Friday, January 27, 2012

Reuters: Germany wants Greece to surrender control over its budgets

(Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday.

"There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough," the source said.
Read the rest here.

8 comments:

Judge373 said...

The 4th Reich is here.

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

And the Greeks are just stuck. A few days ago, the German Foreign Minister, speaking at the Brookings Institute, said, "re-nationalization is a dangerous concept and this is a message to whom it may concern."

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/FutureofEurope&showFullAbstract=1

This quote is at 31:25. It's a long speech, but very well worth spending the time to listen to, very carefully, because there are also broad hints of America joining this proposed super-state, so it would span the Atlantic, with "shared sovereignty" (32:55)

Judge373 said...

Soon the Greeks will say NO to the EU, and they will have a new OXI Day to celebrate and be proud of.

I pray it happens sooner rather than later.

John (Ad Orientem) said...

I am a bit surprised at the tone of some of the preceding comments. Sympathy for Greece is not what I was expecting. Let's review some facts...

1. Greece spent most of ten years lying through their teeth to the rest of Europe, the ECB, the IMF and the major credit rating agencies about the state of their finances.
2.The Greeks cooked their books in a way that should have landed every single cabinet minister for the preceding decade in prison for fraud on a scale that must make Bernie Madoff green with envy.
3. During this time frame the Greeks spent hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulently borrowed money like a whore with a stolen credit card.
4. The Greeks are now demanding that Europe (read Germany) bail them out since they obviously can't pay back all the money they borrowed.
5. For some unimaginable reason Germans are a little ticked off at the mendacity of the Greek government and are somewhat short on trust when it comes to giving them EVEN MORE MONEY.

Personally I think the Greeks should count themselves fortunate that the Germans have become more or less pacifist over the last 60+ years.

Judge373 said...

I'm a bit surprised that an Orthodox Christian could express *so little* sympathy for a now suffering Greece.

You speak of the "Greeks" as some monolithic entity. They are not. You make it sound like this cheap capital wasn't looking for places to go. It was.

The banks who loaned to the Greeks are equally as responsible for the irresponsible lending they engaged in.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

The Greeks must either accept the EU'S conditions for a bailout, or eschew the bailout and produce more privately.

I bet they accept the bailout and whatever conditions the EU attaches.

Jason said...

Banks sold uninsurable swaps on whether Greece could pay back their debt or not. If Greece can't pay on the debt, then these banks have to pay out on these swap sales. They gamble and then cry loudly when it looks like they're going to lose, demanding more house money to cover their recklessness. The Greeks and the other Euro plebes owe them nothing.

Anonymous said...

Those responsible for the problems in Greece are the political leaders of both political parties.
Ordinary Greeks who are now losing
their homes and find themselves homeless are not responsible for this mess.

It is reasonable to suggest that reforms be enacted, but it is not
reasonable to suggest that a country should give up part of its
independence.

The purpose should be to get Greece back on track and to be responsible, not to enslave the country.

On the bright side, I find it gratifying that the Church of Greece is providing tremendous services for the faithful in this
dark hour. The Orthodox Church, as in Ottoman Times is the haven for the Greek nation.

I also find it wonderful that among the powerful countries Orthodox Russia is the only one that refuses to pile on in condemning Greece. Russian Churches are collecting aid to help the Greek people. That is a
fine sense of solidarity and brotherhood among the Orthodox.

Yes, Greek leaders helped create this mess, but I sense a certain effort to Serbianize Greece. Remember the demonization of Serbia?

Theodoros