Will Germany Continue To Hold Greece’s Hand? – OpEd

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By Stanislava Pavľáková

Germany rejected a Greek plea for more time and prefers Greece to start cutting budgets by implementing the promised reforms. Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras stated that the three-party coalition government failed to agree on the final form of the new austerity measures and wants a two-year extension to the 2014 deadline for it to cut its budget deficit to 2.1% of GDP from 9.3% in 2011. Such delay would, however, require up to €20 billion more in foreign funding. This request only highlights the seventeen euro zone nations’ growing impatience with its problem nations, and signals rough times for the monetary union.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance Minister, added: “Greece hasn’t tried enough so far, that has to be said quite clearly… no one on Earth who has followed this issue would think that Greece has fulfilled what it has promised.”

Before the coming week when the visit of the International Monetary Fund and EU will take place, the effective measures that could save 1€7.5 billion worth of Greek public finances from 2013 to 2014 ought to be identified. The decision must take place; there is no time to take a siesta. This agreement on budget cuts can also be understand as the first test of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras´s cabinet that took power a month ago.

The European Union is not close enough to solving its current difficulties in the long run. Only the long-term solution of the crisis itself can stabilize the financial markets and crank up the economy, because more months of a weakening euro including cumulative uncertainty will do more harm to the global economy.

With reference to Eurostat, within the euro zone itself the total unemployment rate reached 11.1% in May. In the “PIGS” economies, unemployment rates reached 24.6% in Spain, 10.1% in Italy, and 15.2% in Portugal. In the case of Greece, the statistics are available only for April and indicate the unemployment rate to be 22.5%.

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3 thoughts on “Will Germany Continue To Hold Greece’s Hand? – OpEd

  • July 21, 2012 at 7:52 pm
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    Greek PM Samaras is not capable to solve Greeces financial downfall.He is the problem.
    Remember 1995 when he took out 130 million dollars,head in black garbage bags to use for anti-Macedonian propaganda?
    Well,he did sway some Macedonian politicians to follow Greeces propaganda,and look the dificualties present Macedonian government has with Greek objections of Macedonias international membership,the likes of NATO and EU!
    The difference now from 1995 is,Republic of Macedonia has a leadership that understands the need to protect its idiom,culture and language,whereas former leadership of Georgievski and Crvenkovski were interested on selling Macedonia for millions of dollars to enrich themselves only.Unfortunatly,they still are trying to sell Macedonias interests to Greece.The Macedonian state should buy them a one way tickets,one for each;Crvenkovski,Frckovski and Petkovski to Athens and Georgievski to Sofia.If that is not possible,then they should find themselves as did Philotas from our ancestors.
    On the subject of Samaras,he needs more time to save some money with a bit longer time for him to rob the banks easier.
    Greece should be out of the eurozone,or they will take all 17 eurozone members down before EU will know it!The people of the 17 Eurozone cannot afford to loose their jobs for the most irresponsible Greek governments!

    Reply
  • July 22, 2012 at 3:41 pm
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    Sorry Peter… I never did hear your answer. What did FYROM’s government officials mean when a few years ago they used to assure your apologists…

    We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian.’ – FYROM´s Ambassador to Canada Gyordan Veselinov, Ottawa Citizen Newspaper, February 24 1999

    “We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century … We are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians” – Kiro Gligorov, FYROM’s first President
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBB8UjOHG_8

    ‘We do not claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great.’ – FYROM’S Ambassador Ljubica Acevshka, speech to US representatives in Washington on January 22 1999

    “The creation of the Macedonian nation, for almost half of a century, was done in a condition of single-party dictatorship. In those times, there was no difference between science and ideology, so the “Macedonian” historiography, unopposed by anybody, comfortably performed a selection of the historic material from which the “Macedonian” identity was created. There is nothing atypical here for the process of the creation of any modern nation, except when falsification from the type of substitution of the word “Bulgarian” with the word “Macedonian” were made.” (Denko Maleski, former Minister of foreign affairs of FYROM from 1991 to 1993 in an interview to FYROM newspaper Utrinski Vesnik)

    Reply
    • July 24, 2012 at 8:44 pm
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      I don’t think you deserve an answere for rhe simple reasons;your rhetoric on our identity is continuation of Greeces fabrications.Furtheremore,Alexander was Macedonian.He was the protoslav,he was not understood by the Hellens,different ethnos my friend.On the Bulgarian issue,when Macedonia existed there was no Bulgars in the area.If you read my quote of Alinei,you would understand who came to this area first,and the issue on the slavs coming to this area.The slavs moved outwards,not inward my friend.Therefore,we have a connection with the protoslavs.Take Alineis suggestion and do the DNA test on the Macedonian Royal Tombs with the modern Greek and Macedonian,soon we will find out who is who!
      I have asked question on what did Rallis say in 1903,Mitsotakis in 1995,What K.Karamanlis said and his FM Droutsas said,what Alexander said to Philotas,what Isocrates write to Philip,what Demosthenes wrote on the epitaph in 338 bc,what Dendramis said to the Serbians and Bulgarians in 1925 at the League of Nations,or the book printed in Athens for the Macedonian school children in Macedonian language.Have you ever answered these simple questions,or you don’t know anything in historical terms?.What I think you should be concerned is the economy in Greece,the people who are jumping from windows like an older couple,husband pushed his wife,then he jumped to his death.These are more importent issues today,not your fabricated stories.Of course Adams was right to characterise you as people who are”Corrupted in their morals to such a degree,as to be faithless,perfidious race,destitute of courage…”

      Reply

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