Greece updates November 6 -7 , 2013 - Another 24 Hour General Strike as the Troikans visit their Greek serfs once again demanding more blood , sweat and tears.....Golden Dawn Shootings - the murders of two Golden Dawn members caught on CCTV.......

November 7 items......

SYRIZA tests gov’t strength after ERT staff forced out A few hours after riot police removed employees of former public broadcaster ERT from the service’s headquarters in northeastern Athens in a pre-dawn raid, the political fallout from this action gathered pace as SYRIZA submitted a censure motion against the government. The leftists’ move means that a vote will be held in Parliament by midnight on Sunday, with the New Democracy-PASOK coalition hoping that its shaky five-seat majority will be enough to avoid its collapse. Already on Thursday, Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis appeared to cast doubt on whether his party, once part of the coalition, would back SYRIZA’s motion. DIMAR’s 14 MPs are due to meet on Friday to finalize their position. “The road to economic catastrophe and indignity for our people has to stop,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, linking the censure motion to Thursday’s events at ERT and the continuing austerity polices adopted by the government. His move caught Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his deputy, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, by surprise. After a quick phone call between the pair, it was decided that the coalition would use this as an opportunity to rally its MPs, some of whom had opposed over the last few days the government’s plans for a unified property tax. “He is essentially doing this to keep his party together,” said government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou, referring to differences between Tsipras’s stance on the single currency and the views of euroskeptics in his party. “He is not concerned that this deals a blow to the government at a time when it is negotiating with our lenders, on which all its attention should be focused.” Riot police raided ERT’s headquarters in Aghia Paraskevi shortly after 4 a.m. on Thursday and forced out around 50 former employees who had been inside. Four of the employees were detained for questioning but then released, according to police who fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered outside. There were no reports of widespread violence but two SYRIZA MPs, Christos Karayiannidis and Christos Mantas, complained of being beaten by police officers and sprayed with tear gas. The demonstrators regrouped after the police’s departure and continued a peaceful protest throughout the day with dismissed workers setting up equipment outside the ERT building to air a news broadcast. The decision to evacuate the ERT building, which has been occupied since the government closed down the broadcaster in June, was made 10 days ago, Kathimerini understands, though the green light for the police raid was given by Samaras following talks with Venizelos on Wednesday. Kedikoglou said the ERT building had been “under illegal occupation,” noting that the aim of the raid had been to “enforce the law and restore legality.” But SYRIZA MPs were furious, condemning the evacuation as “illegal” and “a coup.” Several coalition MPs countered that the raid had been overdue, noting that dismissed ERT staff have yet to receive their compensation due to the occupation. Deputy Culture Minister Pantelis Kapsis, who was tasked with overseeing ERT’s overhaul, said that a new permanent broadcaster, Nerit, will start operating early next year.

ekathimerini.com , Thursday November 7, 2013 (20:53)

Riot police removes former ERT employees from defunct state broadcaster's headquarters An Athens prosecutor ordered riot police officers to enter the headquarters of the now defunct state broadcaster ERT in the early hours of Thursday. According to early reports, riot police units asked former ERT employees who were broadcasting from the building to leave the premises in the northern suburb of Agia Paraskevi. Protesters subsequently gathered outside the building at 6 a.m. Traffic was interrupted on Mesogheion Avenue early on Thursday. “The battle for democracy and social justice which ERT workers have been fighting for more than four months, has reached its most crucial moment,” read a message on ERT's Facebook page calling for people to protest in solidarity. “It's time to act, rally now!” Reports suggested that four former ERT employees were detained by police for questioning. A group of 10 SYRIZA MPs who attempted to enter the premises were reportedly stopped by police forces. In comments made on Thursday, Pantelis Kapsis, the deputy minister for public radio and television denied knowledge of plans to raid the building, saying the operation was organized by the Ministry of Public Order. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said the operation marked “the end of an illegal occupation.” “The authorities have implemented the law,” Kedikoglou told Skai radio. The government's decision to close down the media network last June citing the need for cost-cutting measures due to the ongoing debt crisis drew international criticism, while a number of laid-off ERT employees continued to produce programs streamed online. Meanwhile, an interim network replacing ERT started broadcasts in July.

ekathimerini.com , Thursday November 7, 2013 (07:20) Athens journalists call three-hour work stoppage to protest ERT raid The Athens journalists union (ESIEA) called a 3-hour work stoppage from 3 p.m. on Thursday in protest at the police raid at the headquarters of the now defunct state broadcaster ERT earlier in the day. A rally will be held outside the premises at Aghia Paraskevi, north of Athens, at 4 p.m. Riot police stormed the building shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday and evicted dozens of fired journalists, ending a five-month sit-in against the broadcaster's closure. ekathimerini.com , Thursday November 7, 2013 (15:09) November 6 items .... Golden Dawn MPs, offices to have police protection again after deadly shooting The police guards removed from protecting Golden Dawn MPs and offices in September, in the wake of the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas by a member of the neo-Nazi party, are set to be reassigned to their earlier duties, sources have told Kathimerini. Police protection was taken away from the party on September 20, just three days after Fyssas was stabbed to death in southern Athens. This was part of a raft of measures, including the halting of state funding, that targeted the far-right group, whose leader and top MPs were arrested on suspicion of running a criminal organization. However, it appears that this protection will be brought back after two Golden Dawn members were murdered outside the party’s Neo Iraklio offices in northern Athens on Friday. A third man was seriously injured. It is expected that the party will ask in the next few days for police escorts to be brought back. on Wednesday, Golden Dawn MP Giorgos Germenis told police that his car was followed by two men on a white motorcycle on Tuesday night and that he drove to Parliament to protect himself. Police sources said that security at a number of potential targets for urban guerrillas is being stepped up following the Neo Iraklio shootings and this is likely to lead to Golden Dawn MPs getting their guards back. A senior police officer also told Kathimerini on Wednesday that the two gunmen are likely to have changed their clothes after the attack. Police believe that the assailants had a change of clothes in their motorcycle’s luggage rack, which they removed before dumping the bike for fear of leaving behind traces of their DNA. ekathimerini.com , Wednesday November 6, 2013 (21:44) Troika disputes sell-off target  TAIPED pledges to start all privatization projects by end-2014 By Vangelis Mandravelis Greece’s creditors cast doubt on Wednesday on the country’s target for privatization revenues next year during a meeting between the troika and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED). The agenda of the heavily charged meeting was dominated by the constant delays in the sell-off program, along with how this problem can be corrected. TAIPED officials spoke of a discussion on technical issues, but the inspectors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – known as the troika – remain unhappy with the delays noted to date and the new delays they can see coming. In July the two sides agreed that a series of sell-off projects (Public Power Corporation, the Hellenic Post, the Piraeus and Thessaloniki port authorities and others) would start in the third quarter of the year, but this has not been the case. Worse, it has become clear that they will not be starting any time soon either, thereby putting in doubt the target for revenues of 2.5 billion euros in 2014, which was set in December 2012. The only commitment TAIPED has made to the troika is that it will have started the procedure for the privatization of all state assets at its disposal, excluding real estate, by the end of next year. Consequently, all tenders for the sale of government holdings in corporations should have started by December 2014, although TAIPED refuses to commit itself regarding the exact date each process will be completed. Normally, each process takes around two years to complete. It does appear, however, that the politically sensitive privatizations of Hellenic Defense Systems (EAS) and the Hellenic Vehicle Industry (ELVO) have been taken out of TAIPED’s hands and returned to the Finance Ministry. Market sources are not ruling out the repetition of this pattern for other projects in which TAIPED has identified a major risk in the sell-off process or believes there will not be any satisfactory revenues. This is already the case for major highways, with the exception of Egnatia Odos. ekathimerini.com , Wednesday November 6, 2013 (22:49) Results of BlackRock stress tests on banks set for November 30 By Yiannis Papadoyiannis The countdown is on for the completion of the stress tests that BlackRock is conducting at domestic banks. On November 30 the US investment management firm is scheduled to deliver the final findings of its checks on lenders’ loan portfolios to the Bank of Greece (BoG), while a week later it will deliver the results for the loan portfolios of subsidiaries abroad. A BoG committee will then assess the capital base of each bank according to their restructuring plans along with future profits so as to determine the final capital requirements of each lender. The five-year restructuring plans for the 2013-17 period provide for considerable reductions in operating expenses through the curtailing of staff and branch networks, as well as sales of subsidiaries and other assets. The banks are set to collect significant funds of over 10 billion euros from their operating profits. The funds from the sale of assets, operating profits and the synergies to be created from the mergers completed, as well as the provisions banks have already made, will be deducted from their capital needs. BoG will announce the final capital requirements of each bank after the Christmas holidays. Senior bank officials have expressed optimism to Kathimerini regarding the outcome of the stress tests. They note that the biggest loss in the previous test came from the haircut on Greek state bonds, which will not apply this time, as the exposure of banks to Greek state bonds is next to zero following the completion of the PSI and the bond buyback. BlackRock’s worst-case scenario regarding the course of the economy provides for a 2.5 percent contraction in gross domestic product in 2014 – against an International Monetary Fund forecast for a 0.6 percent increase. For 2015, the scenario provides for a 0.5 percent GDP drop against an IMF forecast for growth of 2.95 percent, while the worst-case scenario for 2016 provides for 1 percent growth, against IMF expectations of a 3.74 percent increase. BlackRock will contrast its scenario with the IMF forecasts and determine the capital local banks will require to handle the increase in nonperforming loans. ekathimerini.com , Wednesday November 6, 2013 (23:00)

and....







http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/6-am-gmt-fear-in-greece-as-shock-new-poll-puts-golden-dawn-in-first-place/

6 am GMT: Fear in Greece as shock new poll puts Golden Dawn in first place

BY JOHN WARD NOVEMBER 6, 2013 FURTHER EXTREME POLITICAL MURDERS IN GREECE GOLDEN DAWN LEADING GREEK PARTY ON 22%OPEN CAFENION TALK OF CHAOS AND CIVIL WAR

A regular Slog source late last night furnished me with updated opinion/voting behaviour research carried out secretly by senior political players in Greece. Astonishingly, the study has the Far Right Golden Dawn Party in first place, followed closely by the Leftist Party Syriza.

As I predicted last month, the attempt by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to frame neo-Nazi Party Golden Dawn in the case of the murder of a young Leftist has backfired. The last poll from this source had GD in 2nd place. The Party has now taken over the top spot.

Between 25-29th of October, 1,423 Greeks were polled about their voting intentions. Golden Dawn scored 22%, followed very closely by Syriza. New Democracy (the governing Party in Coalition with PASOK) came a very poor third. Men and older respondents are significantly more likely to vote Golden Dawn than women and the young.

Two Golden Dawn members were murdered last week, after the Poll took place. It is likely that this will have strengthened rather than weakened sympathy among traditional Greeks for the Far Right Party.

The Slog has been travelling into, out of, and around Greece since last March. While I am surprised by the size of the Golden Dawn revival, I am not remotely surprised by the confrontation now boiling up between the Hard Left and the Hard Right. Middle class and skilled working class Greeks talk openly about the possibility of Civil War and/or a military putsch. Senior professional and other well-off Greeks still seem to be living in a bubble – as are the bureaucratic and political classes.

The country is heading towards a classic reversion to the extreme, caused by an economic crisis massively exacerbated by Brussels-am-Berlin austerity obsession. The support for Golden Dawn has jumped further since EC commissioner Olli Rehn admitted late last month that debt relief for Greece was to be delayed. The west European and US mainstream media may have lost interest in Greece, but they need to reverse that apathy with all speed.

Related Stories: from October 24th – Brussels lets Greece down, delays debt support until mid 2014

                           from October 17th – PASOK support collapses as Golden Dawn surges into 2nd place

                           from October 1st: Why Samaras turned on Golden Dawn

http://rt.com/business/greece-troika-creditors-austerity-298/

Cash-strapped Greece protests against further austerity

Published time: November 06, 2013 12:28

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Protesters shout slogans outside the Greek Finance Ministry during the meeting of the Greek Finance Minister with the EU and IMF officials in Athens, 2013. (AFP Photo/Aris Messinis)

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Public and private services have shut down across Greece as unions hold a 24-hour general strike against additional austerity cuts in the recession-plagued country. Protests are taking place as Athens holds talks with its ‘troika’ of creditors.

Wednesday's strike disrupted public transport, halted ferry and train services, shut down state-run schools and left state hospitals and the ambulance service functioning with emergency staff, the Associated Press reports.

Dozens of flights were cancelled or rescheduled as air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours from noon in support of the action.

"Workers, pensioners and the unemployed are going through an endless nightmare," Reuters quoted a port workers statement. "The government and the troika are destroying this country."

Protesters are pushed back from the riot police as EU and IMF officials escorted out from the emergency exit of the Greek Finance Ministry after their meeting with the Greek Finance Minister in Athens on November 5, 2013. (AFP Photo/Aris Messinis)

Greek labor unions fear the country will impose more wage and pension cuts to meet the terms of the bailout packages granted by the so–called ‘troika’ of international lenders – the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Another fear is more job cuts in the Greek public sector, as well as privatization.

Greece has been receiving ‘financial lifeline’ from international lenders since 2010, having secured the estimated $315 billion in loans. All this money was granted on strict terms that resulted in massive job cuts across Greece. Unemployment in the country has hit new record highs, with the latest figures at 27.6 percent, which means 1.37 million people out of a job.

A separate report by the country’s key statistics service ELSTAT said Greeks became about 40 percent poorer than 5 years ago, and the government austerity measures haven't produced promised growth.

Greece is still buried in sky-high debt that exceeds 160 percent of GDP. The inability to make a major turnaround and exit recession has prompted talks that the country might need a third bailout in 2014 of about $1.35 billion.

The protests in Greece take place at a time when Athens and ‘troika’ are trying to figure out the budget gap that needs to be filled. While Greece insists the shortfall is about 500 million euros and could be easily plugged, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has conceded creditors expect the gap to be five times as big.

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2013/11/05/in-other-greek-news-lets-talk-about-debts-and-troubles/

In other Greek news: let’s talk about debts and troubles…

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy

In other Greek news: The Troikans Poul Thomsen (IMF) and Matthias Morse (EU) had to leave the building of the Greek Finance Ministry from a back door. Cleaning personnel on “mobility scheme” and Development Ministry personnel protesting the dismissal of their colleagues had blocked the main entrance of the ministry and four elevators, they shouted and chanted anti-austerity and anti-Troika slogans in Greek and English like Troika Go Home.
Some protesters had taken place outside the office of Minister Yiannis Stournaras but the majority of them was lurking Thomsen & Co on the street. The lenders’ representative had no other way but to quickly hush in the car and slide from a back door of the ministry amid “boos” and “shoos” from the angry cleaning personnel
Video: booing the Troika
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KTG reporter on the spot claimed that Thomsen & Co were holding their breath in order to avoid been heard by the angry crowd. The claim is not being confirmed.
With protesters making an incredible noise, Greece’s lenders’ representatives talked with Stournaras on the usual stuff: privatizations, additional austerity measures of 2.8 billion euro, social security reform, taxes, taxes, taxes, lay-offs in the public sector and the demolition of Greek defense industries.
While the so-called “tough negotiation” with the Troika – which normally ends with Greece giving in and falling into the battle field – was taking place, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had already sent his determined message to the Troika:

PM Antonis Samaras: No new horizontal measures, no new pensions and wages cuts

In a rare television interview to private Mega TV, Samaras expressed his frustration with the country’s international lenders over the size of an expected fiscal gap next year, which the troika has said will be much larger than Athens anticipates.  “The troika had told us that it did not expect any fiscal issues in 2014… Now it is suddenly telling us that there are, while the economy is only doing better,” Samaras said.
Greece’ prime minister continued explaining the fiscal gaps, the real and fictious primary surpluses and all these nice things I am not able to write about because in the three and a half years of this blog,  all forecasts and predictions of the Troika and the past, current and future Greek governments end in driving the Greek ship straight to the rocks.
And while some Greeks were applauding the citizen who threw a handful of euro coins to IMF’s Thomsen, som other Greeks – students, in this case- were closing the office door of Education Minister with books.

In case you didn’t know there is immense trouble between Education Minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos on one side and university professors and personnel on dismissal and students on the other side. Yes, for many years, university and higher education teachers had built their little kingdoms in the higher education institutions of the country, but as usual the so-called ‘structural reforms’ in the debt-ridden country are not reforming at all, they are superficial and and up like an elephant in a porcelain shop. With lay-offs in personnel.
Nobody cares about health and education, or providing the citizens with adequate services. It’s all about cuts with a hammer.
In other Greek news today, “a selected unit of Financial Crimes Units (SDOE), will get access to private bank accounts and seize what the debtor owes to the state and tax office,” daily Eleftherotypia reported. Without warning, without cooperation with the banks.
Greek media reported today that the Greek economic authorities imposed a total of 17.3 billion euro in fines and penalties for taxation (14.6 billion euro) and customs violations (2.7 billion euro). Collected have been just 800 million euro. According to these reports, businesses and natural persons owe to the state 62 billion euro.
At the same time a gorgeous report comes from the European Commission. In it’s forecast report for 2014, it ‘sees’ for Greece growth of 0.6% (recession at 4%) and unemployment at 26% -from 27% in 2013.
PS 62 billion euro internal debt + 300something billion euro external debt? LOL

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2013/11/05/golden-dawn-shooting-murder-in-cold-blood-cctv-videos/

Golden Dawn shooting: murder in cold blood (cctv videos)

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

News website zougla.gr uploaded a video showing the shooting at Golden Dawn members last Friday. The footage is from a CCTV – a security camera – and shows the cold-blooded attack and left two young men dead and one seriously injured.

The gunman approached four men standing outside the Golden Dawn branch in Neo Iraklio suburb of Athens, and shoots.

On Tuesday evening Greek police released also another video, also footage from a CCTV, showing the gunmen approaching their victims, shooting at them and escaping the scene on a motorbike.
video via newsit.gr

On Friday evening, two gunmen on a motorcycle shot down Giorgos Fountoulis, 27, and Manos Kapelonis, 22,  outside the Golden Dawn offices in Neo Irakleio, suburb of northern-east Athens. Third victim, Alexandros Gerontas, 29, was severely injured. He is still being treated in a hospital.