Perish-Troika – dying regime’s last brainwave

Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign

In apparent panic at the prospect of a SYRIZA election victory,  Brussels is considering stopping Troika’s operations in overseeing the economic reforms in Greece.

According to an exclusive Reuters report, even though the discussion is still at an early stage, it is expected to flare up as Greece and its partners in the Euro zone are planning a new course for the country, as the second bailout program is coming to a close at the end of 2014.

According to Reuters, “dismantling the troika, a trio made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund and likened by some in Greece to the German Nazi occupation, would likely be central to the new plan for Athens.”

After Ireland and Portugal exited their bailout programs, Troika has only been active in Greece and Cyprus and many experts believe that Greece will be needing a new aid…

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Golden Dawn and the Heart of Darkness

Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign

August 17, 1944

The emargence of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has been highlighted again by a recent attack on a school for migrants in the Kokkinia district of Pireus. They deliver a  toxic cocktail of messages of hate coupled with violance and acts of terror on communities they seek to subjugate.  Vandals brole into the school causing damage and leaving messages of hate and claiming responsibility on behalf of Golden Dawn. For many Greeks these violent acts in a proud working class district of the Pireus port town were a horrible reminder of fascist atrocities committed 70 years earlier in Kokkinia.

The “Kokkinia Blockade” is remembered as a tragedy for Kokkinia, where mass executions were carried out in the region by the occupying fascist troops of Germany.

Around 3am Thursday, August 17, 1944, dozens of hiking and motorized divisions of the German army with Greek Nazi collaborationists invaded and…

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The Heart of Darkness in Golden Dawn

What heart?

Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign

From the cache of photographs that has been handed by police to a Greek public prosecutor investigating Golden Dawn’s alleged illegal activities

A new report from the UK Guardian highlights the ugly face of Golden Dawn that is getting uglier by the day. So will New Democracy continue to talk to them in the side-halls of the Greek parliament?

Emboldened by its recent success in European and local elections – in which Golden Dawn emerged as the country’s third biggest political force, thanks to a softening of image that has attracted ever-growing numbers of the middle class – the extremists drove home the message that they were not only on the rebound but here to stay. And as they ran roughshod through the house of democracy, hurling abuse at other MPs in an unprecedented display of violence and vulgarity, there was no mistaking what Golden Dawn is: a party of…

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Greece, Bankers and Privatisation – Selling the European soul

Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign

Stoa of Attalos

Greece’s subservient government is now pushing hard to open up new frontiers for privatization, with some 77.000 state assets slated for sale, including a host of historic marinas and idyllic islands, a number of ancient palaces, and large stretches of the country’s spectacular and unspoilt coastline.

Yet, the social and political opposition to the Troika’s privatization drive has been so fierce that the Greek government has already had to scale back its projected proceeds from 50 billion euros by 2015 to a “mere” 11 billion euros by 2016. While this hardly constitutes a victory, it does reveal the hostile social and political terrain on which the Troika and the Greek government currently have to navigate.

from an article written by Jerome Roos in Roar mag, for full  article see here

Excerpts of the article are presented below

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Does it feel like the winners are the bankers and the losers are the Greek people?

Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign

‘and health is kaput’ Photograph: Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

The story from an Athens hospital beggared belief. In May a 54 year old man needed immediate heart surgery. He was unemployed and uninsured, a common reality for many Greek citizens since the economic crisis hit in 2008. The hospital initially refused to admit him, fearing they would never get paid, but the man said he would submit the required welfare document when he received it. His doctor convinced the facility that the patient was in jeopardy and must be operated on immediately.

The man, whose name has not been released – though the story has been verified by reliable sources – was lying in the operating theatre waiting to have a pacemaker installed, when a person from the hospital’s accounting department arrived. Because the patient hadn’t submitted the necessary welfare documents, the accountant forced the doctors to stop the procedure.

It was…

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