Syriza bloc is an untarnished opposition, but lacking any experience in government. How the two parties are going to reconcile contradictory positions is anybody's guess - and the prospect of failure carries the risk of bankruptcy. Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports from Athens.

Golden Dawn Threatens Hospital Raids against Immigrants in Greece
THE GUARDIAN: Far-right party says it will throw immigrants and their children out on the street, as some hospitals run short of supplies

In an atmosphere that has become increasingly electric before Greece's crucial election, the far-right Golden Dawn has ratcheted up the rhetoric by threatening to remove immigrants and their children from hospitals and kindergartens.

Earning loud applause at an election campaign rally in Athens, Golden Dawn MP Ilias Panagiotaros said: "If Chrysi Avgi [Golden Dawn] gets into parliament [as polls predict], it will carry out raids on hospitals and kindergartens and it will throw immigrants and their children out on the street so that Greeks can take their place."

Medical supplies and beds at some hospitals are running desperately short. The governor of the state-run Nikea hospital, Theodoros Roupas, called on doctors to stop non-essential surgical interventions because of a critical shortage of gloves, syringes and gauze. The order was revoked when Roupas found emergency supplies later in the day.

"The situation is really critical and getting worse every day," said Dr Panaghiotis Papanikolaou, a neurosurgeon at the hospital. "There is not enough medical staff to cope and huge shortages of supplies. There's no money to even service scanners and surgical microscopes … we're talking about a major healthcare crisis – not in the making, it is happening now." » | Helena Smith in Athens | Tuesday, June 12, 2012

GUARDIAN VIDEO: Greece on the breadline: Jon Henley's euro debt tales » | Jon Henley, Alex Healey and Mustafa Khalili | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Luxembourg PM: 'UK Will Become Euro Zone Member'
ITV NEWS: Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker has predicted that the UK will eventually join the euro currency.

He told The Times [£] that the eurozone would emerge “stronger than ever” and the UK could soon become a member of the euro area. » | Saturday, June 09, 2012

Germany's Chancellor Merkel Urges EU Political Union
BBC: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the EU needs a political union even if it means some countries integrating faster than others.

Speaking on German TV, she called for "more Europe", including a budgetary union, saying "we need a political union first and foremost".

"Step by step we must from now on give up more competences to Europe, and allow Europe more powers of control."

However, she has resisted calls for the joint issuing of eurozone debt.

She will hold talks on Thursday with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who has urged the 17-nation eurozone to speed up measures to build a budgetary union to shore up the embattled monetary union.

Ms Merkel's insistence on economic austerity and budget discipline has alienated many Europeans who say the policy is strangling growth and piling more debts on the struggling "periphery" countries like Greece and Spain. » | Thursday, June 07, 2012

N-TV: "Wir brauchen eine politische Union" – Merkel will vorangehen: Bundeskanzlerin Merkel will mehr Macht an Brüssel abgeben - und zwar auch dann, wenn nicht alle EU-Staaten mitmachen. Wichtig ist ihr, dass die Euro-Staaten enger zusammenwachsen. Damit verschreibt sie sich einem Konzept, das lange als Tabu galt: Das Europa der zwei Geschwindigkeiten. Man dürfe nicht stehen bleiben, "weil der eine oder andere noch nicht mitgehen will." » | Quelle: n-tv.de, dpa/rts | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012

SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: EU-Gipfel – Merkel will politische Union in Europa vorantreiben: "Mehr Europa": Angela Merkel will sich auf dem nächsten EU-Gipfel für eine Stärkung der politischen Union in Europa einsetzen. Gleichzeitig warnt die Kanzlerin aber vor allzu hohen Erwartungen - an einen "großen Wurf" glaubt sie selbst nicht. » | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012

Europe Mulls Major Step Toward "Fiscal Union"
REUTERS.COM: When Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets, the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize, if it ever came to be.

One year later, with the euro zone's debt crisis threatening to tear the bloc apart, Germany is pushing its partners for precisely the kind of giant leap forward in fiscal integration that the now-departed European Central Bank president had in mind.

After falling short with her "fiscal compact" on budget discipline, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euro area finances, and major new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice.

She is also seeking a coordinated European approach to reforming labor markets, social security systems and tax policies, German officials say.

Until states agree to these steps and the unprecedented loss of sovereignty they involve, the officials say Berlin will refuse to consider other initiatives like joint euro zone bonds or a "banking union" with cross-border deposit guarantees - steps Berlin says could only come in a second wave. » | Noah Barkin and Daniel Flynn | BERLIN/PARIS | Monday, June 04, 2012

The End Is Nigh for the Greek Euro
Germany’s Bild says it’s time for Greece to leave the euro. We’re in the endgame, says Nikolaus Blome. It’s as if the vultures were circling over the proud country, he says. The Greeks are plundering their banks of banknotes. Imports into Greece can no longer be insured. And there are continual rumours that drachmas have already been printed. The country is in decay. It can’t go on like this much longer. It’s time for one of the bosses of the Eurozone to tell the Greeks the truth. As hard as it sounds, writes Nikolaus Blome, the country needs to be built up anew, from the ground up. The Greeks need a new start in economics, politics, and administration. Just as in a developing country. The first step is for Greece to leave the euro.

Greek Leftist Leader Alexis Tsipras: 'It's in Europe's Interest to Lift the Austerity Diktat'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Alexis Tsipras, head of the leftist Syriza party, wants an end to austerity in Greece. Ahead of Greek general elections in mid-June, he speaks with SPIEGEL about the dangers his country poses to the euro, the failure of economization measures thus far and why Chancellor Angela Merkel would be to blame if the Greek economy collapses.

Tsipras, the 37-year-old rising star in Greek politics, lays his Ray-Ban sunglasses on the table. It's Tuesday afternoon, and he looks exhausted. Indeed, he has a packed schedule: first Paris and then Berlin, where he met with Gregor Gysi and then with Jürgen Trittin and Sigmar Gabriel, senior officials in Germany's Left Party, Green Party and Social Democratic Party, respectively. Tsipras was the surprise victor when his Radical Left (Syriza) party took second place in May 6 general elections in Greece. Because leaders were unable to form a coalition government, a new election will be held on June 17. Most believe that Tsipras will attract even more votes in this second election.

Tsipras' tour through "Europe's two most important capital cities," as he put it, was primarily about cultivating his image. The civil engineer, already politically active in high school as a member of the Communist Youth of Greece, numbers among the strongest critics of the EU-International Monetary Fund (IMF) strategy for Greece, which calls for radical budget cuts and austerity in return for international aid. Should he win the June 17 election, Tsipras plans to ditch the terms of the bailout agreements struck with its creditors. On the campaign trail, one of his slogans has been that Greece is in danger of becoming a "German colony." But he toned things down in Berlin, saying: "We want to persuade, not blackmail." » | Interview conducted by Julia Amalia Heyer and Manfred Ertel | Translated from the German by Josh Ward | Monday, May 28, 2012

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Griechenland und die Euro-Zone: Hilflos am Abgrund
SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: Griechenland taumelt, der Staat ist handlungsunfähig, der Reformprozess kommt nicht voran. Viele in Europa stellen sich bereits auf einen Austritt des Landes aus der Euro-Zone ein, finden sogar Gefallen daran. Athen aufzugeben, ist jedoch voreilig - und gefährlich.

Griechenland solle aus dem Euro austreten, und zwar schleunigst: Das hat Hans-Werner Sinn, der Präsident des Ifo-Instituts, schon vor mehr als zwei Jahren gesagt, in diesem großen Drama ist es fast eine Ewigkeit her. Andere wie Bosch-Chef Franz Fehrenbach forderten gar einen erzwungenen Austritt des Landes aus Euro und EU. Die europäischen Regierungen haben anders gehandelt, sie haben insgesamt 240 Milliarden Euro leihweise Hilfe aus aller Welt organisiert und im Gegenzug einen brutalen Spar- und Reformkurs erzwungen.

Das war damals und bisher richtig, weil es hier nicht um den Austritt aus Sportverein oder ADAC ging, sondern um viel mehr. Zu Disposition stand und steht die Mitgliedschaft in einer Währungsunion, wie es nie eine gegeben hat, eine, die als Krönung der europäischen Integration gedacht war. Auch aus einer solchen Gemeinschaft kann man austreten, aber doch nur als ultima ratio. » | Ein Kommentar von Marc Beise | Samstag, 26. Mai 2012

Theresa May: We'll Stop Migrants If Euro Collapses

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, Theresa May says “work is ongoing” to restrict European immigration in the event of a financial collapse. People from throughout the EU, with the exception of new member countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, are able to work anywhere in the single market.

However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad.

The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency.

Details of the contingency plan emerged as the euro crisis deepened further yesterday. » | Robert Winnett, and James Kirkup | Friday, May 25, 2012

My comment:

This woman is a joke! How long has she been telling us that immigration is going to be brought under control? In fact, under this administration, immigration has gone up! They can’t control the borders now. What makes her think they’ll be able to control the borders if the euro “collapses”? In any case, wouldn’t an influx of Greeks, Portuguese, or Spaniards be preferable for this country than Third World immigrants who have little in common with our heritage, and in any case have no desire or determination to integrate? Mrs. May, your words sound awfully hollow. Do you really expect us to believe this nonsense? You wouldn’t be able to control the flow of the pious into a prostitute’s parlour. – © Mark

Sarrazin attackiert Merkel: "Wie eine Windel über den Kopf ziehen"

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Thilo Sarrazin verteidigt neues Buch

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Visit to Germany: Tsipras Says Berlin Must Back Down on Austerity

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Charismatic, eloquent and defiant, the leader of Greece's Radical Left party, Alexis Tsipras, visited Berlin on Tuesday to ram home the message that he will scrap austerity if he wins the June election, and that no one, not even mighty Germany, has the right to evict Greece from the currency.

Alexis Tsipras, the leftist leader who could hold the whole of Europe to ransom if he wins the Greek election on June 17, breezed into Berlin on Tuesday to tell Germans they don't own the euro zone, and that they will endanger the whole currency block if they insist on stringent austerity for his recession-hit country.

The 37-year-old leader of the Radical Left party (Syriza), which came second in the May 6 election and is expected to emerge as the strongest political force in the repeat vote, reiterated his determination to abandon the radical budget cuts that were imposed on Greece in return for international aid -- a move EU leaders and German politicians in particular have warned could force Greece out of the euro.

The charismatic leader had visited Paris on Monday as part of a tour to convince a skeptical European public that he is not bent on wrecking the euro. In Berlin, he was hosted by Germany's opposition Left Party, which agreed a six-point program with Syriza calling for an end to austerity, taxes on banks and the rich and economic stimulus measures.

He didn't get an audience with Chancellor Angela Merkel. But his message to her, conveyed via more than 200 journalists packed into a building just a few hundred meters from her chancellery building, was loud and clear. He had no intention of "blackmailing" the German people, he said. But then he appeared to do just that, saying the bailout terms would have to be renegotiated, or else. » | David Crossland | Tuesday, May 22, 2012

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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Angela Merkel 'astonished' by austerity debate as Germany left increasingly isolated on Eurobonds: The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she finds it “astonishing” that her pro-austerity stance is the cause of controversy, as Germany found itself increasingly isolated on the issue of eurobonds ahead of Wednesday’s European Union leaders summit. ¶ The German Chancellor said that the current debate in Europe and beyond “gives the impression that, for us, saving, as such, is pleasurable”. ¶ “It’s just about not spending more than you collect. It’s astonishing that this simple fact leads to such debates,” she said in a speech in Berlin. » | Angela Monaghan, and Philip Aldrick | Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Sarrazin Strikes Again: German Author Says Berlin Is Hostage to Holocaust in Euro Crisis

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany is Europe's paymaster because it committed the Holocaust, claims a new book by Thilo Sarrazin, a firebrand author and former board member of the German central bank. The claim by the controversial writer achieved the desired effect of stoking publicity for Tuesday's launch of 'Europe Doesn't Need the Euro.'

Thilo Sarrazin, the former board member of Germany's central bank who caused outrage two years ago with a bestseller criticizing the impact of Muslim immigrants on German society, presented a new book on Tuesday that could strike a similar chord with Germans: "Europe Doesn't Need the Euro."

In his latest work, the combative politician, a maverick member of the opposition center-left Social Democratic Party, controversially argues that Germany is being pressured to bail out the euro zone because it perpetrated the Holocaust.

Sarrazin writes that supporters of euro bonds in Germany "are driven by that very German reflex, that we can only finally atone for the Holocaust and World War II when we have put all our interests and money into European hands," according to excerpts published in German media ahead of the book launch. » | cro | Tuesday, May 22, 2012

'Sick Conditions': Why Greeks Will Vote for Tsipras

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Greeks have spurned the politicians who represent the country's broken system, and many are now following rising star Alexis Tsipras. The radical left-wing politician has pledged to free Greece from painful austerity measures while keeping the euro, but no one knows how he plans to fulfill his promises.

Alexis Tsipras, the man who will very likely emerge again as the winner of the upcoming Greek parliamentary election, is campaigning throughout the country primarily under one slogan: "We won't pay any more."

He doesn't say what would replace the "barbarism of the austerity dictates," which he maintains that the European Union partners, above all German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have forced upon his country. He argues that the Europeans are only bluffing -- and he promises that they will continue to help, even if the Greeks no longer service their debts. He says: Elect me and all this misery will come to an end.

Stavros Lygeros, 59, is sitting in a café in the posh Athens neighborhood Neo Psychiko. Lygeros is a political commentator and a bourgeois intellectual. He's endeavoring to explain why the Greeks are following Tsipras in droves, although this young politician is clearly a seductive new star and his successful radical left-wing Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) cannot explain who will pay the future salaries of civil servants, doctors and nurses. Lygeros says that many Syriza voters don't even believe that this party has a solution.

The tragedy is that Greeks don't really have a choice when they return to the polls on June 17 -- their only option is refusal and protest. Suddenly all of Europe is demanding that they vote once again for, of all people, the very politicians who brought them all this misery in the first place, namely the socialists under Evangelos Venizelos and the conservatives under Antonis Samaras.

Because the discredited parties stand for the loan agreement and the conditions laid down by the lenders, many Greeks see Tsipras as their only alternative. At 37, he is young compared to the usual gerontocrats who dominate Greek politics. With an annual income last year of €48,000 ($61,000), a motorcycle and a modest apartment, he's fairly poor for a politician, which is yet another factor that fuels his popularity among voters. And he's the only one who promises to free Greece from the yoke of the austerity measures -- yet retain the euro. » | Julia Amalia Heyer | Monday, May 21, 2012

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Alexis Tsipras Warns Greek Crisis Is Also Europe's

THE GUARDIAN: Greece's leftwing leader tells Paris audience that other EU countries will be next if they fail to oppose radical austerity drive

The rising star of Europe Alexis Tsipras, the radical left Greek leader, has arrived in Paris to warn EU countries that their turn would come if they failed to oppose the radical austerity that is driving Greece to the brink of "collective suicide".

Tsipras, who is leading an austerity-backlash, said the future of Europe and the euro depended on the outcome of the Greece debt crisis. And he said he could feel a "wind of change" blowing across the continent that he hoped would lead to the "complete re-founding of Europe based on social cohesion and solidarity".

To continue down the path of austerity, he warned, would turn the Greek tragedy into an European catastrophe.

"Greece is a link in a chain. If it breaks it is not just the link that is broken but the whole chain. What people have to understand is that the Greek crisis concerns not just Greece but all European people so a common European solution has to be found," he told a press conference in Paris.

"The public debt crisis is hitting the south of Europe but it will soon hit central Europe. People have to realise that their own country could be threatened.

"We are here to explain to people in Europe that we have nothing against them. We are fighting the battle in Greece not just for the Greek people but for people in France, Germany and all European countries."

"I am not here to blackmail, I am here to mobilise," he said.

"Greece gave humanity democracy and today the Greek people will bring democracy back to Europe." » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Monday, May 21, 2012

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Debatte um zweite Währung: Deutsche Bank will den Geuro für Griechenland
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Griechenland ist kaum noch in der Euro-Zone zu halten, auch wenn die meisten Krisenpolitiker sich genau dies wünschen. Nun macht der Chefvolkswirt der Deutschen Bank einen ungewöhnlichen Vorschlag: Das Land soll einfach zwei Währungen parallel nutzen - den Euro und den Geuro.

Hamburg - Thomas Mayer, der Chefvolkswirt der Deutschen Bank, hält die Einführung einer griechischen Parallelwährung zum Euro für möglich. Diese soll für den inländischen Zahlungsverkehr und die Bezahlung lebensnotwendiger Importe verwendet werden, heißt es in einem Bericht der Forschungsabteilung der Deutschen Bank. Name der neuen Währung: Geuro.

Hintergrund ist die Annahme, dass Griechenland kaum noch in der Euro-Zone zu halten ist. Eine Regierungsbildung im Land ist gerade gescheitert, Neuwahlen stehen an, bei diesen könnten Parteien die Mehrheit erringen, die ein Sparprogramm ablehnen. Die Hilfszahlungen an Griechenland dürften dann eingestellt werden, und das Land würde den Währungsraum wohl verlassen müssen.

Die meisten Ökonomen halten es allerdings für wahrscheinlich, dass Griechenland selbst nach einem Euro-Austritt noch Hilfen anderer EU-Länder erhalten würde. Denn ein völliges Chaos mitten in Europa würden die anderen Länder definitiv vermeiden wollen.

Hier setzt Mayers Vorschlag an: Seinem Modell nach würde die griechische Regierung ihre Rechnungen wohl mit Schuldscheinen bezahlen. Diese würden zum Kern einer neuen Währung werden, da die Schuldscheine weiterverkauft werden könnten. » | ssu | Montag, 21. Mai 2012

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