Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) | 19 comments (19 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) (4.00 / 3)

Well the way I see it, they would have to sit down with Turkey and reach some sort of understanding in order to do that, an understanding quite far from the national maximal demands. Erdogan has offered a moratorium and cohabitation in the Aegean, but I think that the Greek gvt at this point (when the word "quisling" is ever more frequently used to describe its economic policies) is loathe to have the nationalists turn against it too, especially since they are increasingly using the rhetoric of "national salvation" to justify the austerity programme and their only political ally in Greece as far as austerity is concerned is the far-right LAOS party.

That and the fact that there are strong diplomatic pressures from Germany and France not to cancel arms orders. In the case of the German submarines sale, the final settlement sounds a bit colonial... (and the whole deal was far from clean - and one of the subs was indeed faulty). Some deals have been canceled, others have been made. The French frigate deal was first said to have been frozen, but it seems like its going to be quickly thawed out.

Also keep in mind that Greece is probably paying substantial sums as installments of deals past.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Tue Nov 30th, 2010 at 01:40:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) (none / 0)

Yes, as ever, the old "Who lost the Aegean" ploy.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Dec 1st, 2010 at 12:19:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) (none / 0)

they would have to sit down with Turkey and reach some sort of understanding in order to do that, an understanding quite far from the national maximal demands. Erdogan has offered a moratorium and cohabitation in the Aegean

See Greece and Turkey: a major peace initiative by Upstate NY on October 26th, 2010

The news references anonymous sources and it's such a short article, but if true this is a huge monumental breakthrough in Greek and Turkish relations, and it promises to bring a seismic shift to all of Europe.
Ekathimerini: Aegean pact in the works
The article is so short that I'll just paraphrase: Greece and Turkey agreed in principle to compromise on the International Law of the Sea. Rather than Greece taking what is allowed to Greece by International Law, a proper sea buffer, Greece has reduced its buffer around the islands by half, while Turkey will respect a full buffer off the Greek mainland.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Dec 1st, 2010 at 02:49:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) (4.00 / 2)

Yes and the talks are stalling. Any sort of deal with Turkey at a moment of "national weakness" can and will be used at this juncture against the government even by parts of the political spectrum and the population that have little to no nationalist leanings... The widespread discontent is looking for some reason to burst out.

This I would be pleasantly surprised if some sort of deal that lead to a spectacular decrease in defence spending was struck any time soon. Keep in mind the huge financial interests that are being fed by the Greek defense budget and the implicit recognition by successive Greek governments that weapons procurements (who you buy from) is a tool of foreign policy for Greece...

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Wed Dec 1st, 2010 at 06:43:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Vampire policy makers of the IMF (and the ECB) | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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