Gruniaad on Greece

[Suff]

It seems that they think like all the rest of the world's politicians, that this is all Rhetoric from Greece.

Very few, except perhaps the markets, have actually woken up to the fact that this may not be Rhetoric on the part of Greece. This may be a simple statement of intent with direct fact following up behind.

Everyone assumes that the Coalition will fall if the Troika stands fast. Did they forget that the Coalition partners split from Pasok because they believed that exiting the Euro was better than staying and paying the price of entry.

However they gave me one real gem which I intend to use at every possible opportunity. Trying to make a hard point they stated something which they would, under other circumstances, never utter.

But the primacy of bureaucracy over democracy is a core principle that EU institutions will never compromise

Think that one over for a bit.

My "pay cut" continues to bite. It can only get worse as the pundits recognise that Greece is not holding a gun to it's head. Greece is holding out an olive branch and the Troika plus Germany is holding them to ransom with a cannon. It has not escaped my notice that Germany directly intervened in ECB policy without any agreement with it's neighbour countries when it forced the ECB to cancel Bond funding to Greek banks in order to have a, supposedly, stronger negotiating stance with the Greek finance minister.

Something, I assure you, every other member of the Euro Zone will have taken note of.... I believe Germany has overplayed it's hand on this one and it's about time too. People need to see the reality that underpins the theory that is the Euro.

I believe Germany played right into Greek hands with that move. Tsipras has rejected their stance and now it's down to follow up meetings.

Also the Guardian article talks about how Draghi "manipulated" Germany into what he wanted. I notice they didn't capitulate until it was clear that even Germany had dipped into recession.......

The guy who wrote this article is blind and bigoted. Not a good place to find a clear viewpoint from.

[Suff]

Interesting thought.

But I wonder if the writer didn't miss something. I wonder if what Tsipras is doing now is Plan A. I wonder if Varoufakis was given one and only one chance. Was allowed to give in to cancelling half of the debt pile and go to all the finance ministers to try and get a consensus which would allow Greece to pull out of Austerity without the debt write off. That the worst of the austerity breaking measures wold be held off, at least for a year or two, to allow Greece to stay in the Euro.

One chance. I wonder if Germany, rather than playing a clever and forceful game, cut the feet out from under Varoufakis who was, in the end, trying to help them? When he was cut down with a sneer, it put Tsipras back on Plan A. In fact the blatant manipulation of the ECB to "blackmail" Varoufakis is all the justification Tsipras needs.

I wonder if the subtle lie that Tsipras told (they always have one don't they), was that he never had any intention of staying in the Euro. That he always intended to return to the Drachma as this was the only possible way for him to deliver on his promises.

If this is the case, then the message they took to the Euro Zone of wanting to help the Euro and do everything in their power to keep the Euro afloat whilst they recover Greece from Austerity, will be turned into a message of Greedy, Grasping, Germany who destroyed the Euro through their own greed and their actions forcing Greece out of the Euro.

If you think about it on that front, Tsipras could be one of the most skilful and dangerous politicians in the entire EU.... Who also has the backing of Russia!

[cromwell]

This bit caught my eye:-

"Such last-minute capitulation could mean resignation for the new Greek government and its replacement by EU-approved technocrats".

How does the EU have the power to do this? If it ever comes to this I can guarantee that such "Technocrats" (namely anti-democrats) would only set foot in Greece in an armoured convoy. The Greeks haven't been slow to demonstrate what they think of Merkel, if the EU tries to replace a democratically elected government and replace it with representatives of the Troika, then stand by because the lid will come off.

ps I hope the pay situation gets better Suff.

[Suff]

Nope Cromwell, the pay situation just keeps getting worse. Exit plan is in progress, I'm even getting phone calls from agencies. They must have mopped up everyone who has 3,000 CV's one for every job they've ever applied for.

The EU replaced the Greek government with a Technocrat government before. They also did this in Italy. It was at the height of the crisis when coalitions were failing and elections were not yet due. Instead of having elections, they put in caretaker governments of non elected technocrats to "housekeep" till the elections could be held.

Of course that little bit of BS was just them wishing. There is a big difference between Pasok falling apart and the country at the brink of banks failing and Syriza with a strong mandate and backed by a very anti EU partner, no matter the politics.

Yes the article was a real font of knowledge about how the "technocrats" view democracy in the EU wasn't it....