Greece: debt, creditors, austerity measures, Syriza, Varoufakis, Troika

What's behind the European Union taking control of Greece's Border's? Is the EU using the excuse of "refugee's" for some other purpose - like a Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt-controlled superstate?


Greece Loses Last Trace Of Sovereignty After EU Takes Control Of Greek Borders
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-05/greece-loses-last-trace-sovereignty-after-eu-takes-control-over-greek-borders

Ever since this summer's dramatic "referendum" farce, and the subsequent hijacking of the Greek banking system by the ECB's ELA, Greece has officially been a nation without state sovereignty. Europe reminded Greece of just this a few days ago when days after its waved the carrot before Turkey promising billions in aid, and an EU acceptance fast track, it threatened Greece with expulsion from the Schengen customs union (a union which as a subsequent leak revealed will likely be "temporarily" shuttered for as long as two years unless the refugee crisis is brought under control).

Perhaps to confirm that few things will stand in its mission-creep to subjugate the sovereignty of European member states, starting with the poorest and most insolvent, namely Greece, we find out that the EU and its border agency, is not only preparing to take over border control of countries that have been found to be "ill-equipped" to deal with the refugee problem, but has already launched this plan into action in Greece.

Because after being threatened with expulsion from the Schengen zone, Greece (which does not actually share a contiguous, physical border with any Schengen nation) caved in and accepted an offer from the European Union to bolster its borders with foreign guards
as well as other aid, including tents and first aid kits. This decision follows reports that Greece was unwilling to accept foreign border guards on its territory, but these were later denied by the government.
 
Angry farmers blocked a highway in Greece on Monday over new tax hikes.

"It was the latest in a series of protests against austerity measures Athens has taken in recent years to receive bailout funds" - see the story at http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/02/448436/Greece-Athens-Thessaloniki (go to http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/06/440504/Greece-Alexis-Tsipras-Yiannis-Plakiotakis for a story on 6 Dec 2015, "Greece parliament approves austerity-driven 2016 budget".)

If the stories are true about the great reserves of gold, oil and natural gas right under the feet of the Greeks, it is strange that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who only recently came to power on an anti-austerity platform, immediately turned around and is playing along with the international banksters to keep Greeks poor debt slaves. Here is one of the stories about Greece's untapped riches:

https://www.directdemocracyireland.ie/greece-is-not-poor-it-actually-has-massive-untapped-reserves-of-gold-oil-and-natural-gas/

Greece Is Not Poor – It Actually Has Massive Untapped Reserves Of Gold, Oil And Natural Gas

It turns out that the poster child for the European debt crisis is not actually poor at all. In fact, the truth is that the nation of Greece is sitting on absolutely massive untapped reserves of gold, oil and natural gas. If the Greeks were to fully exploit the natural resources that are literally right under their feet, they would no longer have any debt problems. Fortunately, this recent economic crisis has spurred them to action and it is now being projected that Greece will be the number one gold producer in Europe by 2016. In addition, Greece is now opening up exploration of their massive oil and natural gas deposits. Reportedly, Greece is sitting on hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and gigantic natural gas deposits that are worth trillionsof dollars. It is truly sad that Greece should be one of the wealthiest nations in all of Europe but instead the country is going through the worst economic depression that it has experienced in modern history. It is kind of like a homeless man that sleeps on the streets every night without realizing that a relative has left him an inheritance worth millions of dollars. Greece is not poor at all, and hopefully the people of Greece can learn the truth about all of this wealth and chart a course out of this current mess.

I have written extensively about the nightmarish economic conditions that Greece is experiencing right now. Just check out this article, this article and this article. Since the depression began in Greece, the Greek economy has contracted by more than 20 percent. In April 2010, the unemployment rate in Greece was only 11.8 percent. Since then it has skyrocketed to 25.1 percent.

The government debt to GDP ratio in Greece is projected to hit 198 percent this year, and there are persistent rumors that Greece will be forced to leave the euro.
But all of this is completely and totally unnecessary. Greece is not actually poor at all. In fact, after you account for untapped natural resources, Greece is actually one of the wealthiest nations in all of Europe.

According to Bloomberg, there is a massive amount of gold in Greece. This recent economic crisis has accelerated the approval of mining activity, and it is now being projected that Greece will soon be the number one gold producing country in all of Europe…

Gold mining is gathering momentum after Greece began what it called a “fast-track” approvals program. The Canadian and Australian companies said their projects will add about 425,000 ounces by 2016, worth $757 million at the Oct. 5 spot price, to the 16,000 ounces the country produced in 2011.

“There’s clearly evidence that Greece has woken up to the potential of their mining industry,” said Jeremy Wrathall, chairman of Perth-based Glory Resources. “Politicians increasingly realize that a pro-mining stance is appropriate due to job creation potential.”

Greece, which is also fast-tracking state property sales, is set to overtake Finland as the continent’s largest gold producer within four years, as regulators in Athens sign off on mines kept on hold for more than a decade by red tape and environmental rules.


But Greece doesn’t just have gold. Greece is also swimming in oil and natural gas. It turns out that Greece is sitting on the western edge of an absolutely mammoth sub-Mediterranean oil and gas field, and there are also huge deposits of oil and natural gas in the western parts of the country.

A Reuters article back in July discussed how foreign firms are now rushing to exploit these tremendous resources…

Greece has received eight bids by companies to search for oil and natural gas in three blocks in the western part of the country, the energy ministry said on Monday, as debt-laden Athens seeks to save money on energy imports.

Greece, which produces almost no oil or natural gas, aims to develop potential hydrocarbon reserves as part of an effort to overhaul its economy and lessen dependence on energy imports.


So exactly how much oil and natural gas does Greece have?

I would also like to know the truth about this.

Is it to get their hands on Greece's gold, oil and natural gas that the PTB are taking over Greece through debt enslavement?
 
This article from 2012 referenced in that article is also well worth the read: _http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/greece-is-not-poor-it-actually-has-massive-uptapped-reserves-of-gold-oil-and-natural-gas
 
The leaked remarks of International Monetary Fund officials suggesting the IMF may threaten to pull out of Greece’s bailout are eliciting anger in Athens and could jeopardize debt negotiations, reports The World Post.

Greek Prime Minister Explodes; Sends Angry Letter to IMF Chief (Copy of letter)
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2016/04/greek-prime-minister-explodes-sends.html

Sunday, April 3, 2016 - The Huffington Post exclusively obtained a private letter on Saturday from Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras to IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, demanding answers for some of the controversial comments in a March 19 teleconference between Poul Thomsen, IMF European director, Delia Velculescu, IMF chief of mission in Greece and IMF official Iva Petrova.

Tsipras wants to know whether Thomsen and Velculescu’s apparent belief that the IMF must rely on another crisis-inducing “credit event” to force Greece’s hand “reflects the official IMF view.” If so, Tsipras challenges the IMF to defend the policy, given accepted norms of negotiation.

“Using a credit event as a means to pressurize Greece and the other member states is clearly beyond the bounds of the negotiation process as we understand it,” he wrote.

The prime minister also questions whether Greece “can trust” the IMF to negotiate in “good faith” given what he sees as Thomsen and Velculescu’s suggestions that they would like to delay negotiation in order to precipitate such a “credit event.”

“I sincerely hope that the IMF position is to reach a quick, successful and sustainable conclusion of the review and I am sure you will take all the necessary measures to make sure the negotiation process will remain on track,” Tsipras wrote.

The comment in the leaked transcript that triggered Tsipras' anger occurs when one IMF European director states that the only time a deal has been reached in the past is when an imminent default crisis was at hand and the IMF chief of mission in Greece agrees.

“What is going to bring it all to a decision point? In the past there has been only one time when the decision has been made and then that was when they were about to run out of money seriously and to default. Right?” Thomsen said.

"Right!” Veculescu affirmed.

Here's the entire Tsipras letter.


The leaked remarks of International Monetary Fund officials suggesting the IMF may threaten to pull out of Greece’s bailout ...

IMF Wants to Muscle Germany Into Debt Relief for Greece as Part of the Continuing Bailout
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2016/04/imf-wants-to-muscle-germany-into-debt.html

Saturday, April 2, 2016 - A leaked transcript of a conference call between International Monetary Fund officials provides fascinating insight into the plotting and scheming that goes on at the highest levels.

We learn from the transcript that the IMF is considering attempting to force Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel to quickly grant wide-ranging debt relief for Greece or allow the Fund to exit Athens’ bailout program after six years. The transcript of an internal IMF conference call was published by WikiLeaks.

During the call, which occurred just two weeks ago, Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European bureau, notes that Berlin is under intense political pressure because of the refugee crisis and suggests confronting Merkel to either agree to debt relief or allow the IMF to exit.

German officials have repeatedly said they could not participate in Greece’s bailout without the IMF on board, and senior members of the Bundestag, Germany's national parliament, have warned Merkel they would reject new eurozone loans to Greece if only EU authorities were monitoring the program.

From the transcript:


“Look, you Ms Merkel, you face a question, you have to think about what is more costly: to go ahead without the IMF? Would the Bundestag say, ‘The IMF is not on board’?” the transcript quotes Thomsen as saying to his staff. “Or [does Merkel] pick the debt relief that we think that Greece needs in order to keep us on board? Right? That is really the issue.”

(via FT)
 
This is a revealing talk between Noam Chomsky and Greece's ex-finanace minister, who tried to say "No" to the recent austerity measures levied against his country.

Yanis Varoufakis is a terribly sharp man with a lot of insight into the craziness which is international banking. He was at ground zero for this latest round of madness...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szIGZVrSAyc&app=desktop
 
Yes, a really good one. I watched it back in May and for me personally, it was one of the best of Varoufakis I've seen by then. But a month later, there came another one, perhaps revealing even more, or at least in a different way:

Yanis Varoufakis Guerilla Interview Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu5Z9gI3-FM

I don't remember him ever before saying why it was not possible for Greece to exit the euro so openly as he explains it in the Guerilla video.
 
Yep, Yanis is the man!

He basically de-mystified the 'mysteries' of International Political Economy in his book 'The Global Minotaur', explaining how international finance works in a way that fits with the hegemonic super-structure built by the Anglo-Americans.

People have no idea just how dangerous he was to the system when he was front-and-center last year. I mean, can you imagine Noam Chomsky having temporary control of the US State Department, and all the conniptions that would cause?!
 
That was awesome, thank you! Gotta read his book, definitely.

I think it's so important that people get to know all that is going on behind the scenes. It's easy to scream "conspiracy" and get derailed with uninformed thoughts and theories. We need to understand exactly how this came to be, how it is organized, the historical connections etc. I think Varoufakis' inside knowledge is extremely valuable here.

What a brilliant guy.
 
Niall said:
People have no idea just how dangerous he was to the system when he was front-and-center last year. I mean, can you imagine Noam Chomsky having temporary control of the US State Department, and all the conniptions that would cause?!

Varoufakis obviously knows his business... in words at least. But does he have any deeds to match? Apart from nice words and despite his seeming brilliance in interviews, his presence while leading the critical Ministry of Economy of Greece last year during such a critical time, made actually NO difference what so ever for Greeks. Both him and Tsipras were acting like total amateurs (best case senario) but they were discovered in time by their cunning and experienced opponents to be just bluffing with no cards at hand, and thus they were not treated even with the minimum of respect, as even this little is only reserved for a worthy and somewhat respected opponent. Instead, as the spineless opportunists they both proved to be, they were soon humiliated to the extreme by being forced to implement horrors that even the previous puppet governments never dared so far. By then of course Varoufakis had left the sinking boat, and Tsipras is mainly to blame, but still there are some certain and unmistakable responsibilities for a Minister of Economy when his term comes to end in such a phenomenal disaster. It appears that Varoufakis had formulated NO alternative plans, nor taken any other pre-emptive measures that were well within in his power to take, in order to help the country stand against the pressure that was building up from Greece's "lenders" and "partners". The reality of what followed in Greece proved that much. And that while he enjoyed the advantage of riding his "super-hero" popularity wave, where camera crews from the likes of CNN and BBC were following him even in and out of his own home. Then and for some time after, he could reach a global size audience anytime he liked, something very few people ever enjoy (and dare I say, only "selected" people).

So, what could he do? For example, prepare the state coffers by saving some reserve of cash. After all, at the other side of the table was in reality European Central Bank (ECB) threatening to cut off the flow of money into Greek economy. Or at least delay the payments to IMF for some time while negotiations last (they did eventually, but it was too late to make a difference). Or acquiring the needed resources (the special paper and printing machines) to swiftly initiate the procedure of printing a new Greek national currency, just in case they came across a brick wall during talks. Just to have that "gun on table" as they say in negotiating terms. And so so many other things. Instead, he did... nothing. We mean nothing at all. Zero. If that is not the case, what is? I really want to be as objective as possible here too, so if anyone can come forth with any single solid piece of evidence of Varoufakis having made any real difference (in favor of Greeks or against the system) in deeds and not just words, just anything, and after being a minister for five months, I would be glad to listen to what I have missed.

Instead, this inactivity and lack of any practical forethought led (or was designed to lead) to the government's shutting down of the Greek banking system the week just before July's referendum, thus imposing the so-called "capital controls" (60 euros maximum cash/day) that gave an unbelievable final blow to the "real" economy, but also led to tens of billion euros more given to private banks and bankers as "support" for the induced crisis, backed up of course by the state through more loans and public debt, that equals more taxes. That happened while Varoufakis, the "erratic guerilla marxist" was in power controlling the economy... No action was taken by him to avoid this otherwise so obvious outcome. That qualifies as a valid sample of his deeds to be valued and measured against his words. I don't know if Noam Chomsky ever came to hold a similar office, if he would ever allow to be complicit in making such generous gifts to the oligarch bankers and the ECB, while at the same time forcing thousands of small business to their death out of a self-inflicted lack of cash liquidity... But as the wonderful Margaret Thatcher (that Varoufakis confessed to admire) used to say, "There Is No Alternative". From where I see things, it seems Varoufakis' interviews will likely remain his most famous "deeds", deeds of the oral kind. These together with that high-end "Avant la Bataille" photo-shoot he had while still a minister, having dinner with his wife on their cozy house under the Acropolis for a French lifestyle magazine, in a country living through a full-blown humanitarian crisis with underfed children fainting at schools. You can check this overload of glamorous hubris in this link. (http://www.topontiki.gr/article/121345/h-lifestyle-fotografisi-toy-giani-varoyfaki-gia-paris-match-photos) On a funny note, I think even if they appointed me as minister of economy for just a single month, I could think of dozens of ways to inflict more "pain" to the system that Varoufakis ever did in five. :D

Thank you.
:)
 
Great videos! Very interesting insides into the politics of the EU Elites and the backround...

Although I think Varoufakis has a lot of valuable insides and is basically a good guy working against the system, I think he would greatly benefit from learning something from Putin and his stuff.

Unfortunately he seems to believe the propaganda about Putin and russia:

_http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/06/exp-gps-varoufakis-eu-putin.cnn
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQHLtbN6DxE
 
[quote author= Pashalis]Unfortunately he seems to believe the propaganda about Putin and russia:

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/06/exp-gps-varoufakis-eu-putin.cnn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQHLtbN6DxE[/quote]

After all he understand about the system, he is actually buying the Anti-Russian propaganda. Just how is that even possible ?! :huh:

Russia is the only true ally they can ever get in a world ruled by wolves. Maybe he should look at how the Eurasian Union operates in contrast of the EU. It's completely the opposite.
 
spyraal said:
On a funny note, I think even if they appointed me as minister of economy for just a single month, I could think of dozens of ways to inflict more "pain" to the system that Varoufakis ever did in five.

Well, you know what they say; many a true word is spoken in jest.

Have you thought about going into politics?
 
I really just can't get enough of Varoufakis and his ability to describe exactly how the science of political economy works. Thanks for posting.

Another video of a speech given to techs at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Zpkz7lK-s
 
Niall said:
Well, you know what they say; many a true word is spoken in jest.

Have you thought about going into politics?

Well, unfortunately I had quite a normal childhood that left me without many of the much needed traumas and vices for the job. So objectively, I don't think I really have what it takes.

I made peace with the painful fact that I won't sign the sell-off a single Greek island during my lifetime... :P
 
Back
Top Bottom