www.reinform.info » Society

Housing: Right or Commodity

patti — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 17:31:06 +0000

ReInform is organising an event about housing that will take place on Saturday 24th of March, at 15:00, at LAB111 (Arie Biemondstraat 111, Amsterdam).

You are invited to join our discussion about housing which is not considered a basic human right any more but rather a commodity very difficult to obtain. We will also talk about how our cities and neighbourhoods are now shaped to serve the market trends and not the needs of the society.

Our speakers will be Tonia Katerini (architect and member of Solidarity4All), Bart Stuart (activist and artist) and Menno Grootveld (publisher, writer, translator and journalist) who are both members of the group Fair City Movement, and a member of ReInform. The documentary “Ekümenopolis: City Without Limits” which focuses on the urbanization of Istanbul will be screened as well.

This event is the first of a series that ReInform will organise against the T.I.N.A. dogma (There Is No Alternative): One of the biggest weapons of modern capitalism is to promote the notion that even if things are bad, there is no better alternative, so what is left for us to do is to accept the current situation without protest. The scope of these events is to show how different and seemingly unconnected social issues are directly related to the current financial system and initiate discussions about the way we can fight towards a solution to these issues.

‘Macedonian issue’: What is really at stake?

patti — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 15:53:35 +0000

After two decades, the issue of the name of Macedonia is back at the center of public attention. This topic is now being discussed between the governments of Greece and Macedonia or F.Y.R.O.M. (‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ which is the temporary internationally agreed name) at Davos under the supervision of the United Nations and the great powers. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the newly constituted country of FYROM adopted the name ‘Macedonia’ while the same name is used for the northern part of Greece. This issue, for 23 consecutive years, triggers the growing of nationalistic fervor in both countries and once again occupies the foreground of political debate because of the geopolitical interests in the region concerning FYROM’s NATO and EU membership. This is the reason why now the Greek government and the government of FYROM by complying with the demands of NATO and the EU are trying to solve a problem that should have never been there in the first place.

Due to this issue there is currently a new outburst of nationalist rhetoric in public discourse in Greece. The common strategy of ‘Divide & Conquer’ is being employed in Balkans turning in this way the peoples of two countries against each other. In this act of ‘Macedonian’ drama, the showcase of national interest is misleading people in Greece in demonstrating against a created external common enemy, using as frontispiece the name of Macedonia. And because of this situation, people who are now resisting or just speaking publicly against this nationalistic rhetoric are being considered non-patriots or even traitors.

On the 21st of January, various nationalist groups in Greece managed to gather approximately 90.000 people (who came with buses from every part of the country) in Thessaloniki demanding the term ‘Macedonia’ not be included in the new name of the neighboring country. Under the exacerbated nationalism that has prevailed in the country, numerous far-right and fascist groups have taken advantage of this situation by attacking political squats and collectives that fight against state nationalism. During that demonstration, these parastatal groups attacked the libertarian social collective of ‘EKX Sxoleio’ and afterwards they set fire to the anti-authoritarian squat of ‘Libertatia’. It is worth noting that these attacks were tolerated by the nearby police forces, a fact that shows once again the collaboration of fascists with the police and unmasks a government that claims to be ‘left’ and ‘in favor of people’.

The whole issue of the name of Macedonia works also as a disorienting pseudo-dilemma hiding the continuing harsh neoliberal attack against the rights of the people of both countries. At the same time that ‘national rallies for the name of Macedonia’ are organized in Greece, omnibus bills that extend the austerity policies are being voted in the parliament, auctions of primary residences (even of poor people) have started and the workers’ right to strike has been severely restricted.

It is also worth remembering that the political forces that present themselves as ‘patriotic’ by supporting the nationalist rallies and claiming that they ‘care’ about Greece:

are the very ones that when they were in power promoted policies that were destructive for the natural environment of the country
have sold natural resources and public companies to domestic or foreign private companies
have violated every possible regulation to facilitate the disastrous (from an environmental and financial perspective) investment of the Canadian company El Dorado Gold in Skouries-Chalkidiki
have taken decisive steps to commercialize and privatize drinking water in Thessaloniki.

We promote internationalism and class solidarity with Balkan people against the rise of nationalism and continuing neoliberal policies in both countries. Our belief is that people of both countries should fight against the degradation and exploitation of our lives by the neoliberal capitalist assault instead of demonstrating against each other. In fact, this is the only way to ensure a long-lasting peace in the region.

WE CONDEMN THE FASCIST ATTACKS ON RESISTING POLITICAL COLLECTIVES

WE STRUGGLE AGAINST NATIONALISM THAT CAPITALISM PROMOTES IN ALL COUNTRIES

30 January 2018

ReINFORM

Source of featured image: ThePressProject

European Union is killing refugees

patti — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 22:28:01 +0000

A real crime is being committed over the past months in Europe. Thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries are trying to flee wars that others have caused in their countries and reach Europe in search of a better life. Hundreds of them have been washed up dead on the Greek islands.

Although the European governments talk about a “humanitarian crisis” and pretend they take relief measures, they hide the causes of the refugee crisis and the real face of their policies, multiplying the death toll on the Greek islands.

Despite the early media reports presenting Germany and other west European countries as open to refugees (Germany was even talking about thousands of employment posts they would cover…), the reality is totally different. The number of refugees that Europe eventually agreed to resettle is too small compared to the millions of refugees that the countries neighbouring the conflict zones have admitted. This tiny quota is the hypocritical answer of the European governments to the huge pressure placed on them by social and political groups but also industrial circles that see in the refugee crisis an opportunity for even cheaper labour in Europe.

The countries of the EU on the refugee route to Europe are doing their best to keep them out. The extreme-right Hungarian government set up fences on the borders of Hungary with Serbia and Croatia, while the “left-wing” Greek government claims that the fence on Greece’s land borders with Turkey cannot be removed. On the sea borders of the EU, Frontex intensifies its efforts to block the refugee entrance instead of helping with rescue efforts. Together with the Greek Coast Guard, they turn a blind eye to the gangs attacking refugee boats. This is Fortress Europe.

But the EU’s responsibility extends even further. The EU along with the US and Russia are to blame for the disastrous wars driving people off their homelands. Their direct or indirect interventions have fuelled the civil wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Talibans in Afganistan and the Islamic State in Middle East did not rise on their own but thanks to the financial, political and military support by the international imperialist forces. The invasion of the US and their allies in Iraq brought about more wars and horrors for Iraqi people. Kurds are suffering an ongoing oppression and faced with fierce attacks by the Islamic State and Erdogan’s authoritarian regime. The economic, political and military interventions of the US, the EU and Russia have totally disrespected the need of people in these areas to live peacefully and are to blame for the enormous migration wave that the EU is trying to keep out of its fortress.

In the past years, European societies are under an enormous pressure due to the financial crisis, by and large paid by the lower classes. The governments in the “Europe of the people” saved the banks and international companies by providing them huge amounts of state funding. A few years ago, Greece’s public debt was transferred from the banks to the European people. Harsh austerity measures have been imposed on the people of indebted countries, while the welfare state throughout Europe is under attack. It is not only salaries that have been severely cut, but also labour rights. At the same time, flexible working has almost become the norm.

Given that neoliberal governments cannot care less about the quality of life of lower classes, a part of them fears that the arrival of the refugees will lead to its deterioration. Like every other government in the EU, the Dutch government makes sure to live up to this fear: it sets up huge cheap camps next to small neglected villages, without concern for the living conditions of the refugees or the local population. At the same time, it gives no guarantees that the refugees will not be used as cheap workforce.

The part of European population that has been paying the price of the neoliberal policies is now being told that the refugees pose a threat to its standard of living. In this way, its discontent and uncertainty are directed against the refugees, themselves victims of the EU’s foreign policy. Protesting against the arrival of the refugees or the creation of refugee camps and not against the neoliberal policies that cause unemployment and poverty for the people and profits for the capital, is very convenient for the governments and economic elites in the EU. It fits in well with their goals and plans if people fall for the racist and fascist propaganda of Golden Dawn in Greece, Wilders in the Netherlands or Lepen in France.

Humanitarian solidarity and material support to the refugees are necessary but not enough. The real solution to the migration crisis will come from overturning the policies of the European Union and the governments applying them. The borders should open immediately so that no more people are drowned at the sea borders of the EU in Greece and Italy. The criminal fences blocking their way to Europe should be removed. Refugees should get equal rights to housing, education, healthcare and work in Europe.

The foreign policy of the EU should change right away. The military, economic and political interventions in the countries of the Middle East should stop. Democracy, peace and development should be actively supported. The EU should stop backing authoritarian regimes. The right of Kurdish and Palestinian people to their own state should be admitted. Money should be given to the refugees and the poor. We should not allow the refugees to be used as cheap workforce in the service of capital.

Parties and organizations of the Left and trade unions in the whole Europe should take specific initiatives in this direction. They should point to the real culprits of the refugee crisis and play a leading role in organizing the struggle of European citizens to protect their quality of life as well as the right of every human being to live with peace and dignity at some place in the world.

Refugees welcome!

Racists, fascists and neoliberals, you are personae non gratae.

ReINFORM

(Source of the photos::http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post/war-in-peace)

Mediterranean deathtoll: Accidents or EU policy?

filippos — Thu, 14 May 2015 12:04:01 +0000

With the death toll of African and Asians on their way to Europe rising by the thousands, the European Union has showed once again that it is ready to pay the price of lives lost at sea to maintain the myth of sovereignty over its borders.

With ever growing securitization and militarization of its immigrations policies, the European Union is closing the gates to the unwanted outsiders and covers the Mediterranean in blood.

The media talk about a tsunami of refugees, and hordes of ‘illegal’ immigrants. They use a language that refers to war or environmental disaster and therefore, justifies all kinds of control and repression measures.

The law draws an arbitrary line between ‘forced’ and ‘voluntary’ migration. In reality, very little difference exists between those fleeing persecution and those fleeing hunger. At the end of the day, every human life has the same value.

Days after the deadliest incident in the Mediterranean, where more than 800 migrants lost their lives, the European Council called an emergency summit to respond to the crisis in the Mediterranean. There, it became clear that the incentive of the EU leaders is not to save lives but to forbid people from dying at their doorstep.

The EU and its member states try to seal their borders making regular ways of entry practically inaccessible, criminalizing irregular migration, and employing the latest military technology and brutal force to block access to their territory.

The result of these policies is violence and death. The EU denies responsibility for the thousands of lives lost at sea, the hundreds of thousands rotting in immigration detention, and all those forced to return to fear and want.

Instead, the recent mass drowning is used once again as an excuse for even further militarization, even stricter controls and closer cooperation with countries with problematic human rights records. The EU declared war on smugglers and stated that it would burn migrant vessels before departure, in order to protect migrants from the dangers of the sea.

Targeting smugglers is fighting only the symptoms of a disease that is as deadly as the system itself.

The European Union and its member states cannot deny their role in supporting and participating in the wars and the financial imperialism that drives people away from their homes. When this is coupled with human mobility, a phenomenon as natural as humanity itself, then desperate young men and women will put their lives at risk to cross a human-made border.

Drownings are not a natural phenomenon. It is a result of the EU migration policies.

ReInform

Source of featured image: dw.de

Golden Dawn Watch to shine a spotlight on upcoming trial

filippos — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 08:16:11 +0000

Greek anti-racism groups announced on Thursday an initiative to provide daily coverage and analysis of the upcoming trial of Greek far right party, Golden Dawn.

Their reports are also expected to be translated into English. As reported by ABC, Eleftheria Koumandou, a journalist and coordinator of the Greek observatory against racist speech in the media, commented that ”This is one of the most important trials in modern Greek history.”

Due to convene on 20 April, 72 members and supporters of the Neo-Nazi party will go on trial, facing a variety of charges including murder, conspiracy to murder, racist violence and membership of a criminal organisation. The charges come as the result of an investigation initiated after the fatal stabbing of anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, in September 2013, though the group had been previously implicated in a series of racist attacks on immigrants over a number of years. Amongst those on trial are party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and all of its MPs. Takis Giannopoulos, spokesman for the antifascist coordination group of Athens-Piraeus referred to the trial as a “historic opportunity to convict fascism and Nazism in all its aspects,” but also pointed out that ”the conviction is a first step only, as we need to eliminate the causes that generate fascism, such as poverty and inequality. “

The trial is set to take place in the high security prison of Korydallos in Athens, although there has been protests and concerns voiced in Athens about the disruption the trial would cause to local residents and schools. Apart from media attention, there are fears of clashes between Golden Dawn supporters and antifascists. Additionally, the party has been known to use intimidation tactics when its members have faced trial in the past. Golden Dawn Watch also therefore also aims to send the message that the world is watching, and that such tactics will not succeed, “The goal is to have a normal trial without a climate of terror, and to send a message that society is watching both Golden Dawn and the justice system,” said Dimitris Christopoulos, vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights.

Source of Article: http://www.thepressproject.net
Source of featured picture: http://www.fimes.gr/tag/nikos-michaloliakos/
More about Golden Dawn Watch at: http://goldendawnwatch.org/

Solidarity with the workers of VIOME in front of the imminent threat of liquidation of the company

filippos — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:30:48 +0000

The workers of VIOME in Thessaloniki, Greece, have stood up against unemployment and poverty by carrying through a long struggle to self-manage the occupied factory in very adverse conditions. For two years now, they have been producing and selling ecological cleaning products at the occupied premises, ensuring a modest income for their families. They have been working on terms of equality, taking decisions collectively through the general assembly. At the same time they have received a big wave of solidarity from Greece and abroad, converting their struggle into an emblematic struggle for human dignity in crisis-stricken Greece.

The ex-owners of the factory, the Fillipou family, have never stopped trying to obstruct the process, posing legal hurdles in every step along the way. Four years ago they abandoned the factory, keeping all the benefits to themselves and leaving hundreds of millions in unpaid wages to the workers, condemning their families to poverty and misery. Today they appear again, conspiring with the state-appointed bankruptcy administrators and the judicial system in order to liquidate the company.

While the ex-owners were convicted to 123 months in jail at first instance for the millions owed to the workers, the court of appeals reduced this sentence to a 43 months suspended sentence, thus in effect absolving the ex-owners from having to ever pay back the workers.

At the same time, on March 23 there is a new trial to evaluate the administrator’s request to liquidate the machinery and the premises. If the court rules in favour, big financial and real estate interests will have the opportunity to gain a foothold in the VIOME premises.

The workers of VIOME and the national and international solidarity movement are determined to resist a possible sell off by any means available. On Friday, March 20 we are carrying out a protest at Thessaloniki’s city centre, including a farmers market and the direct sale of the VIOME products to the public. On Monday, March 23 we gather in front of the court house, to protest against the intention of the administrators and the judges to liquidate and sell off the company and its premises, to condemn the workers and their families to unemployment and misery in order to serve the interests of the powerful.

Furthermore we declare that, regardless of the ruling of the court, we are determined to stand our ground and defend the VIOME factory, a workplace that was kept alive thanks the determination of the workers and the solidarity of the wider community. We refuse to surrender it to the judicial powers, which have repeatedly denied justice to the workers and the underprivileged.

Our destiny is now in our own hands, we manage our work and our lives ourselves. We will not permit anyone to destroy what we have built with so much effort. We declare to the judges, the police, the administrators, the ex-owners and any prospective buyers:

VIOME IS NOT FOR SALE!

VIOME WILL REMAIN IN THE HANDS OF THE WORKERS!

Dam Square Demonstration 15/02

filippos — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:37:27 +0000

On Sunday 15th of February, hundreds of people gathered at Dam Square, Amsterdam to demonstrate against the neoliberal austerity policies of the EU, to express their solidarity and make their voice heard.

We the people of Dam Square, we demand

- the write off of the debt

- the end of the austerity policies in Greece and in the Netherlands.

We fight

- so that we don’t allow the banks to lead our lives

- for the right of the people to make their own destiny.

Venceremos

We will not pay the crisis of the banks!
We will take our lives into our own hands!
We will live free from their shackles!
We will meet again in the streets!
Solidarity is our weapon!

The following groups joined us expressing their solidarity:
Internationale Socialisten
Platform Stop Racisme en Uitsluiting
Youth of Syriza in The Netherlands
DIDF (Federation of Democratic Associations of Turkish Workers in the Netherlands)
Cypriots living in The Netherlands
Federation of Greek Communities in The Netherlands
Grenzeloos-Borderless
Critical Collective
Kritische Studenten Utrecht
Kritische Studenten Amsterdam
Ander Europa
SP Amsterdam (Department of the Socialist Party of the Netherlands in Amsterdam)
De Rode Morgen
Podemos Amsterdam
SP Beuningen
Vakbondsstrijd Vecht voor je Recht
Doorbraak
SP Utrecht
SP Rotterdam
Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt
Transnationals Information Exchange (TIE)- Netherlands
ROOD
Anarchistische Groep Nijmegen
Gezi Solidarity Netherlands

Source of videos & pictures: The people of Dam Square

Demonstration on15th February at 14.00, Dam Square in Amsterdam

filippos — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 10:43:54 +0000

SOLIDARITY WITH THE GREEK PEOPLE! NO TO THE BLACKMAIL OF THE EU!
ΤHE CRISIS WILL NOT BE PAID BY THE EUROPEAN CITIZENS!

Scroll down for Dutch and Greek.

On Sunday February 15th there will be demonstrations all over Greece and Europe since on that day crucial negotiations between the Greek government and the Eurogroup will take place. These demonstrations will send the message to the European leaders that the people of Europe will be also present during these negotiations. Our demands for the end of austerity and the abolition of the memoranda (the so-called austerity programmes) should be the starting point for any new agreements.

We invite everybody to join us on Sunday in solidarity with the citizens of Greece against Eurogroup’s persistence to continue with the regime of austerity policies in Europe. We want to show our support to the popular demands and the needs of the people who fight against these policies across Europe. We want to put a pressure on the newly formed coalition government of SYRIZA as well that they should not give in to this blackmail and that they should respect the recent mandate they received by the Greek people.

Date and time: Sunday 15th February at 14.00
Location: Dam Square, Amsterdam

ReINFORM
Internationale Socialisten
Platform Stop Racisme en Uitsluiting
Νεολαία ΣΥΡΙΖΑ Ολλανδίας
DIDF (Ομοσπονδία Δημοκρατικών Συνδέσμων Τούρκων Εργατών στην Ολλανδία)
Κύπριοι που ζουν στην Ολλανδία
Συνομοσπονδία Ελληνικών Κοινοτήτων Ολλανδίας
Grenzeloos-Borderless
Critical Collective
Kritische Studenten Utrecht
Podemos Amsterdam

SOLIDARITEIT MET HET GRIEKSE VOLK! NEE TEGEN DE CHANTAGE VAN DE EU!
DE CRISIS MOET NIET BETAALD WORDEN DOOR DE EUROPESE BURGERS!

Op zondag 15 februari wordt in heel Griekenland en andere Europese landen gedemonstreerd. De aanleiding is de onderhandelingen van de Eurogroep met de Griekse regering. De demonstraties hebben als doel het signaal af te geven aan de Europese leiders dat het Griekse volk ook aanwezig is bij de onderhandelingen. Ons verzoek is het einde van de bezuinigingen en het opzeggen van de wurgakkoorden met de Troijka. Dit verzoek moet de minimum basis vormen voor de nieuwe afspraken.

We nodigen iedereen uit om te demonstreren samen met de Griekse bevolking tegen de eis van de Eurogroep om de wurgcontracten in Griekenland te handhaven. We willen ook de nieuwe coalitie regering van SYRIZA dwingen om niet aan de chantage van de EU toe te geven maar het verzoek en de behoeftes van het Griekse volk te steunen. SYRIZA moet haar recente politieke mandaat respecteren.

Datum en tijd: zondag 15 februari om 14.00 uur
Locatie: De Dam, Amsterdam

ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΛΑΟ! ΟΧΙ ΣΤΟΥΣ ΕΚΒΙΑΣΜΟΥΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΕ!
ΤΗΝ ΚΡΙΣΗ ΔΕ ΘΑ ΤΗΝ ΠΛΗΡΩΣΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΙΟΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΣ!

Την Κυριακή στις 15 Φεβρουαρίου έχουν οργανωθεί συγκεντρώσεις διαμαρτυρίας σε όλη την Ελλάδα και άλλες Ευρωπαϊκές χώρες καθώς την ημέρα αυτή πραγματοποιούνται κρίσιμες διαπραγματεύσεις μεταξύ της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης και του Eurogroup. Οι συγκεντρώσεις αυτές θα στείλουν μήνυμα στους Ευρωπαίους ηγέτες ότι και οι πολίτες της Ευρώπης θα είναι παρόντες κατά τη διάρκεια αυτών των διαπραγματεύσεων. Οι απαιτήσεις μας για να σταματήσει η λιτότητα και να καταργηθούν τα μνημόνια θα πρέπει να αποτελέσουν τη βάση οποιασδήποτε συμφωνίας που θα γίνει στο μέλλον.

Σας καλούμε όλους να συμμετάσχετε σε αυτή την διαμαρτυρία και να σταθείτε δίπλα στον ελληνικό λαό που αντιστέκεται στην αδιαλλαξία του Eurogroup το οποίο απαιτεί τη συνέχιση των πολιτικών λιτότητας σε όλη την Ευρώπη. Θέλουμε να δείξουμε τη συμπαράσταση μας στα ουσιαστικά αιτήματα και τις ανάγκες όλων των πολιτών της Ευρώπης ενάντια σε αυτές τις πολιτικές. Θέλουμε να στείλουμε επίσης μήνυμα και στην κυβέρνηση συνεργασίας του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ότι δεν πρέπει να ενδώσει στους εκβιασμούς των ηγετών της ΕΕ αλλά να σεβαστεί την λαϊκή εντολή που έλαβε πρόσφατα από τους Έλληνες πολίτες.

Ημέρα και ώρα: Κυριακή 15 Φεβρουαρίου στις 14.00
Σημείο συνάντησης: Πλατεία Dam στο Άμστερνταμ

Source of featured image: http://roarmag.org

Germany Digs in Heels on Austerity as Greece Demands End to ‘Business As Usual’

filippos — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 14:35:22 +0000

As a leaked document on Wednesday suggested the German government is determined to take a hard stance against the new Syriza government, Greece’s newly appointed financial minister Yanis Varoufakis declared “business as usual” is no longer an option when it comes to his nation’s relationship with European creditors.

Representing the new anti-austerity Syriza government, Varoufakis said he is optimistic that ongoing talks with foreign ministers and Troika representatives—which includes the IMF, the European Central Bank (ECB), and European Commission—will allow Greece to strike a deal after a series of high-level meetings this week.

On Wednesday, Varoufakis met with the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Mario Draghi, head of the ECB , as well as his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaueble, to discuss a proposal to link Greece’s debt repayments with the country’s economic growth.

Ahead of that meeting on Thursday, however, a leaked document revealed that Germany will press the new Greek government to rescind their campaign promises and continue with the Troika’s austerity agenda.

The German government document, according to Reuters,

was prepared by Berlin for a meeting of senior euro zone finance officials on Thursday. The officials are to discuss the currency bloc’s response to Greek demands for an official debt write-off or restructuring, an end to budget cuts and a reversal of some recent unpopular measures.

The German document stressed that Athens must not roll back any of the cutbacks and reforms made so far in Greece’s efforts to improve bloated public finances and regain market trust.

“It is obvious that these suggestions will not be accepted by the Greek government. They are clashing with the recent mandate given by the Greek people and this not help with the growth perspective of Europe,” a Greek government official told Reuters.

No More “Business as Usual”

Earlier in the day, Varoufakis told reporters that he and the head of the ECB had a “fruitful exchange.”

“We established a line of communication. We outlined to him the main objectives of this government which is to reform Greece in a way that has never been tried before and with a determination that was always absent,” he said according to Reuters.

“I presented [Draghi with] our government’s utter and unwavering determination that it can’t possibly be business as usual in Greece,” Varoufakis continued.

In an interview published Wednesday with German newspaper De Zeit, the leftist finance minister accused the Troika of “ruining” his country. “The Troika doesn’t have a mandate to negotiate another policy with us. But that does not mean we will no longer work together with our partners,” Varoufakis added.

Greece has abandoned demands for a write-off of foreign debt and has instead proposed swapping the outstanding €240 billion in bailout debt for growth-linked bonds accompanied by a crackdown on tax evasion and budget surpluses.

Varoufakis said the ECB would be paid back “entirely and by the deadline,” while the other debts, to the IMF and other countries, are substituted “with new bonds at market interest, which is very low at the moment, with a clause: we will start the entire repayment once solid growth starts in Greece.”

The ECB did not comment on the talks. However, a source “familiar with the Greek position” told Reuters that the country is considering asking for a “bridge program” from its lenders so that it is more likely to qualify for ECB funding.

In the De Zeit interview, Varoufakis called the troika’s bailout policies a “huge mistake.”

“Greece collapsed under its debts,” Varoufakis said. “How did we deal with that? We gave even more loans to an over-indebted state. Imagine one of your friends loses his job and can no longer pay his mortgage. Would you give him another loan so he can make payments on his house? That cannot work. I’m the finance minister of a bankrupt country!”

Economists Weigh In

Noted economists have backed Syriza’s attempt to renegotiate.

As Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz noted in a column earlier this week, despite EU rhetoric and at great cost to their economy, Greece largely succeeded in following the dictate set by the Troika. However, “with the anti-austerity Syriza party’s overwhelming election victory, Greek voters have declared that they have had enough.”

“Greece has also once again reminded us of how badly the world needs a debt-restructuring framework,” Stiglitz writes, adding that their “current plight, including the massive run-up in the debt ratio, is largely the fault of the misguided troika programs foisted on it.”

And Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Democracy Now! on Wednesday: “Greece has been in a situation where it’s had austerity been imposed on it over the last five years, and its economy has suffered horrendously.”

Despite the pressure from Germany, Baker explained that he thinks the new left-leaning government is “being very smart” in their plan to roll-back the austerity reforms, which he says have caused skyrocketing unemployment and a massive drop in the size of the economy.

Baker continued:

[The Greek government is] trying to say, ‘OK, we’ve got to move away from this. You have to give us room to grow.’ And they’re trying to press the case, with obviously Germany being the main party on the other side, at the end of it—I mean, it’s behind the European Union, European Commission, but really it’s Germany. And they’re hoping to get allies among Spain, Italy, France. They’re trying to push that line.

An Economy for Anthoula

Speaking with De Zeit, Varoufakis appealed directly to German citizens.

He said: “Germans have to understand that it doesn’t mean we’re turning away from the reform path if we give an additional €300 a year to a pensioner living on €300 a month. When we talk about reforms, we should talk about cartels, about rich Greeks who hardly pay any taxes.”

Later, when asked about the Syriza government’s plan to rehire thousands of civil servants, and whether the plan will further “bloat” the Greek economy, Varoufakis continued:

We aren’t bloating it. If we notice that we have too many people, we will change course and no longer fill positions when they become empty, for example. When I was still working at the University of Athens, there was a cleaning lady there named Anthoula. We often had to work until midnight. Although her workday had ended much earlier, Anthoula cleaned up after us and unlocked the rooms for us the next morning. Guess who was let go first as part of the austerity program? Anthoula.

“The example of Anthoula is emblematic of the situation in Greece,” he said, saying the decision by EU reformers to dismiss cleaning ladies “who went home with €500 a month” over highly paid consultants “morally reprehensible.”

“The reforms have been inefficient and unfair,” he said.

Source of article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/04/germany-digs-heels-austerity-greece-demands-end-business-usual
Source of feature image: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/multimedia/Elections-in-Greece-Syriza-Rising-20150122-0022.html

Thousands Organize First Pro-Govt Rally in Athens

filippos — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 14:31:28 +0000

The election of a left government in Greece breathed new life into the people and the Athenian movement rose from its ashes. Thousands answered to a facebook call-out and gathered on Thursday in front of the Parliament to back up the government in the negotiations with Germany and the European Central Bank. Athens now brings forward new dilemmas: Are movements by definition opposition movements, the existence of which is only legitimized by antagonizing the government?

A demonstration largely different from those Athens has seen in recent years took place today in downtown Athens’ Syntagma Square. The rally was called for 6.00 pm and was organized through social media. It was the first pro-government demonstration organized in Greece in recent years. Four years ago, in summer 2011 the Spanish-inspired movement of the “Indignados” attracted thousands of protestors rallying against austerity measures in the same square.

Once again, the protestors’ request was the abolition of the austerity policies imposed upon Greece. The crowds gathered in front of the Greek Parliament in support of the new anti-austerity SYRIZA-led government’s efforts to renegotiate the country’s international debt. The chants were mostly against German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who earlier today met with his Greek counterpart in Berlin. Apparently, the two Ministers did not come to an agreement regarding the Greek bailout program’s future.

On the opposite, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, emerging lately as Greece’s new “super star,” was the protestor’s favorite along with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“European Central Bank (ECB) President Draghi chose to play Merkel’s game again and blackmail the Greek people and the new Greek government,” was, among others, declared in the demonstration’s declaration, calling people to hold a peaceful protest in Syntagma Square against ECB’s decision not to accept Greek bonds as loan collateral.

It should be noted that police presence was null and it was the first time protestors could even reach the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the stairs leading to the Greek Parliament, as the iron fence that was installed there for years has been removed by the new government. Similar peaceful demonstrations were held in other major Greek cities.

Source of article and pictures: http://www.kritischestudenten.nl/blog/nieuws/thousands-organize-first-pro-govt-rally-athens/
Source of feature image: http://www.efsyn.gr/