Greece Clashes With EU
General Strike Shuts Down Greece
As the Greek government imposes tough austerity measures at the behest of the European Union, unions have called a 24-hour strike to protest the cuts. Transportation came to a standstill and ministries and schools were shut on Wednesday as protesters prepared to march on parliament.
Greece faced paralysis on Wednesday as private and public sector labor unions stage a 24-hour strike. The action, likely to involve half of the Greek workforce, comes as teams of international experts are in the country to asses its ability to deal with its severe financial crisis.
The general strike shut down airports and closed schools and ministries on Wednesday as unions protested the government's EU-backed austerity measures. Many shops were shuttered, traffic was quieter than usual and Greeks faced a news blackout as the country's journalists also held a 24-hour strike. A number of demonstrations, including a march to the parliament in Athens, were planned. The city was covered in posters and flyers calling for Greeks to strike, with the slogan "People and their needs above markets!"
The strike will be a crucial test of support for the unions, with opinion polls showing that around 60 percent of Greeks support the government's austerity measures. However, the unions say the plans will only burden the poor and push up unemployment.
'Massive Recession'
Greece is under mounting pressure from markets and EU policymakers to cut the public debt. Athens is hoping to persuade Brussels that the public-sector pay freeze, tax increases and raising of the retirement age will be enough to cut the budget shortfall by 4 percentage points to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product.
The largest private sector union GSEE says these measures will cause unemployment, which hit a five-year high of 10.6 percent in November, to skyrocket. "Our country will enter a massive recession and unemployment will reach a Europe-wide record," GSEE spokesman Stathis Anestis told the Associated Press, adding that this would provoke "social unrest."
Revelations that the country's deficit was three times higher than originally forecast has plunged Greece into a debt crisis and undermined confidence in the European common currence, the euro. The crisis has in turn hiked the country's borrowing costs.
Adding to the country's woes, the ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday reduced its credit rating on Greece's top banks. It was the last thing Athens needed as experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrived to asses whether it is on track to cut its double-digit deficit ahead of an EU-imposed March 16 deadline.
The European Commission also announced on Wednesday that it was taking Athens to court for its failure to recover money granted to hundreds of companies in the form of illegal tax exemptions. "The recovery of illegal aid is about restoring a level playing field in the single market," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a statement, according to Reuters.
'Dangerous Misconceptions'
There are increasing tensions between Greece and fellow EU member states, who are reluctant to pledge financial help. Germany, the EU's biggest country, has been particularly vociferous in its reluctance to come to Greece's aid.
There is growing consternation in Greece at the perceived disrespectful tone in the German media. On Tuesday, parliamentary speaker Filippos Petsalnikos summoned the German ambassador to complain about press reports, particularly about the cover of newsmagazine Focus, which showed an ancient Greek statue making an obscene gesture, under the headline "Swindlers in the Euro Family."
"It is dangerous to create misconceptions that Greeks are nothing but thieves, crooks and layabouts living off German taxpayers' money," he told the NET radio station on Tuesday. "This is simply not true."
On Wednesday the media war of images escalated, with the Greek newspaper Eleftheros Typos publishing an image of the Victory Column in Berlin with the figure of the goddess Victoria holding aloft a swastika. [GODWIN'D!!1]
Source
A lot of people in Germany for example are pissed that their government might help out Greece financially because they fear that they have to help out every other struggling country as well.
Greece apparently has a ton of corrupt/unnecessary bureaucracy because during each election, politicians promise their followers to hire them as public servants; then those end up doing nothing or not what they're supposed to do because of lacking qualification.
While I think it might be really bothersome in the little cases (such as selling pretzels on the street or something), making businesses give out receipts for everything is an effective way to tackle the tax evasion problem.
As the Greek government imposes tough austerity measures at the behest of the European Union, unions have called a 24-hour strike to protest the cuts. Transportation came to a standstill and ministries and schools were shut on Wednesday as protesters prepared to march on parliament.
Greece faced paralysis on Wednesday as private and public sector labor unions stage a 24-hour strike. The action, likely to involve half of the Greek workforce, comes as teams of international experts are in the country to asses its ability to deal with its severe financial crisis.
The general strike shut down airports and closed schools and ministries on Wednesday as unions protested the government's EU-backed austerity measures. Many shops were shuttered, traffic was quieter than usual and Greeks faced a news blackout as the country's journalists also held a 24-hour strike. A number of demonstrations, including a march to the parliament in Athens, were planned. The city was covered in posters and flyers calling for Greeks to strike, with the slogan "People and their needs above markets!"
The strike will be a crucial test of support for the unions, with opinion polls showing that around 60 percent of Greeks support the government's austerity measures. However, the unions say the plans will only burden the poor and push up unemployment.
'Massive Recession'
Greece is under mounting pressure from markets and EU policymakers to cut the public debt. Athens is hoping to persuade Brussels that the public-sector pay freeze, tax increases and raising of the retirement age will be enough to cut the budget shortfall by 4 percentage points to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product.
The largest private sector union GSEE says these measures will cause unemployment, which hit a five-year high of 10.6 percent in November, to skyrocket. "Our country will enter a massive recession and unemployment will reach a Europe-wide record," GSEE spokesman Stathis Anestis told the Associated Press, adding that this would provoke "social unrest."
Revelations that the country's deficit was three times higher than originally forecast has plunged Greece into a debt crisis and undermined confidence in the European common currence, the euro. The crisis has in turn hiked the country's borrowing costs.
Adding to the country's woes, the ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday reduced its credit rating on Greece's top banks. It was the last thing Athens needed as experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrived to asses whether it is on track to cut its double-digit deficit ahead of an EU-imposed March 16 deadline.
The European Commission also announced on Wednesday that it was taking Athens to court for its failure to recover money granted to hundreds of companies in the form of illegal tax exemptions. "The recovery of illegal aid is about restoring a level playing field in the single market," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a statement, according to Reuters.
'Dangerous Misconceptions'
There are increasing tensions between Greece and fellow EU member states, who are reluctant to pledge financial help. Germany, the EU's biggest country, has been particularly vociferous in its reluctance to come to Greece's aid.
There is growing consternation in Greece at the perceived disrespectful tone in the German media. On Tuesday, parliamentary speaker Filippos Petsalnikos summoned the German ambassador to complain about press reports, particularly about the cover of newsmagazine Focus, which showed an ancient Greek statue making an obscene gesture, under the headline "Swindlers in the Euro Family."
"It is dangerous to create misconceptions that Greeks are nothing but thieves, crooks and layabouts living off German taxpayers' money," he told the NET radio station on Tuesday. "This is simply not true."
On Wednesday the media war of images escalated, with the Greek newspaper Eleftheros Typos publishing an image of the Victory Column in Berlin with the figure of the goddess Victoria holding aloft a swastika. [GODWIN'D!!1]
Source
A lot of people in Germany for example are pissed that their government might help out Greece financially because they fear that they have to help out every other struggling country as well.
Greece apparently has a ton of corrupt/unnecessary bureaucracy because during each election, politicians promise their followers to hire them as public servants; then those end up doing nothing or not what they're supposed to do because of lacking qualification.
While I think it might be really bothersome in the little cases (such as selling pretzels on the street or something), making businesses give out receipts for everything is an effective way to tackle the tax evasion problem.