Troika seeks to end compulsory military service in Greece ? Shall the Troika decide Greece shall not have any Army at all next ? And are Greece Prime Minister and Finance Minister strong arming the Greek Banks and Pension funds by seeking / connecting their " voluntary " participation to the Bank recap ? Wake up Greece before your asets are looted and your ability to defend yourself is taken away by the Troika and their Greek stooges !

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/12/02/two-major-newspapers-claim-mother-of-ex-pm-papandreou-on-lagarde-list/

Two major newspapers claim mother of ex PM Papandreou, Margarita, on Lagarde-List

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

Two major Greek Sunday newspapers claim that the name of the mother of former PM George Papandreou was ed on the Lagarde-List containing the names of Greeks who had accounts in Geneva-branch of HSBC. The allegations have caused an uproar in Greece, as the name of Margarita Papandreou was not listed on the list as such. Last night, a website had revealed that the name “M.P.” was not referring to Margarita Papandreou but to an employee of a wealthy businessman.

Mrs Papandreou and the former PM issued statements fiercely dismissing the allegations speaking of ”interests that want to harm their family” and announced legal measures.

To Vima

  According to To Vima and Proto Thema the name of Margarita Papandreou was raised in a meeting of five financial crimes squad SDOE officials, but that it was not revealed to a Parliamentary committee investigating the infamous Lagarde-list.

George, Margarita Papandreou

An official with the Greek financial crimes squad SDOE has reportedly said that Margaret Papandreou, mother of former Prime Minister George Papandreou, is involved with a deposit of 550 million euros ($714.28 million) in the Geneva, Switzerland branch of HSBC, the biggest on a list of 2,059 Greeks with accounts there who haven’t been checked for tax evasion.

 The depositor is reportedly a civil servant named Maria Panteli, but according to the Greek newspaper To Vima, Nikolaos Lekkas, the Manager-Comptroller of SDOE, said that, “Behind the biggest deposit on the list is Mrs. Margarita Papandreou.”

 The report, a shifting convoluted tale, indicated that Panteli worked for a wealthy business executive, Sabi Mioni, who was born in Greece but now lives in Tel Aviv. Panteli has yet to be questioned. Vaxevanis reportedly said that Mioni told him that Panteli managed his financial affairs.

 To Vima said that current SDOE chief Stelios Stassinopoulos, a friend of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, is aware of the story and that a director of a peripheral administration, Evangelos Karamanos, said Margaret Papandreou’s name was raised in a meeting of five SDOE officials, but that it was not revealed to a Parliamentary committee investigating the list.

 Another former SDOE chief, Yiannis Kapeleris, reportedly said that Panteli’s list was on a list of the top 10 depositors – hers was the biggest – with $1.95 billion in the Swiss bank. Papaconstantinou previously testified that he asked Kapeleris to investigate the names, but Kapeleris insisted he was asked only for the tax profiles of the biggest depositors. (full story in EN Greek Reporter)

In an angry statement aging Margarita Papandreou described the editors-in-chief of To Vima and Proto Thema as “unmanly” and “immoral” for not contacting her directly and ask her on the issue before their publications.

In his statement George Papandreou spoke of a “vulgar operation by those who published rumors without prior investigation” and that the aim was to target him and his policies.

The two statement were answered by statements of To Vima and Proto Thema who said that this information was in the economic prosecutor’ findings on the Lagarde-List.

PASOK issued also a statement urging the replacement of the special secretary of SDOE, accusing the financial crimes squad being ”a backstage broadcasting irresponsible slander manufactured and handled with great ease, undermining the rule of law and poisoning the atmosphere against selected political goals.”

PASOK’s statement comes after several website and internet users saw the involvement of the name of Margarita Papandreou as an attempt to so some internal political ‘cleaning up’ within the party founded by Andreas Papandreou in 1974. A party that ruled the country almost three decades. A party that suffered severe defeat at the May and June elections, as it was on power when the country sought he aid of EU/IMF bailout mechanism. Quite some commented that the allegations were an attempt to get rid of the Papandreou legacy in order to help PASOK to regain the preference of its former supporters.

Margarita Papandreou is the second wife of former PM Andreas Papandreou.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_01/12/2012_472526

Eurogroup to focus on Greek buyback scheme

 Tax code continues to divide fragile coalition with difficult vote likely in Parliament
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras is due in Brussels again on Monday – for the fourth Eurogroup meeting in as many weeks – where he is expected to present to his eurozone peers details of a bond buyback scheme that must succeed if Greece is to clinch a crucial tranche of rescue funding later this month.

Despite the expressed reluctance of Greek banks to participate in the buyback, the aim of which is to reduce Greece’s debt burden by 20 billion euros, they are expected to join the scheme as they cannot afford to miss out on recapitalization funds earmarked for them in the next 34.4-billion-euro tranche of rescue loans.

Stournaras has insisted that the scheme is voluntary but has sought to apply pressure on banks and other bond-holders by stressing that its success is “a patriotic duty.”

He is to return to Brussels for another Eurogroup summit on December 10, where the participation in the scheme is to be assessed before a decision is made on the release of rescue loans to Greece by December 13.
In the meantime the minister faces a gruelling week at home. His draft tax code – which abolishes breaks for large families, self-employed professionals and farmers – must be submitted in Parliament soon. It is one of a handful of remaining “prior actions” demanded by the troika in exchange for continued financial support. But the new legislation faces opposition not just from the junior partners in the coalition – socialist PASOK and Democratic Left – but also from several conservative lawmakers, meaning its passage through Parliament is unlikely to be smooth. Stournaras has said he will consider countermeasures as long as fiscal targets are respected.

According to sources, the government is keen to finish with the bond buyback and secure crucial funding so the focus can shift to the repayment of state arrears and the acceleration of privatization projects. A cabinet reshuffle is expected before Christmas with PASOK and Democratic Left expected to appoint several cadres to key posts. Certain ministers who are resisting reforms – such as Administrative Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis who opposes a fast-track redundancy scheme for civil servants – are likely to go. There are fears that if all does not go according to plan and the government finds itself forced to take new austerity measures early next year, the coalition will buckle under the strain and snap elections will be called. Already, leftist SYRIZA, which is leading in opinion polls and opposes the terms of Greece’s foreign bailouts, is planning for such an eventuality with speculation about elections featuring at its party congress over the weekend. Meanwhile European officials sought to bolster the battered image of Greece, ahead of yet another Eurogroup summit. “At last, I can see in the Greek government the determination to overhaul the country, to create modern structures,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Bild. European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, for his part, said he was confident that Greece would receive rescue funding without delay. and.... Prosecutor orders probe into 85 state deals Financial prosecutor Spyros Mouzakitis has ordered an investigation into 85 state deals that were rejected by the Independent Authority for Public Contracts on the grounds that they were were not made through open tender but via direct assignment. The aim of the investigation is to determine whether any fraud was involved in the deals. ekathimerini.com , Saturday December 1, 2012 (18:21)   and...... http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/11/30/ex-greek-pm-papandreou-calls-for-european-wide-referenda-social-media-for-all/ Ex Greek PM Papandreou calls for European-Wide Referenda & social media for all Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Very Mix It’s time for a European Revolution! YAY! Emancipation of the troubled EU citizen, active participation and social media! YEAH! Europe-wide referenda! Whoohoo! Hear! Hear! The proposal to revolutionize the European Union comes from a man who led his own country to ruins and unconditionally surrendered to the demands of the country’s creditors. After saving Greece by deliberately taking the country to IMF mechanism and accepting all imposed terms without any negotiations, former prime minister George Papandreou plans to save the whole of the European Union. In an article he posted in Huffington Post, the former PM who wanted to restruct Greece from its fundaments and ended up in ruining the lives of the majority of citizens, dares speaking of active EU citizens who need to have a say in decisions-taking EU mechanisms. Referenda across Europe and social media everywhere will help emancipate the troubled EU citizen: “Europe can regain the confidence of the markets, but first we must regain the confidence of our citizens. That is why I called for a referendum in Greece, so that people could debate and decide on their own future. There is nothing wrong with European countries ceding sovereignty in the interest of creating a stronger Europe. (Indeed, they already have.) But as we do so, we need to rethink how our representatives in the Union are elected and how decisions are made. An EU president, elected by a European Parliament (or even a directly elected president), European-wide referenda, forms of more direct citizen participation and the use of social media are ideas already ripe to explore. This new Europe, as I see it, will not be the product of one grandiose decision, dictated by an elite minority of powerful nations or some anonymous bureaucrats in Brussels. Small, incremental but complementary steps — made by each of us individually and all of us together — will build the values and the foundations for the Europe that we want. Democracy and education will give new capacity to our citizens and that, in the end, will empower Europe and reinforce its legitimacy in our societies and around the world.” (Full post) …without an apology, without a word of regret. And not a single note that while he goes around the globe delivering speeches and giving lectures in Harvard, Greek taxpayers come up for his salary and benefits as MP. And the Troika now wants to put their snout into Greece military planning , military service obligations , defense spending and   defense related budgetary decision-making ... Why not just come out and say the Troika has decided Greece shall not have an Army to defend itself ? Troika seeks to end compulsory military service in Greece Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy, Politics Greece’s masters, the Troika of EU/IMG/ECB, seeks to abolish the compulsory military service in order to reduce state expenditures. According to weekly magazine TO PONTIKI, this measure is being included in the Troika’s evaluation report of the Greek economy. According to the Troika, the proposal aims to reduce defense spending as the abolition of the compulsory military service can cause significant reduction in defense spending if introduced alongside with the electronic procurement system. The report of the European Commission stresses that  “as part of the implementation of the economic adjustment program, there were significant reductions in military spending (without influence on the defense capability). Defense spending reached 2.2% of GDP in 2010, while Greece was the third among the 27 partners of the EU in terms of total defense spending in 2012. Despite the fact that military-operational expenses as well as salaries and pensions for members of the armed forces would be reduced by 62% (salaries) and by 41%( pensions), this does not mean that no further rationalization of defense spending can be achieved. ” Further defense spending requires increased use of electronic procurement and the abolition of compulsory military service.” (to pontiki.gr) So far there has been no reaction to this news by Greek Defense Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos. Two MPs from Independent Greeks party ask whether the Defense Minister had discussed with the Troika this issue and if he agrees with this proposal. PS After abolishing our money, they will also abolish our army? Because there is no money for a professional army.