EU - Page 5 of 8 - Katoikos

Plan B: A Parallel Banking System Devised by Yanis Varoufakis

Much has been debated about the Plan B that would lead Greece into previously uncharted waters of a so called ‘Grexit’. The Alexis Tsipras-headed government had the very same scenario prepared, according to the ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who led the negotiations with the Eurozone leaders and the “Institutions”. Varoufakis, in a teleconference call on July 16, alleged that his boss had given him the go-ahead to create a parallel banking system.

The Price of Looking the Other Way

By Deniz Torcu

According to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Turkey is aware of the necessity to foster the linkages between political stability, economic welfare and cultural harmony in order to attain sustainable global peace.” While promoting the notion of “zero problems”, what Turkey has in fact achieved over the past decade under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has been the creation of new problems and the rupture of long-lived alliances in the Middle East, such as the alliance with Israel.

A Carthaginian Peace for Greece

By Deniz Torcu

As of July the 13th, following tense negotiations, Eurozone leaders have reached an agreement for the new Greek bailout. A few days ago, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras proposed an austerity plan which was nearly identical to the very one that the Greek people vetoed in the July 5th referendum. The Greek proposal includes strict measures like a unified VAT rate of 23%, elimination of discounts on islands, incrementation and/or adjustment of corporate income and property tax rates, abolition of subsidies for farmers, introduction of penalties for early retirement, privatization of state-owned companies, etc.

The UK Budget and the Politics of Language

By David Yarrow

No language is neutral. When we discuss economic life, we are constantly cutting up an immensely complex and messy reality into manageable concepts and stories in a way which necessarily foregrounds certain assumptions and relegates others to the background. In the process, some policy responses are normalised as common sense while alternatives are rendered unthinkable. How we talk about the economy frames how we understand and visualise it, and we must attend to the way in which language performs often implicit ideological work.

Tunisie: comment éviter que le terrorisme succède au printemps arabe?

The author of this article is a Muslim woman in her mid 40s, of Algerian nationality but resident in France since her youth, who prefers her identity not to be disclosed.

L’Egypte et la Tunisie ont pour point commun de ne pas avoir adopté de régime islamiste au lendemain du printemps arabe. Issue prévisible ou non de leur révolution ; le premier semble avoir voulu retourner au conservatisme militaire, sans doute du fait de la tournure dramatique qu’y a prit le printemps arabe, révélant ainsi un manque de préparation citoyenne au changement.

“Yes” to Europe, “No” to further humiliation

By Deniz Torcu

The image that has started to go viral in social media amongst Greek users is simple, yet strong enough to explain the stand of the majority. It says a clear “NO”, however the rejection is composed of the sentence “YES TO THE EURO”. My recent trip to Athens was a clear depiction of how devastated the country really is. The once busy neighbourhoods filled with restaurants, cafés and shops are now being replaced by two yellow signs that mark the desperation of the people: “for rent” and “for sale”, appearing side by side.

Greek referendum: Yes or No and why?

By Maximos Giannis

Alexis Tsipras has asked the Greek people to vote, with a simple yes or no, on whether or not they accept the measures that the country’s creditors, “the Institutions”, want to impose on Greece for the continuation of the bailout deal. The matter seems simple, but in reality the complexity of it may confuse the average voter and lead to a false result. Saying yes to the referendum would mean that the voter accepts the measures and wants Greece to remain within the European Union, still having to pay its debts but continuing to be a part and enjoy the advantages…

The EU’s Dubious Policy on Migration

No news is bad news

Europe is going through sad times. Speaking to the leaders of the 28 EU member states, the European Council President Donald Tusk declared on 25 June war on illegal migration, Hungary announced plans for building a four-meter-high fence along its 175-kilometre border with Serbia to keep migrants from crossing into its territory and the Schengen area. Also, in response to attempts made by desperate migrants who took advantage of a strike among French ferry workers to cross into the UK at Calais on 23 June, the French promised to build stronger fences and station additional border officials there.

In urgent need of a compromise on Greece

On Monday, 22 June, there was yet another Eurogroup meeting in Brussels concerning the Greek crisis. But like many previous attempts to reach an agreement, a conclusive decision was again postponed. Meanwhile, in the Greek capital, Athens, people are anxiously waiting for an answer. It is becoming evident that Greece should not have joined the euro the time it did but it is too late to change that. Ordinary citizens suffer and the country is on the brink of collapse, or social unrest. It is clear that European elites must reach some compromise, not for the sake of SYRIZA, but for the people of Greece.

Greece: two or three things that Ms. Merkel should bear in mind at this point in June

Pending , EU
22 June, 2015

By Viktor Sukup

The last few months have not ceased to darken the European scene. Islamist terrorism remains a serious threat, as shown by the attacks in Paris and the high number of “jihadists” made in Europe. The economy is still not taking off; unemployment is not dropping; and the problem of Greece is not yet resolved. As for immigrants and the thousands of deaths from their attempts to reach Europe, as well as the highly shady deals between European countries over how to receive –or rather reject– these immigrants, the NGO, Global Social Justice, estimates, not incorrectly, that we should now be ashamed to be European.