Illegal immigrants blockade Greek/Macedonian border

Illegal immigrants in Greece have blocked a border crossing into Macedonia, demanded to see ID cards and told Greeks they aren't allowed to pass.

The border crossing at Idomeni is home to 154 Greeks and 10,000 illegal immigrants trying to illegally make their way across Europe to countries like Germany, Sweden and the UK who offer the best benefits.

Left wing agitators were seen supplying the illegal immigrants with food to enable them to keep up their illegal blockade.

Greece to be kicked out of Schengen

The EU have served notice on Greece that it will be evicted from the Schengen zone unless it meets strict conditions that it has no hope of ever meeting.

Passport controls will be put in place imminently and won't be lifted until 2018 at the earliest if Greece can get a grip on illegal immigration.

More illegal immigrants arrived in Greece in January than the whole of 2015.

Thousands of illegal immigrants storm Macedonian border

Thousands of illegal immigrants ferried to the mainland by the Greek government have stormed the Macedonian border.

Many of those that have managed to force their way through police and military lines are escaping Syria but others have come from relatively stable countries such as Pakistan and are simply taking advantage of the opportunity to get into Europe.

The Macedonian army attempted to allow a group of 600 people with small children across the border to catch a train to Serbia where they would then go on to Hungary before making their way to France, Germany and eventually the UK. But while they tried to give safe passage to those high risk illegal immigrants, thousands of others stormed the border.

Since the EU stopped the practice of intercepting boats carrying illegal immigrants and sending them back to where they started off, the number of illegal immigrants coming to Europe has exploded as economic migrants take advantage of the relaxing of border controls and mingle with asylum seekers looking for safety.

Under international law, asylum seekers are required to claim asylum in the first safe country they enter. With the exception of those entering Europe from the volatile north African coast, every asylum seeker is illegally and should be sent back to the first safe country they entered but EU rules don't allow member states to deport illegal asylum seekers to other EU member states because that undermines the EU pretending to be a single country.

The Macedonian government is blaming the Greek government for ferrying thousands of illegal immigrants from the islands onto the mainland.

Germany complains about the number of asylum seekers their open doors policy is bringing them

The German government has revised up its estimate of the number of asylum seekers it expects to receive this year to 800k.

Thomas de Maizière, the German Interior Minister, called for "reform" of the Dublin Regulation, saying it was unfair for Germany to take 40% of the asylum seekers coming into Europe. When he says "reform" what he means, of course, is "change the system so it suits Germany" as is the case with most "reform" of EU regulations. They want to redistribute asylum seekers around the EU so everyone takes their "fair share".

As the Germans are behind the policy of not just letting unlimited numbers of asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and terrorists into Europe but actually laying on a ferry service to bring them here, it's only fair that Germany takes the lion's share of those that arrive. The Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy are being swamped with illegal immigrants thanks to the German policy of ferrying them over to Europe so it's only fair that Germany should deal with the consequences.

Austria has threatened to take the EU Commission to the EU Courts if it tries to force a redistribution of asylum seekers whilst Slovakia said it will only accept Christian asylum seekers due to "security risks". The EU Commission says that they should show "solidarity" and get behind their "migration agenda" of flooding the continent with illegal immigrants from the middle east and beyond.

Illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan rioting in Kos because their asylum claims aren't being processed fast enough

Osborne claims victory by caving in to EU demands

George Osborne has declared victory over his and David Cameron's demands that the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) mustn't be used to bail out Greece by agreeing to the EFSM being used to bail out Greece.

Osborne says that it's ok to use the EFSM to bail out Greece because the EU have agreed that although we've got to guarantee the loans to Greece we won't have to pay out when they default because the loans are backed up by Greek bonds. Which Greece would default on if they defaulted on these loans.

You can't make this stuff up!

Greek parliament votes for EU austerity, EU says UK will be on the hook for bailout loans

The Greek Parliament have passed Germany's punishing austerity measures in exchange for billions of €uro in loans that it can't afford to pay back.

In scenes reminiscent of the February 2012 EU austerity vote, Greeks turned out en masse in Athens to violently protest against their government. Riot police used tear gas against the protesters who were smashing shop windows and throwing rocks and fire bombs at police outside the parliament building.

Yesterday David Cameron insisted yesterday that the UK wouldn't be on the hook for Greece's loans, contradicting his Chancellor who earlier in the day said that he might agree to using the European Financial Stability Mechanism fund to bail Greece out which involves borrowing tens of billions of €uro on the open markets secured on the EU budget with member states guaranteeing the loan proportionate to the size of their budget contributions. The EU, of course, dismissed David Cameron's supposed opposition to using the EFSM and said it would be going ahead and doing it anyway.

Tsipras caves in to German demands and the EU demands €1bn from the UK to bail out Greece

Alexis Tsipras caved in to German demands yesterday which will see the confiscation of €50bn of state-owned assets and the proceeds of their sale given back to Greece in the form of loans.

The humiliating agreement was designed to punish the Greek people for defying the EU in a referendum and to destabilise the government of Alexis Tsipras. It also includes cuts to pensions, raising taxes and cutting back on the generous perks of public sector workers which, whilst perfectly sensible for a country with such a disfunctional economy, were absolutely not what the Greek people voted for.

The agreement says that the €50bn raised from confiscating Greek assets will be managed by an "existing external and independent fund like the Institution for Growth in Luxembourg". The Institution for Growth was created to manage the Marshall Plan fund that rebuilt Germany after the second world war and is better capitalised than the World Bank. The report doesn't mention that the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, who was instrumental in writing the agreement is a director of the Institution for Growth in Luxembourg.

This isn't just a coup, it's a huge fraud and to top it all off the British government have been told that UK taxpayer will be on the hook for €1bn worth of the bailout money despite David Cameron claiming to have protected us from having to bail out the €uro ever again!

Yeah, not so hopeful any more, eh?

Germany attempting another coup d'état in Greece #ThisIsACoup

Angela Merkel is attempting a coup d'état in Greece, demanding the surrender of €50bn of assets from the Greek government, the installation of bureaucrats from the troika who would have to be consulted on all relevant draft bills put before the Greek parliament and the repeal of all legislation since the election that hasn't been agreed by the troika.

Alexis Tsipras caved in last week, agreeing to all the demands of the German-led troika despite the Greek people rejecting them in a referendum, sparking protests in Athens. But this isn't enough any more, Alexis Tsipras has shown that the EU - and more importantly, Germany - can be defied and the punishment for that is to overthrow him and install a puppet government.

The Germans have already executed one coup détat in Greece in 2012 when former prime minister George Papandreou was ousted for offering a referendum on bailout austerity measures and the former governor of the EU Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, was appointed in his place. They also engineered a coup in Italy, installing former EU Commissioner Mario Monti as prime minister and an entire cabinet of unelected technocrats to oversee the implementation of EU austerity measures and of course the coup in Ukraine earlier this year where the EU sponsored the anti-government protesters who overthrew the government and precipitated a chain of events that has seen Russia annex Crimea and fascist militia working for the government in eastern Ukraine.

There will be no deal with Greece until Alexis Tsipras has been overthrown, Syriza removed from government and Greece is run by a German puppet.

Tsipras holds all the cards, let's see how brave he is

The final result of yesterday's Greek bailout referendum was 61.31% No, 38.69% Yes with a turnout of 62.5%. This was an emphatic win for Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras who staked his career on the outcome and a blow to the opposition New Democracy whose leader, Antonis Samaras, has resigned.

European markets have yet to open but the impact on Asian markets has been muted. The €uro has predictably declined against the dollar but there has been no catastrophic devaluation overnight as the doom mongers were predicting.

Germany and France are having their own private meeting today before attending an emergency meeting of the €urogroup tomorrow where they will tell them what they've decided is going to happen. Merkel is under pressure to kick the Greeks out of the €uro but France is on the hook for a lot of Greek bailout money that they can't afford to lose.

Tsipras holds all the cards now. He has a mandate to reject the unsustainable and damaging EU bailout terms and if that means they get thrown out of the €uro and even the EU, the Greeks will be better off. Greece has nothing to lose.

Now we just need to see how brave Alexis Tsipras is.

Greek referendum poll - NO leads #VoteOxi --- [Updated 22:15]

The results of the Greek bailout referendum are trickling in and with 13.58% of votes counted, every polling district has so far rejected the terms of the Troika's bailout deal.

Currently 60.22% have voted no with 39.78% voting yes.

20:16 With nearly 60% of the vote counted, the No vote has held up with 61.29% voting against the bailout deal and 38.71% voting in favour. The polls had the result much closer before the referendum. The closest result by polling district is Lakonias - home to the Spartans - where the No vote is just 1.59% ahead. The biggest gap is in the Cretan polling district of Chanion where the No vote is 46.55% ahead.

21:22 Over 80% of the vote has been counted and the No vote has an unassailable 61.55% of the vote. Greece has rejected austerity, rejected the bailout and possibly more than anything else (in their minds at least) they have German hegemony. What this means for Greece's place in the €uro and the EU remains to be seen but for Greece this can only be a good thing.

22:15 Just over 90% of the vote has been counted and the No vote is fractionally down at 61.4% but the result isn't going to change. The Oxis have declared victory, the leader of the opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras has resigned and thousands of Greeks have taken to the streets to celebrate.

Keep Calm and #VoteOxi

The Greeks are voting today on whether to accept an EU bailout with more punishing austerity measures attached.

Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tspiras, called a snap referendum last week after it became clear that no deal would be reached with Germany by the deadline for their IMF loan repayments and is urging the Greek people to vote no.

Greece's debt is unsustainable and its membership of the €uro is damaging to the Greek economy. Dropping out of the single currency and returning to the Drachma will boost Greek industry and attract foreign investment. Greece is too left wing for its economy to fully recover and the country will inevitably default so this is about damage limitation. Greece already has €230bn of bailout loans it can't afford to pay - do they want to add another €60bn to it just to delay the inevitable?

Less than 24 hours for Greece to take the first step down the road to freedom

Greece has one more day left to pay the IMF £1.6bn of instalments for a loan that a Greek Debt Committee commissioned by the Greek government have declared "illegal, illegitimate, odious and unsustainable".

The IMF's creditors don't go into default if they don't pay up on time, they go into arrears. Greece won't be in default unless it fails to pay out on the €3.49bn of bonds and €2bn of Treasury bills that mature in July. Most of the T-Bills are owned by banks and will be rolled over but the bonds will need to be paid in just a few weeks if Greece is to avoid a sovereign default.

Greek banks are closed today and capital controls put in place to limit withdrawals and transactions to try and prevent capital flight. The Greeks have lost faith in the €uro and it's looking increasingly likely that they'll vote no to the bailout terms the EU and IMF are trying to force onto them in a referendum due to be held on Sunday.

Alexis Tsipras calls bailout referendum

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has called a referendum on what describes the "unbearable" bailout plan the EU and IMF are offering.

Greece is due to make a consolidated payment to the IMF at the end of this month but doesn't have the money to so. Even if the Greeks vote to accept the bailout terms on July 5th, there's no guarantee they'll get the money as they'll have already gone into arrears with the IMF.

There is no hope of the Greeks ever paying their debts and recovering from their current financial crisis whilst they remain members of the EU and the €urozone. The best thing the Greek people can do is vote no to the bailout and leave both the single currency and the EU and pursue an Icelandic-style recovery.

EU Central Bank will bail out Greek banks directly

The EU Central Bank intends to bail out Greek banks directly, bypassing the Greek government.

Greece has pretty much reached the end of the road as far as bailouts are concerned and will almost certainly drop out of the €uro. As the threats and scaremongering escalate, Greeks are withdrawing more money out of their banks and causing even more damage to the decimated Greek economy.

Directly bailing out Greek banks allows the ECB to give Greece the money it needs to prevent their banks from losing a terminal amount of capital without being seen to be caving in in the face of the Greek government's obstinance.

If the Greek government can't convince enough people that their money is safe in Greek banks then they'll have to impose capital controls to prevent the transfer of cash from banks to individuals. This is what happened in Cyprus after the Cypriot government was forced to go cap in hand to the EU when they were unable to secure Russian finance because the EU wouldn't allow Cyprus to give Russia priority creditor status.

Alexis Tsipras is an unlikely hero for eurosceptics

The German Vice-Chancellor has warned that "not only is time running out, but so too is patience across Europe" as the Germans have failed once more to force the Greek government to break their election promises in exchange for more debt.

Left wing Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has become an unlikely hero for eurosceptics across the continent. It's certainly not his commitment to increased public spending and Greek membership of the EU that's earned the admiration of people from across the political spectrum but his refusal to roll over and be bullied by the Germans. The latest red line - no cuts to unaffordably generous state pensions - is irresponsible but it is a decision made by the democratically elected government of Greece and to any right-thinking democrat that trumps the demands of the unelected EU, ECB and IMF.

The best thing that can happen to Greece now is a default on its austerity-era loans, an exit from the €uro and leaving the EU. Greece is unable to give preferential creditor status to secure cheaper loans from non-EU countries while it remains a member of the EU and whilst tied into the single currency it is unable to devalue to attract foreign investment and boost domestic markets. Greece doesn't need the EU and the EU doesn't need Greece.

Greece hasn't been German since the second world war. Jog on Merkel.

Greek government establish Truth Committee to examine legality of EU-imposed austerity

The Greek government have established a "Truth Committee" tasked with examining whether the crippling loans they were forced to take out as part of the EU-imposed austerity programme were legal.

The committee will examine the legality of the memorandum that was signed by the previous Greek government which effectively turned the country into a vassal of the EU, the ECB and the IMF. The committee is potentially looking at bringing criminal charges against those responsible for signing the memorandum and may call former IMF, ECB and EU officials as witnesses.

Half the committee is made up of non-Greeks and the experts sitting on the committee are both politicians and members of civil society who are experts in their field. It will report fully in a year but will present a preliminary report on June 18th, just before the current austerity agreement ends.

The Ecuadorian government established a similar committee and used the findings as justification for cancelling debt repayments. Whether this is the intention of the Greek government or if it is a psychological move isn't clear but it will be causing a few sleepless nights in Berlin which has already been hit with a demand for war reparations from the Greek government.

Greek finance minister abused by €urozone counterparts

The Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has been abused by €urozone finance ministers at a meeting in Riga for refusing to cave in to their unacceptable demands.

Varoufakis was called "a time waster, a gambler and an amateur" by his opposite numbers in the EU debt club for failing to agree to more austerity measures in return for another £5.2bn of debt.

It looks increasingly certain that Greece will become the first country to leave the single currency although what form that exit takes remains to be seen. There is no formal mechanism for leaving the €urozone and it's highly likely that the Greek government will want to retain the €uro rather than return to the Drachma so the most likely outcome is that Greece withdraws from the formal currency union but retains the €uro informally in the hope of re-admittance into the €urozone in the future.

Greece desperately needs to devalue to boost exports and bring in hard currency but a Panama-style unilateral currency union isn't going to achieve that. If Greece is going to recover from depression, Syriza needs to give up on the €uro and start formulating a plan for the return of economic sovereignty.

Greek government rejects EU bailout offer

The Greek government have rejected the EU's bailout offer, describing it as "unreasonable" and warning that anyone who thinks Greece will continue with the bailout is "wasting their time".

The EU's opening gambit involved Greece agreeing to see through the EU-imposed austerity that has devastated the country despite new prime minister, Alex Tsipras, making it very clear that the EU and IMF no longer run Greece.

Greece's current bailout deal expires on 28th February.

Tsipras upsets the apfelkart

The newly-elected prime minister of Greece, Alex Tsipras, is really upsetting the apfelkart by actually honouring his election promises.

Earlier this week the Greek government issued a demand for the repayment of a loan the Nazis forced the Bank of Greece to issue during the German occupation of Greece during the second world war. The Greek Treasury has calculated the loan balance to be €162bn without interest.

Greece is in something of a Mexican standoff with the EU and the IMF who are telling Greece that they can't pull back from the devastating austerity imposed on the country by the international loan sharks at the ECB, EU and IMF whilst Greece is telling them they'll do what they damn well like and if they and if they want to save the €uro and the EU then they'd better start dancing to the Greek tune.

Syriza's hard left politics will never drag Greece out of the financial mire it's been in for most of the last century and all of this one but their firm stance with the loan sharks will at least recover their sovereignty and dignity.

Victory for Syriza in Greek elections

The anti-austerity Syriza party looks to have won the Greek elections by a sizeable margin.

Exit polls suggest that Syriza got between 36% and 38% of the vote with second placed New Democracy trailing by 10%. Syriza's vote share means they will secure between 149 and 151 seats and they need the 151 for an outright majority. Just over 40% of the votes have been counted so far.

Syriza is a soft eurosceptic party, opposed to EU austerity and the German takeover of the EU. They support continued membership of the €uro but not at the expense of Greek sovereignty.

There are going to be some sleepless nights in presidential palaces across Europe tonight.