CHAOS IN GREECE NOW!

Roberto Benigni: The whole world owes Greece

"Greece owes nothing! We owe Greece! The whole world owes Greece everything"
"I want to kiss you all in the mouth": This is how Roberto Begnini began his speech in front of an enthusiastic crowd, the Italian actor and director, who received his honorary doctorate at the Section of Italian Language and Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki."It is not Greece that owes. The whole world, Europe owe Greece!" he said. As always ebullient, R.Benigni did not hesitate to climb on the benches in applauses.

 "Thank you. Good evening. Hello my dear friends. I want to kiss you all in the mouth. My heart beats too loud, " said the Italian actror,  who spoke about the "Divine Comedy "."A highly significant moment for the university" said the dean of Aristotle University, John Mylopoulos, added that the ceremony expands the spiritual wealth of the institution.

"Valuable piece of Italian culture" characterized the works of the honored, the chairman of the University Phoebus Gikopoulos.The Professor of the Department Katerina Evangelou, noted that Roberto Benigni is the most prominent descendant of a long tradition of the Italian court jesters and comedy del Arte. She referred also to the relationship with Benigni's "Divine Comedy" of Dante, stressing that he redefined the relationship of the project with the public and freed it from the "dual watch" of the school environment and the historical and literary market.

Roberto Benigni is starring in the new film by Woody Allen To Rome with Love.
source: http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38416&Itemid=170

Endlich etwas Wahres vom Deutschen!

Le Monde: Greece is a European protectorate

Ramonet Ignacio

Friday 9 mars 2012, by Kaimaki Valia (greek translation), 



The February 21, 2012 is now in Greece, the date of the Great  surrender . It is the day, that with the promise of half a European aid package, the Greek government accepted the humiliating conditions imposed by the "gang of triple A" at the meeting of the Eurogroup, which is controled by Germany: draconian cuts in public spending cuts in minimum wages in the private sector and pensions, redundancy of 150,000 civil servants, tax increases, massive privatizations ...Yet the Greeks had already suffered a real 'financial coup' on 10 November, when Berlin impose an three party government, composed of social democrats, conservatives and the far-right under the Lucas Papademos, former Vice President of the European Central Bank . But the sacrifice, after the incredibly tough shock therapy suffered for four years, did not benefit anything.This time, the hit is even more serious, because Athens was asked a huge concession of sovereignty, "probably the largest assigned by a country in peacetime." [1] In fact, Greece was under the supervision of the European Union and, now, regarding the budget and public finances, has only a "limited sovereignty".The attack to Greece was expected. After all,this is an excellent means of exemplary to other Eurozone countries facing difficulties (Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy). As early as July 2011, Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minister and President of the Eurogroup [2] was warning: "The sovereignty of Greece would be significantly reduced." [3] In January 27 this year, the British newspaper «Financial Times» has published a German document called  Athens to host a permanent commissioner with veto power, to oversee the state budget and to block anything non-permissible by creditors out of Greece. Finally, on the eve of the Agreement, in an interview to the German weekly magazine «Der Spiegel»,  Volcker Kauder , leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Parliament, went further, calling the mission in Greece, "German officials to help Creating an efficient financial management. " The same request was also made  the country's finance minister himself, Philip Ressler.

Not there yet, but the agreement of February 21 states' permanent presence in Greece of a mission of European Commission "to monitor and oversee the balance sheet, and" an enhanced presence of the troika to oversee the permanent debt service ".The the assistance funds that were transferred, will be placed in a closed account to which only the troika will have access and not the Greek government.This account shall be used exclusively for servicing the national debt and not paying salaries and pensions. The new Greek government bonds would no longer be subject to Greek law, but to the British ... And in case of disagreement between Athens and its private creditors, will be judged, not in Greece but in Luxembourg  ... It is not yet official, but all show that the Greek Republic is no longer a sovereign state.

Silently, the European Union reached a new stage. Henceforth, strong states (those with a "triple A" plus France) require the rest, particularly the countries of the region, to change status. This is not just about colonial regime, but much like with a kind of administration in which the great powers applied at the colonial period, the protectorate.For the colonizers, the protectorate was a way to extend the political and administrative influence and put under surveillance foreign lands from which they wanted to seize their wealth, without, however, to bear the inconveniences and costs that a clear annexation requires. The difference with the colony is that "protected state" maintains official institutions, but grants the "British government" on foreign policy and especially its economy and foreign trade.

In such a context we monitor, within the EU especially in the Eurozone, from the beginning (in 2008) of the financial crisis, the apparent loss of sovereignty of weaker states. It is the preliminary phase, before the sad final stage of the European 'protectorate', which matures in Greece.In September 2001, Angela Merkel proposed a new model, the «marktkonforme demokratie» (democracy compatible with the market), which she identified like this: "The establishment of the state budget is a prerogative of Parliament, but we must find ways that the democratic requirement is consistent with the requirements of the market. " [4] The market is now the reference point: the electoral decisions are not get any more by people but by the stock exchanges, banks and speculators. [5]This new anti-democratic philosophy is gaining slowly in Europe. Translated into laws and treaties restricting more and more room for maneuver of governments and act as "autopilot" to subjugate societies and lead to a creeping and secret way towards a federal Europe. From this view, punishment of Greece is the model that threatens every recalcitrant European country. And will be officially rule next July, when the European Stability Mechanism be ratified(ESM - Permanent Preservation Fund).

Designed by Angela Merkel and certified by Nicolas Sarkozy, the new ESM is an intergovernmental organization, a kind of European IMF. For now, it goes to ratification by national parliaments, without public debate, [6] although, because of its characteristics, can have devastating effects on citizens. Indeed, the ESM provides financial assistance to countries in need, provided they give a part of their sovereignty, accepting the authority of the EU troika and adopting unscrupulous plans.The ESM is structurally part of the "fiscal pact", adopted on January 30 from 25 of the 27 EU heads of state. The real name of this terrible pact is "Treaty for the stability, coordination and governance Economic and Monetary Union "[7] and is also the result of a German requirement. It obliges signatory states to enter in their constitutions (or at least one law) the famous "golden rule" to keep the budget deficit to less than 5% of GDP. The countries which will not respect this restriction will be accountable to the European Court and would suffer severe penalties.Karl Marx asserted that the industrial era governments were simply boards of the bourgeoisie. Paraphrasing him, we could say that today, in the era of "Europe's" litarchismou "" [8] of Angela Merkel, governments are the boards of the markets.Until when?

Notes
[1] «El País», Madrid, 02/12/21

[2] coordinates and supervises the financial policies and strategies of theEurozone countries. Participating ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs of these countries, who meet once a month

[3] Interview with the German magazine «Focus» 4-7-11

[4] Statement to the German state radio Deutschlandfunk, 1-9-11

[5] See Rafael Poch, «Un documento alemán pide un comisario para Grecia», «La Vanguardia», Barcelona 01.28.12

[6] on 21 February, the French parliament ratified an agreement allowing the creation of the ESM. The majority of Members are not socialists voted against

[7] (COP) or else an enhanced Stability Seehttp://consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/el/ec/127642.pdf.

[8] (COP) play on words austerity and authoritarianism(translated by GREECE AND WORLD)source:http://www.monde-diplomatique.gr/spip.php?article321

Greece Default Is Official; Insurance Payouts Triggered

Greece Default Is Official; Insurance Payouts TriggeredPublished: Friday, 9 Mar 2012 | 3:18 PM ET By: CNBC.com

This is why

A group representing dealers in credit default swaps decided Friday that Greek's bond swap constitutes a "credit event" that entitles holders of Greek credit default swaps to compensation.

 

 The "yes" vote by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association triggers roughly $3.2 billion in CDS, which are insurance policies that pay out if a bond issuer defaults. That amount is actually much smaller than many had feared.

The decision was widely expected, and stocks were slightly down after the announcement.

Greece pushed through a bond swap deal on Friday, forcing  bond holders to take a significant "haircut" on the return of their money. The swap was approved by about 84 percent of the holders, and Greece is moving to activate a rule forcing the rest of the bondholders to go along with the deal.

The triggering of that rule, known as the Collective Action Clause, is what prompted the ISDA to decide that Greece has created a "credit event."

“There’s three types of credit events as defined by ISDA,” said Gavan Nolan, Credit Analyst at Markit. “There’s a bankruptcy, a failure to pay and a restructuring.”

“What we’re talking about here with Greece is a restructuring," he told CNBC. "A request is made to the ISDA Determinations Committee—which is the arbiter of whether a credit event has occurred—and they have to agree whether or not it is a credit event.”

Out of the 15 members of the ISDA committee, 80 percent had to agree.

The net volume of CDS on Greece now stands at $3.2 billion, according to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which holds data on credit default swap contracts.

“It’s peanuts really compared to the government bond market," said Nolan. "So I think it’s sometimes overplayed as to how important it is.”

LEAKED MEMO REVEALS DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES OF A GREEK DEFAULT

For months now, The Blaze hasmeticulously covered events in Greece as they have
unfolded and, for anyone who has been paying attention, the situationdoes not look
 good. Indeed, many analysts believe that the eurozone crisis will only get worse.

But perhaps you still think it’s just a lot of “Chicken Little” nonsense and that a Greek default wouldn’t be that “that bad.” Well, perhaps this leaked memo from the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the organization representing private sector holders of Greek debt in official negotiations, will change your mind.

“[The memo] gives us the most detailed data we’ve seen so far about how the eurozone and the world would be affected by such a move,” writes Business Insider’s Simone Foxman. “It also explains just why EU leaders are doing everything in their power to prevent a disorderly default and Grexit [Greek exit] — the costs would be absolutely astronomical and the fallout uncertain.”

Indeed, judging by the language used in the leaked memo, eurozone leaders are far more afraid of a Greek default than they have been willing to admit.

“And while investors may think that these costs are ‘priced in,’” Foxman notes, “a Greek hard default really might just be another Lehman.”

Which is to say, “disastrous.”

Here are some of the most frightening implications from the IIF’s confidential report (via Athens News and Business Insider):

1. “First, Greece would fail to honor payments on its €368 billion ($486 billion) in debt obligations,” Foxman writes, “That would probably collapse its banking system.”

Indeed, according to the IIF, that would immediately threaten:

• €91 billion in Greek banks’ obligations to foreign lenders and depositors, €28 billion of which are in the eurozone
• €247 billion Greek households and companies owe to Greek banks. 15 percent of these loans are already nonperforming.
• €21 billion that Greek corporations owe to foreign lenders

2. €73 billion of Greece’s debts are held by eurozone countries and the IMF, which means if the small Mediterranean country can’t make its payments . . .

“Additionally, the IIF estimates that the official sector — either governments or bailout funds — would easily have to provide €160 billion ($211 billion) to make sure banks don’t go under, or else force higher capital-to-liabilities ratios through sharper deleveraging,” Foxman writes.

3. The European Central Bank (ECB) could be irreparably damaged. According to IIF estimates, the ECB has as much as €177 billion ($234 billion) tied up in Greece:

• €43 billion in Greek government bonds purchased as part of the Securities Markets Program
• €110 billion in Greek government bonds and other securities that domestic banks used as collateral to borrow from the ECB
• €24 billion in loans to Greek banks through the emergency liquidity assistance program (ELA)

4. Given all the above, there is probably no way that Greece will be able to stay on the euro – or in the eurozone for that matter (via Athens news [emphasis added]):

“Given these financial traumas, it is difficult to conceive that Greece can remain a functioning member of the Euro Area in the event of a disorderly default. The Greek authorities would have little option but to regain monetary policy independence by exiting from the Euro Area and introducing a new national currency…

The issue of whether Greece can remain in the European Union after defaulting and leaving the Euro Area is not clear-cut. The likely imposition of capital controls and possible inability to honor other EU laws and directives would raise important questions.”

5. Perhaps the biggest threat is that, as many analysts have been saying for months, the Greece contagion will spread [author’s note: can we call it a Greece Fire? Has anyone done that yet? If not, we claim it]. In fact the IIF believes the fears about the possibility of a Greek contagion are actually understated:

Financial linkages are potentially more powerful, especially since market developments since the onset of the crisis in 2007 have highlighted a propensity for “runs” to occur on a scale and at a pace that had previously been unimagined. Many policy makers incorrectly believed that the fallout from a Lehman bankruptcy would be contained, since markets had been apparently pricing in a significant default risk well ahead of the actual event.

Click here to see the full IIF report / Read the full BI list here

source:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/leaked-memo-reveals-devastating-consequences-of-a-greek-default/ 

GREEK DEFAULT EXCLUSIVE: SENIOR US BANKERS GIVEN EXPLICIT TIMETABLE FOR ATHENS DEFAULT

DOCUMENTS RAISE AWKWARD QUESTIONS FOR WASHINGTON, IMF & BERLIN

A written document giving firm dates and detailed actions for a planned Greek default has been in the possession of two top Wall Street bank currency trading bosses since the second week in January. The Slog has separate but corroborative sources affirming the existence of the document, and a conviction among senior bank staff that – at least at the time – the plan represented “a timetable, not a contingency”. The plan gives a firm date of March 23rd for default to be announced after the close of business.

Senior bankers on Wall Street have been given detailed documentation setting out a timetable to Greek default, including firm dates and technical ‘orders’ about last use of the euro as a currency there. The revelation arrived at Slogger’s Roost last Monday, since when I have been trying to obtain corroboration. This arrived in the early hours of today (Thursday). One of the banks is Barclays Capital (Barcap) run by controversial figure Bob Diamond. The other must remain anonymous for the time being, in order to protect sources.

The document asserts that Greece will officially be declared in default by all the ratings agencies after the close of business on Friday march 23rd . At the weekend all Greek bank accounts will be frozen, with emergency measures detailed to prevent the flight of capital. Included in the paperwork is a list of very limited exceptions to the ‘no withdrawals’ order. All major banks ‘are instructed  not to deal with euro exchange  as of open of business in Greece on Monday 25th march. All Greek markets will close for one day ‘at least’.

As yet, I have been unable to establish the source of the documents. But one of my informants admitted, “I have strongly suggested to Greek business friends and clients that they sell up fast, do a sale and leaseback on property, empty bank accounts, and change to a hard currency.”

I have little doubt that such a critical path analysis leading to default in Athens can be easily brushed aside as contingency planning. But this is not the impression Slog sources were given: and its existence is bound to further raise suspicions in ClubMed about the real intentions of ‘EU Nord’, Washington and the Troika – especially the IMF. In particular, the alleged creation of the document both supports (and/or coincides closely with):

1. Washington going cold on further IMF funding

2. IMF intervention in the Athens debt talks

3. Persistent rumours surrounding Wolfgang Schauble’s plans

4. Evidence previously assembled by The Slog  concerning Americo-German coordination

5. A string of delaying tactics by senior EU and Troika officials since mid January.

Reviewing the timeline of the Greek Debt Marathon, the back end of it is pretty obviously one of persistent sabotage from Berlin, Brussels, and the IMF:

1. It’s the second week of January 2012, and the bondholder deal is a few small steps away from lawyers crossing t’s and dotting i’s. Enter Schauble saying the haircut is nowhere near short enough. Bondholders’ leader Charles Dalloran walks out.

2. The Troika barges into the Athens/Bondholder talks, and they turn into chaos, then grind to a halt.

3. FinMinCom meets in Brussels and several encouraging noises are made about progress towards a deal ‘over the weekend’. Enter Merkel bearing demand to fire the Greek Government and replace it with an EU commissioner. This produces four more days of circular delay, following which Nicolas Sarkozy declares that the German demand was never a demand.

4. Lucas Papademos gets personally involved and strikes a deal with Dalloran. Then he extracts the support of all Party leaders for the deal. We’re almost there. Enter Schauble and Brussels saying no, your economy’s worse than we thought – we need a closer haircut and more savings.

5. The troika is now talking direct to the bondholders with Athens outside the loop. The creditors feel on the back foot. They agree to a lower percentage rate for the new bond issues and a 70% haircut. Venizelos meanwhile focuses on finding additional savings. Papademos intervenes again with leaders and creditors. We are now ‘hours away’. Mario Draghi says no, the haircut is too close for the ECB, and not enough for everyone else.

6. Draghi relents a little, the bondholders say they are “tentatively flexible”. We’re two small steps away from a deal. Enter Schauble moaning about £325m of savings unaccounted for…a thousandth of the total Greek debt.

6. Tempers get inflamed back in Athens. Greek leaders start muttering about doing what they have to do, getting the deal signed, and then having elections. Berlin and FinMinCom demand that all Greek Party leaders sign a document ordering them to stick to the deal regardless of election results. This loses another two days….but the bondholders are still keen to sign.

7. The German Bundesbank leaks a story to German newspaper Handelsblatt saying the Greeks will not be able to satisfy bondholder demands, and thus technical default is now a certainty. The story is traced back to the office of anti-bailout hawk Jens Weidmann.

8. Deutsche Mittelstands Nachtrichen runs a story claiming another 2.5 bn euro hole has been found in the Greek budget proposals. The story is deconstructed by The Slog and others and turns out to be complete bollocks. But the FinMinCom meeting in Brussels is postponed, and replaced with a conference call.

9. Merkel says she doesn’t trust New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras. Athenian leaders must now sign another pledge after the additional 325m euros of savings have been found and agreed. They all sign (Wednesday morning – yesterday – 15th February).

10. Yesterday afternoon, the EU finance ministers’ conference call begins to talk about cutting its losses. A firm proposal is tabled – by Berlin, it seems – to divide the next bailout tranche into smaller slices. The next Com meeting is put off for six days.

11. Schauble describes the Greek debt as “a bottomless pit”. Merkel joins the fray by suggesting the bailout be put back until after the April elections. This clearly makes no sense, as from March 16th Greece will be in technical default without more money. But Schauble adds that indeed, Greece should postpone its elections…..and “install a technocrat government similar to Italy’s.”

12. Wen Jiabao makes nice noises about what a fine place Europe is to visit, but van Rompuy and Barroso come away predictably empty-handed.

13. Thursday dawns with everyone wondering where we are. Venizelos accuses “forces trying to push Greece out of the eurozone”. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert calls this “false” and adds, “I can state quite clearly on behalf of the federal government that Germany has taken no such decision.” Nobody said you had, Ducky. Berlin briefs on amphetamines about Angela Merkel being ‘resolutely opposed to default’. A majority of market opinion leaders and bondholders think the EU is bluffing, reports the FT. But a French source tells The Slog earlier today he thinks Germany “is talking from a position of strength. There is no doubt in our minds [in the Elysees] that Berlin has the necessary plans in place.”

We’re but an hour into the working day EU time (1hr ahead of GMT) and already the main EU players are busy installing further roadblocks. Boss of radio Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker said, “Further considerations are necessary regarding the specific mechanisms to strengthen the surveillance of programme implementation and to ensure that priority is given to debt servicing.” An intention as vague as that could take forever to fulfil….or until March 23rd.

A senior German official quoted by Reuters has added: “Questions remain that are very important to Germany and other member states about the sustainability of the programme.”

Ultimately, not even the Germans can see into the future: this is get off the pot time….but only if you’ve been devious for some time about being on the pot in the first place. The Slog’s recent profile of Angela Merkel demonstrated beyond too much doubt that the Fuhrerine in Berlin is more than capable of being devious.

In the last three weeks, several EU officials have pumped out the line – over and over again – that Greek default is no longer the bogeyman people thought it was….or to be more precise, they told us it was. “It would have led to a credit crunch immediately and hurt us all,” said a senior eurozone official. “Now, the odds [of such a catastrophic impact] are something like 10-20%. It’s still possible, but it’s not a certainty.”

First of all Draghi pumps money into the banking system, then the Troika/Berlin axis slows everything down. Now awkward facts come to light about the existence of ‘a plan’ which would protect America – by dumping the Greek contagion – and help the eurozone by concentrating  the bailout cash available to save the bigger players: Italy, Spain and France. An unpleasant phrase is doing the rounds in Brussels at the moment: ‘amputate and corterise’. It’s certainly beginning to look like that. And without doubt, that’s the way Mario Monti sees it.

Were I Greek, Portuguese or Irish, I’d be a worried man this morning.

The Slog