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.

EU budget reduction proposal set to be blocked by MEPs

Ministers have agreed a reduced EU budget for the next 7 years from around €992bn to €960bn but it could still fail to pass through the EU Parliament and the EU's off-budget spending is still out of control.

Oi, Cameron ... outside

The Guardian is calling this EU "austerity" but shaving €32bn off a budget of almost a trillion euro to be spent by an organisation that hasn't signed off its own accounts for 17 years because of fraud and waste isn't what most people would call austerity.  The Tory press are calling it a "victory".

As part of this "austerity", the French have secured an extra €1bn for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies, making a mockery of numerous promises by Cameron and his cronies to demand CAP reforms.  Off-budget expenditure such as building roads and bridges in poorer countries is protected.

Godfrey Bloom's best mate Martin Schulz MEP is leading the plot to block the reduced budget and has managed to secure a secret ballot on the budget allowing MEPs to vote against it without voters finding out how they voted.

Whilst any reduction in the amount of money the wasteful, corrupt EU gets to spends is a good thing, the UK's payments will actually increase thanks to the new rules agreed by Blair and continued by Cameron that continually reduce the rebate.

Athens is rioting again

While Angela Merkel is in London telling us we shouldn't leave the EU and cooking up the latest plan for avoiding a referendum whilst giving away as much power as possible to the EU, the Greeks are rioting once again.

The usual Syntagma Square webcam on a hotel has been taken down but there is a low quality video feed available that looks like it's being streamed off a mobile phone.

Greeks are protesting against EU-imposed austerity measures again with a vote being taken now in the Greek parliament on new crippling austerity measures which will further decimate the Greek economy and drive them further into depression.

The europhile Greek president, Antonis Samaras, says that the vote is to ensure Greece stays in the €urozone and that the alternative is to "return to the drachma and isolation".  Returning to the drachma is exactly what Greece needs - ditch the €uro for the drachma and devalue to drive up exports and domestic production.

Update:
The Greek parliament has passed the austerity bill by 153 votes to 147.

Austerity? What austerity?

Thousands of people attended anti-government protests organised by the taxpayer-funded trade unions against "austerity" yesterday.

Cost/Benefit analysis of
yesterday's protests

In Greece, where the Greek government has implemented a severe austerity package mandated by the EU, they've seen budget cuts equivalent to 1.5% of GDP, minimum wage decreased, 30k civil servants suspended on reduced wage, new property taxes, new ex-pat property taxes, permanent budget oversight by the EU, EU Central Bank and IMF, all international aid apart from compulsory payments into the EU bailout fund stopped and unemployment has reached 22%.

Here, every government budget has been increased, minimum wage has increased, the number of civil servants is decreasing at the same rate as they have since Labour started cutting them in 2005 and international aid has been increased to maintain position as second largest aid donor in the world.

Cyprus told to plan for austerity

A meeting of €urozone finance ministers last week told the Cypriot government that it wasn't doing enough to get emergency aid.

The EU isn't happy with Cyprus for going to the Russians more than once for bailouts rather than submit to the EU's repressive and regressive austerity measures that are attached to a €uro bailout and the terms of any possible bailout will be punishing to send a message to any other €urozone country that is thinking of suckling at another teat.

The Russians were happy to lend €2.5bn to Cyprus a year ago but when they asked for a €5bn loan this year the Russians wanted preferential creditor status which Cyprus was unable to offer as the EU must be the preferential creditor under EU law so they said no.  This means Cyprus must now go to the EU for a bailout unless it can find another rich communist government to lend it some money and pay the price for disloyalty.

Greeks, Portuguese and Spanish say no more austerity

The Greek President has warned the EU/ECB/IMF plutocrats sent in to oversee the implementation of punishing EU austerity that the Greek nation can't take any more.

Unemployment is still rising and 1 in 4 Greeks are now out of work but the EU sill wants more cutbacks and sackings.

Karolos Papoulis said:

Up until now, we've been receiving a merciless lashing.  I think we have paid enough for our mistakes, and Europe must realize that it needs to help Greece.

Meanwhile, over 100,000 people have protested in the Portuguese capital (and ironically the city that gives its name to the hated treaty that gives the EU almost limitless power), Lisbon, today against more tax rises and EU austerity.  Tens of thousands of Spaniards also descended on Madrid today in protest at tax increases and spending cuts.

So what is the EU's answer to the widespread dissent and opposition to the damaging austerity measures it has imposed on most of the continent?  Emperor Barroso called for ...

a democratic federation of nation states that can tackle our common problems, through the sharing of sovereignty

Nigel Farage responded to this by telling Barroso it was an "emerging, creeping euro-dictatorship" but that ...

The only good news from today is that you’ve helped to bring that referendum just a little bit closer

The europhiles just don't get it do they?  People are demonstrating on the streets of European capitals at EU taxes and austerity so the europhiles call for deeper cuts, more taxes and the abolition of the nation state.  It's unbelievable.

Greek PM begs EU for permission to ease collective punishment

The sight of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras begging for permission to give some relief to the Greek people from the EU's punishing - and ultimately doomed to failure - austerity measures should be setting off alarm bells all over Europe.

Merk-heil, Merk-heil ...

In his speech to the Greek Parliament he set out plans for reducing Greek debt, accelerating the privatisation of state-owned utilities and services and the accelerated sale of state-owned property.  Tax and spend in Greece is controlled by a group of unelected economists answerable to the EU Commission, EU Central Bank and IMF so Samaras is effectively just reading from a script with the possible exception of the begging to be allowed to scale back some of the collective punishment being meted out at the Greek people.

I say possible exception because it's quite likely that the EU/ECB/IMF appointed bureaucrats just can't balance the books with the EU-imposed austerity measures they're forced to work with and with Samaras being nothing more than a sock puppet, have used him to ask their bosses for a bit of relief.

The elected leader of an EU member state having to beg the EU for permission to help out his citizens should worry other leaders of EU member states more than a little and their people even more so.  The EU staged a coup d'état in Greece (and Italy) in the guise of a friendly bailout and so far they've got away with it.  History has shown that allowing aggressive regimes to get away with taking over weaker neighbours - even with a vichy government helping them - rarely ends well.

Greek elections to be held in May

The unelected Greek Prime Minister/EU regional administrator, Lucas Papademos, has announced elections next month.

Papademos is a former governor of the EU Central Bank and was appointed Prime Minister of Greece when the EU overthrew the elected Greek Prime Minister for announcing a referendum on the austerity measures the EU was imposing on the country.

The main parties in Greece all supported the EU coup d'état, the appointment of an EU administrator as Prime Minister and the deep austerity that has caused severe hardship to millions of Greeks and they are expected to pay for their treachery at the polls on 6th May.

Since EU austerity measures were put in place in Greece, unemployment has hit almost 21% and some Greeks have been abandoning their children on the streets because they can't afford to feed them.  The suicide rate in Greece has gone up 40% since the start of EU austerity and an estimated 20,000 Athenians have been made homeless out of a population of about 660,000.

There is a gap in the Greek political system for a Greek version of UKIP - a party opposed to the EU and committed to a sustainable low tax economy, small government and personal freedoms.  Anyone opposing EU austerity and the reintroduction of the Drachma is bound to make a significant impact in the elections.  Anyone pledging to instigate criminal proceedings against Papademos and his co-conspirators for their part in the EU coup d'état will probably win a landslide.

Spanish government rebels against EU austerity

The Spanish government has defied the EU over its budget deficit target, setting its own budget deficit target 1.4% above the EU-imposed maximum.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, described the act of defiance as a "sovereign decision" and broke with recent tradition by not informing the French and Germans beforehand.

Unlike Greece, Portugal and Ireland, a Spanish bailout would bankrupt Germany and the collapse of the fourth largest €urozone economy would devastate the single currency.  All of which means they can pretty much do what they want without the kind of threats given to Greece to ensure subservience.

News of Spain's defiance comes at the same time as the Irish government confirmed that it will be holding a referendum on the EU Fiscal Treaty which will be a huge disappointment to the Merkozy who thought they'd finally got their fiscal union in the bag.

Beware Greeks bearing debts

An agreement has been reached for a second bailout loan for Greece, plunging the country further into unsustainable debt.

I wonder if they think taking on another
€130bn of debt is a "historic moment"

The terms of the pay day loan are still vague and it all hinges on private creditors "voluntarily" writing off of 53.5% of their debts.  The Greek government is passing a law in case they don't agree to the "voluntary" write-off to force them to "voluntarily" write off the 53.5%.

Prior to the meeting, the EC, ECB, IMF, Netherlands, Austria and Germany had all said that they wouldn't be moved on a target of 120% debt to GDP ratio (ie. national debt would be no more than 120% of the total amount of money the Greek economy produces in a year) by 2020 but they caved in and upped it to 123%.

One of the conditions of the €130bn loan is even deeper austerity measures which is frankly bizarre given that a joint EC/ECB/IMF report was leaked last night that says the EU-imposed austerity measures have weakened the Greek economy and made it harder for them to meet their demands.

The BBC reports that the Greek government has agreed to "enhanced and permanent" external monitors to oversea the economic recovery.  This is clearly a reference to the Dutch demands for permanent representation of the EC/ECB/IMF in Greece to make their financial decisions for them.  The EU-funded BBC's wording suggests the agreement on this is a little softer than what the Netherlands were demanding but the Independent is more equivocal and it would seem that the Greeks have agreed to hand over permanent control of tax and spend to an unelected group of economists.

The unelected, EU-appointed Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has called the loan and further damaging austerity measures that are being inflicted on the Greeks a "historic moment".  The protesters who've been rioting in Greece for the last few weeks might have a different opinion.  As I said yesterday: this isn't a bailout, it's a coup d'état.

Germans tell Greece to declare itself bankrupt

The German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has told Greece to stop prolonging the inevitable and declare itself bankrupt.

A join EU Commission/ECB/IMF report says that Greece will be unable to meet its target of getting national debt down to 120% of GDP by 2020 even if it implements all of the EU's austerity demands.

In order to get the promised EU/IMF payday loan, the Greek government needs to agree a 70% write-off with its private creditors.  Apparently this will take four weeks to arrange and Greece needs €14.5bn of someone else's money to service its debts on the 20th of March.  That means a bailout loan has to be agreed no later than Tuesday to give the Greek government the 28 days it needs to negotiate the 70% write-off.

The EU was supposed to have agreed the bailout loan on Wednesday but they decided to make Greece wait until Monday for a decision.  The most likely reason earlier in the week was that they would try and screw more concessions out of the Greek government because Greece getting the bailout loan was believed to be a foregone conclusion but Schäuble's comments and the EC/ECB/IMF report cast doubt on that theory.  Could they be holding back because they're genuinely unsure whether they should let Greece fail?

Apparently, US banks are already preparing for a Greek default and if the rumours are to be believed, Greece is being managed into default.  If they do default and crash out of the €uro there won't be many Greeks complaining.  They've seen prices go through the roof since the Drachma was replaced, interest rates pegged unacceptably high to suit the Franco-German Empire and now devastating EU-imposed austerity measures when they're in trouble.

Greece should have left the €uro before things got out of hand.  Without wanting to sound like a broken record where Iceland is concerned, they have really set the bar for economic recovery.  They're forecasting a budget surplus next year and Fitch have just upgraded their credit rating to investment grade, citing their "unorthodox crisis policy" as the primary reason for their recovering economy.  The "unorthodox crisis policy" involved letting its banks fail, prioritising their own citizens over foreign investors, reducing interest rates and imposing restrictions on foreign currency transactions - none of which is an option to Greece while it's in the €uro.

Greeks will have to wait for their pay day loan

The meeting of €urozone ministers which was due to rubber stamp Greece's pay day loan tomorrow has been downgraded to a conference call which won't be able to approve the bailout loan.

Apparently, Greece hasn't done enough to convince the EU that they will implement their damaging and deeply unpopular austerity demands so they'll have to wait even longer to get their hands on the cash.  Without the cash Greece would default and bring down the €uro so they will get the money anyway, this is just the EU reminding the Greeks who's boss.

Greek government votes for EU austerity

Greek MPs vote in favour of the EU's austerity demands last night but not without significant opposition both in the parliament building and on the streets.

In the end 199 MPs voted in favour of the EU's demands whilst 74 voted against.  All the main parties suffered rebellions by their MPs, resulting in 44 expulsions from New Democracy, Pasok and Popular Orthodox Rally.  MPs were swayed by the doom prophecies of the EU-appointed unelected Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, seemingly oblivious to (or more likely uninterested by) the rioting on the streets in Athens in protest at what they were doing.

It is estimated that between 80-100k protesters were out on the streets of Athens attacking police (who apparently ran out of tear gas), setting fire to buildings and looting.  The city of Athens only has a population of of about 655k.

Greece's problems stem from joining the €uro in 2002.  Suddenly finding itself using a stronger, German-backed currency, borrowing became cheaper and easier.  So they borrowed and they borrowed big - far more than they could pay back if the €urozone gravy train was ever derailed.  Then came the train wreck and they had to be bailed out, along with Ireland and Portugal just to be able to default on part of their debts rather than all of them.  And now they have to be bailed out again to do another partial default.

Greece didn't meet the criteria for joining the €uro and went into it on the back of a lie - a lie made all the more outrageous by the fact that everyone knew they were lying, even the EU who supported their entry nonetheless.  Greece had a large public debt and budget deficit before joining the €uro, now they have a huge public debt and a budget deficit so large that the EU has demanded sweeping austerity measures that will put millions out of work and below the poverty line in return for which they will let them get even further into debt with a pay-day loan to cover the €14.5bn bond repayments they need to make next month.

Rather than follow the failed EU model, Greece needs to follow Iceland's lead and devalue and default - they are expected to have a budget surplus next year.  The €uro is too expensive for bankrupt Greece and their debt repayments are unsustainable.  They need to default on their repayments and leave the €uro.  This will inevitably lead to their expulsion from the EU straight-jacket (even though it would be illegal to expel them but I don't imagine it would stop them anyway) but if it doesn't then they should leave of their own accord.  Defaulting will free up capital to pay pensions and wages and clean up after the rioters who have been telling them in quite blunt terms that they don't want them to do what they're doing now.

Outside of the €uro, interest rates can be slashed which will stimulate foreign and domestic investment and outside of the EU they can concentrate on their own people rather than being forced to work for the other 491m EU citizens who don't live in Greece.  After defaulting, Greece won't be able to afford to borrow so they will have no choice but to live within their means but they will have their own currency back, control of their interest rates and a unilateral moratorium on debt repayments until such time as they can afford to start paying them back.  Greece would be in a much stronger position to negotiate with their creditors if they were faced with the prospect of their bonds being written off.

The EU has, of course, welcomed the decision of the Greek government to ignore the wishes of the Greek people and agree to the EU's austerity demands but have postponed a decision on whether to actually hand over any bailout cash until next month.  Whether the Greek people accept this affront to democracy has yet to be seen but as they've accepted an unelected, EU-appointed technocrat as Prime Minister, the chances are that they'll set fire to some more stuff and then accept it.

Athens burns while Greek MPs debate EU austerity demands

Greek MPs are currently debating the EU's austerity demands while outside their parliament building, thousands of Greeks are rioting.

There has been so much violent unrest in Athens today that the Greek police have run out of tear gas and are asking for more supplies.  There is an unconfirmed report that the EU's private paramilitary, Eurogendfor - known to have been in Greece since the end of last year - are in Athens.

There are apparently at least 12 buildings on fire in the vicinity of the Greek parliament, including 2 banks and a Starbucks.  Metro stations near the parliament building have been closed by the police to keep protesters away but there are a few small groups of protesters milling round, presumably waiting for something to happen.  Worryingly, the Communist Party seem to be the most effective group at mobilising supporters on the streets and the Communist-affiliated PACE union have announced their intention to fill Syntagma Square where the parliament building is located with protesters tonight.

There is considerable opposition to the austerity bill in the Greek parliament, although not as much as there is on the streets of Athens.  The bill is unlikely to fail because nobody has the balls to admit that Greece has to default and leave the EU and the €urozone to survive but it is likely to bring down the government in the process.

You can follow events on the Athens News website and live cams are available here and here (cams are going up and down).

Riots outside Greek parliament (again)

Let them eat μπακλαβά

The Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has warned that failing to accept the EU's austerity measures would "set the country on a disastrous adventure".

He went on to say that "The social cost of this programme is limited in comparison with the economic and social catastrophe that would follow if we didn't adopt it".

Social catastrophe?  Perhaps he should have a look out of the window to get a sense of perspective?

Isn't it interesting that in Greece, protesters are rioting and throwing petrol bombs outside their parliament building but they're allowed back every day to do it again but you can be arrested as a terrorist for reading out the names of dead soldiers at a war memorial near the British parliament?

Greek PM begs for support for EU austerity measures

Lucas Papademos, the Greek Prime Minister, has gone on TV today calling for calm as about 4,000 protesters protested outside the Greek parliament (they're allowed to do that in more enlightened countries) and begging MPs to vote in favour of the EU's crippling austerity measures designed to try and keep the €uro going for a bit longer while they await divine intervention.

Just smile and nod Lucas, it always works for me

Appearing next to the EU ring of stars logo probably wasn't the cleverest move when Greeks are rioting about the EU's austerity measures (even burning German flags to protest at the fourth reich's interference in Greek affairs) but then if he was a clever man, Papademos would have told the EU to bugger off by now and defaulted.  Iceland was in technical default a couple of years ago but are now predicting a 3% growth in the economy and a budget surplus next year.  Iceland let its banks fail, looked after its own citizens, stuck two fingers up to foreign investors and devalued its currency.  Greece isn't allowed to let its banks fail, it has to look after all EU citizens, it's not allowed to stick two fingers up to foreign investors and it can't devalue its currency.

Greece needs to find €14.5bn in 5 weeks time to make bond repayments and it doesn't have the money.  The only plan the Greek government has is to borrow the money from the EU and IMF but in return, the EU wants devastating cuts in Greek spending, EU control of the Greek budget and their sockpuppet heading the government.  Greece can't afford to pay back the loans it's already taken out, let alone billions more.

Back in November (before the EU effected a coup to remove Papandreou from office) we said that Greece needs to forget about the EU/IMF bailout plan, default on its debts, withdraw from the €uro and reintroduce the drachma at a cheap rate to stimulate the domestic market.  There is no conceivable way out of the current economic mire that Greece finds itself in whilst remaining a member of the EU and the €urozone.