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NEW GREEK PRIME Minister Alexis Tsipras said Athens did not want an extension of its bailout but insisted on the need for a “bridge programme” which would buy the country time to negotiate a new deal.
“The new government is not justified in asking for an extension of the bailout. The Greek people gave us a mandate to cancel the disastrous austerity programme,” he said in a key policy speech to parliament.
“We want a new deal, a bridge programme which would give us the fiscal space that a sincere negotiation requires.”
Tsipras, speaking just days before an extraordinary meeting of eurozone ministers in Brussels, said the government would “respect eurozone rules but would “not condemn the Greek economy to an eternal recession.”
He stressed “the government’s unshakeable decision to honour all our pre-election promises,” saying it was “a matter of honour, credibility, and respect for democracy.”
In his speech, he said he would honour all electoral policies and vowed to raise the minimum wage to €750 by 2016.
He also promised to re-open ERT public television, closed in 2013 by the previous government in a bid to reduce debt in the cash-strapped country.
Tsipras said ERT would be re-opened to “repair a crime against Greek people and democracy.”
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Cutting the subsidy to the state broadcaster was a good idea. I’d prefer to see the tv license tax in this country going to real frontline public services than to presenters.
Ahh the former poser rebels turned model business suits. Doing what Goldman Sachs want, to the letter. Should’ve voted for the real opposition the bankers dare not speak of, Golden Dawn. People prefer debt enslavement for themselves and their children.
I wish the Greeks well in their endeavours. They are a proud people who have had to endure serious hardship over the last years. They have also had to endure jeers and sneers from jumped up gombeens like Noonan and Kenny, which has been disgraceful. Like ourselves they have been seriously let down by their millionaire class who speedily moved their money abroad and presumably chide taxi drivers and waiters for not paying enough tax. We have more in common with the Greeks than some might think. I doubt if noonan’s investments are in this country – and so it goes.
A proud people who don’t pay tax …
More fool the people who lent them 100s of billions. Greece may have enjoyed the money while it lasted, but why should they pay it back? Have you no humanity?
Gerry Adams will be proven right, the best thing to do is to walk away from the debts they ran up and start afresh.
Plenty of other countries out there they can borrow from to get re-started. I’m sure they’ll pay their new lenders back.
In another thread you mentioned that you are a young person. Consequently you will not recall the paye workers marches of the early 1970′s. We marched because at that time fully 95% of income tax came from the paye sector. That left the wealthy, the professional classes, the farming section and the self employed contributing the other five per cent. Off shore accounts are nothing new in this country, even exchange controls were flouted here, except for ordinary workers. In my view not a hell of a lot has changed, so we have no grounds to get sniffy over tax evasion.
Or maybe do that Hitler did, tell Wall St, to go take a hike, start your own currency and have your own country serve your own people. Of course then you’ll be the target of the “Chosen Ones” who run the western money system, and they will be none too pleased about uppity gentiles showing a path to monetary freedom, so first will come the economic war then sanctions and boycott like they did to Germany, then they will set you up to be the bad guy of the region so they can attack you.
“I wish the Greeks well in their endeavours” is that before or after they return the 350m the Irish taxpayer gave them in their last bailout ? Or we just going to wave that goodbye.
What Alexis Tsipras wants to achieve cannot be achieved as long as Greece is locked into a monetary union with austerity obsessed Germany.
Greece should give the ECB the two fingers and go back to its own currency – a massive devaluation and a turning on off the printing presses is the only thing that will finally jolt the economy into action
Couldn’t agree more. The quicker they do it the better. Ireland should do the same.
… and peg our currency to sterling.
What you never hear the government admitting, is that Ireland does more trade outside the euro than inside it
If Greece leaves the euro, then that’s the end of it. As a bondholder, how confident would you be buying into a currency where the members of that currency could up and leave and dump their debt obligations?
Personally, I think the euro is dying a slow debt. The ECB printing presses is masking the inevitable outcome.
Stephen, was that meant to be a pun? It was magnificent.
Except 80% of Greek debt is owed to member countries, or taxpayers, not bondholders…….
Greece bonds are already junk status. Last Friday, they were down graded to just one level above default.
The end game is a grexit – at the end of all this shadow boxing
Why would we want a currency pegged to Sterling, as it is the UK has priced itself out of most export markets.
Doesn’t need to be parity Chris.
Maybe the Greeks should try wonga.com. Flexible short term loans!
“turning on off the printing presses” I guessing you mean turn on ? Still ask your self if your an Irish exporter & a greek want to pay you in a new drac ? would you take it. Are would you buy with your money new Greek bonds ? I guess No because your probably not insane even if your understanding of monetary finance is a little shaky, after all Zimbabwean economy is not great economy because it doesn’t have a printing press it has a terrible economy because it prints money that know one has faith in.
What ever way this goes .i don’t see a happy outcome for the average Greek on the street.!goodluck.
Maybe not. Amazing how people can live in the shadow of a burgeoning empire without appearing to realise it. Germany is simply repeating its exploits of the last century. Now i am beginning to see why people said that they didn’t see it happening at the itme. I always found that hard to believe. But looking around, you can see how exactly the same thing is happening today with full support from people who just don’t seem to realise or care what they are subscribing to
Andrew, are you seriously comparing modern Germany to Nazi Germany? It’s Golden Dawn waving the Swastikas, not the CDUD.
Absolutely agree Andrew. And in the age of the Internet there is no excuse for us to let it.
Andrew is right, Germany taking over Europe without firing a bullet
Couldn’t agree more. It seems to be built into the German political classes to dominate Europe by any means possible. I do hope the Greeks hold firm against the bully boy tactics of Frankfurt unlike our fearless leaders who blinked at the mere mention of ‘pension’ or ‘top European commissioner job’.
Doing with banks what they failed twice to do with tanks. And our cretinous government is little more than their sockpuppet.
The empire are the banks on wall st and london, owned mainly by the almighty Chosen Ones, but the manage to get Germany to take the blame every time, and you manage to direct your anger at the wrong people everytime, no wonder every 20 years they own a bit more of world real estate.
Unfortunately it’s Syriza doing all the damage. No concessions, merely demands for more money after again committing to all pre election promises. That’s astonishing behaviour. In other words, forget about that last loan but give us another and after we spend it, then we’ll talk………
Are you writing your own version of what was said?
I am. I’ve taken a leaf outta yours and Garry’s book. Makes it easier…….
Who’s Garry?
Oh, wouldn’t we love to know……
Wow apparently a politician and party who appear to be sticking to their pre-election promises. Imagine that? Will never catch on in Ireland.
Easy to stick to your promises when others are footing the bill.
But what’s going to happen when the money tap gets turned off? They have no money. He can pose and posture all he wants but at the end of the day the EU will not allow them to walk away from debts that are, by and large, owed to other EU countries. And they’re right.
Sticking to populist and unforfillable promises could do far more in the long run to the Greek economy if they cannot reach a new deal with their lenders first…….
They said they would get a write down but will not now
Have you not noticed their unemployment rate or the fact they are paying €8 billion back every year? That is unsustainable so if the EU does not want to see some very nasty things happening in Greece they need to change. Greece are not actually asking for a write off btw what they are asking for is a sustainable method of repayments. Something those clever clogs here should also ask for.
@kerry…. have you seen how much Ireland is paying each year in interest!
Yes that is also unsustainable but sadly we elected a village idiot who doesn’t think a debt conference would make any difference.
Seems that the reality of being in government is dawning on Syriza after the initial euphoria.
They have agreed to honour their pre-election pledges that alone is a party that can be respected in my books
“have agreed to honour” but as yet havent done it ? No Money to do so ? Problem ?
Maybe Gerry Adams was right and we should copy Greece. They’ve already made huge progress as the country teeters on the brink.
What process do you talk about?
They have not. They are going to cause a Greek default if they Cary on like this.
Do you work for Irish water John?
They are going to come acropolis…..
Why are we so shocked that politicians honour their promises and stand up for the people that elect them.
Instead time after time we elect liars we get what we deserve
It’s easy to make promises when you’re spending or want to spend someone else’s money……
Talking about indas tax cuts pledge there, are we??
If you like. Outta interest, who’s funding Garrys pre election? Northern Rock?
Because promise should be base on reality not make believe !.. & Greeks can’t vote for EU taxpayers to pay for their lunch !..
Totally delusional.
He stressed “the government’s unshakeable decision to honour all our pre-election promises,” saying it was “a matter of honour, credibility, and respect for democracy.”…A statement alien to our government
I hope the Greeks will take great pleasure in his statements as their economy falls to African levels.
I think thanks to the EU’s austerity measures many Greeks have found their economy has fallen to African levels but why you would enjoy that for fellow Europeans is a bit beyond me to be honest.
EU’s and IMF and ECB, its the banks who run the show until you people get that, continue in debt slavery.
Kerry, not sure why you don’t get this. The EU is helping Greece by providing loans. Now, to provide a loan to someone without ensuring they don’t spend it on the things that got hem into trouble in the first place is irresponsible. The EU didn’t ‘impose austerity’ on Greece. Greece imposed austerity on itself by pursuing suicidal fiscal policies which have now come back to haunt it. No one else in the EU forced Greece to commit fiscal suicide, and no one else has the responsibility for bearing the consequences of it. Greece is an independent nation, and needs to face up to its own problems with the support of its EU partners. However, as an act of solidarity, some money has been provided to Greece on loan terms far superior to those available to it in the free market, so long as it fixes the issues that got it into trouble in the first place. That money is not the problem. The conditions attached are not the problem. The problem is the willingness of the Greek people to run their own country. They want a permanent handout from the rest of us, even if they pretend otherwise.
Oh dear a left party in office broke election promises. Maybe we should give Gerry a short and let the EU show him up!!!
Was it not parties on the right that got Greece into the hole it presently in?
Promice is a promise, its like how dare the right break them but its fine for the left….
Kerry, a government that borrows and spends on a bloated public service is never right wing. It is the very definition of left wing to do so, even if you nominal claim to be conservative. Anyway, Greek fiscal right wingers are only right wing in the sense that everyone is slightly to the left of Lenin.
Yup those free spending Greeks who the ECB knew were cooking their books but excepted them in to the fold and gave them event more money. Blame it on the Greeks a very easy excuse.
Kerry, there were no parties on the right in Greece. It was a Fianna Fail type scenario where you ostensibly support jobs and growth through lax tax (supposedly right wing) but you also give social welfare to everyone who asks, run public services without controlling budgets and treat voters like children by giving them sweets so they’ll keep voting for you (left wing economics). But the socialism negated the capitalist side. In basic Capitalism you have to allow people go broke sooner….hence the US recovery was so much faster.
Jesus, a tiny gang of pimply youths barely out of “college ” – little experience of responsibility or survival in the real world. Yet they have a huge hardon for fg right wing policies, and troll every thread spouting the same message. I’m actually bored senseless with them now. Will take a break from this. Not defeated, just bored absolutely shitless with the same old same old. Time to take action in the real world
Well if you can’t tolerate somebody expressing an alternative opinion then rather than moaning and whinging here, just go and do something else that will stimulate your obvious superior intellect. Playstation or Xbox maybe..!!
Humus believe it……
So Greece is saying “We can’t pay our debt. We won’t pay our debt. We won’t negotiate with the only entities in the world big enough to restructure our debt. We will honour our debt.”
I can’t be the only who sees the big hole in their stance.
The exit is being orchestrated. Syriza will not row back on pre election promises. Indeed, they are determined to steam ahead, except they do not have the financial means. This ‘row’ that is being manufactured has to lead to them being given an ultimatum. Comply to the memorandum of understanding on your desk or leave. On the other side the EU appear to be happy to oblige. Greece has shown, again and again, that it won’t stick to any agreement. Time after time, agreement after agreement, Greece has reneged, there is no confidence that it won’t happen again. An orderly, controlled exit much preferable to Greece dropping a bomb somewhere in the future.
€750 minimum wage?
Germany should repay the WWII debt to Greece and the problem is solved. Estimations are that this German debt + interests would come to 1.8 trillion Euros.
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