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Greek PM to Merkel: 'we are making sacrifices'
Published: 8 Jan 13 12:59 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20130108-47207.html
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that his people were making "great sacrifices" to beat their debt crisis and restore confidence.
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"I would like to make clear from the start that our country is making an enormous effort, which goes hand-in-hand with great sacrifices, to get things on the right track," he said, flanked by the German leader.
"We are trying to win back credibility – credibility on the part of the peoples of Europe and on the part of the markets."
Samaras trumpeted a "series of systematic measures" to "guarantee that we do the best possible to put things right, above all to ensure liquidity, which is the life's blood of a healthy economy."
"Those are, together with investments, the two elements that are crucial for our country – a country that is truly suffering a lot, above all in the grips of unemployment, especially among young people," he said.
Merkel said she and Samaras would discuss what kind of headway Athens was making on putting its fiscal house in order, as well as challenges faced by Germany, Europe's top economy.
"I am interested in hearing about progress on the implementation of the Greek reform programme and on the other hand to report what kind of economic situation we in Germany expect because we too must do everything we can to ensure economic growth and thus job security," she said.
Merkel is a widely hated figure in Greece for championing painful budget cuts in exchange for European aid and faced sometimes violent protests during a visit to Athens in October to meet Samaras.
Last month, European Union leaders agreed to provide €49.1 billion in aid in return for more austerity measures.
Greece has already received €34.3 billion of this package and is poised to obtain another €9.2 billion at the end of this month if key fiscal reforms are carried out, followed by two more slices of €2.8 billion in February and March.
AFP/jcw
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Your comments about this article:
Germans, focus on priorities ie 55-60 years old people not finding jobs, low salaries (via temp agency and 400 euros jobs) and apartment costs impossible to be paid..
Read this op-ed in the NY Times by the journalist who will face trial for releasing the list of bank accounts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/opinion/greeces-rotten-oligarchy.html
One of the demands for further aid/bailouts should be a break up of media in Greece.
Unknowingly, the entry into the European Union (EU) was a long marathon for which Greece was not well prepared and well aware. It appears to be a longer march than expected. She is faltering and may lose the breath (and she is not the only one) at anytime since sacrifices are huge. Apparently, this community is not only economic : it is also cultural and some newly-member states were not completely prepared to this jump from their national system to an inter-states, international one. The move into (old )Europe was subjected to her rules; this means new member states had to cope with Europe's conditions of equilibrium and unconditional economic stability . The temptation was stronger than caution. It seems like the Greeks have not measured the distance of that long journey as member in the EU. The same way as an athlete during a long racing a handsome sunny day , or as a sprinter with little physical condition, Greece sprinted her best and as fast she could. But halfway, the hardship and tribulation of this craving marathon began to be felt, little by little Greece started lagging behind other member states. She tried to get up, continue walking but this was not so easy -it does not easy to traverse many miles after a brisk pace. Then Greece slowly was slumped to the ground. This is an illustration of the steps that Greece had crossed up to now. She can not get up without help from others the UE, which means huge sacrifices to other member states, namely Germany and France. However, the disappearance of Greece can hurt the credibility of the EU, it would spark free rein to the tensions which might disturb the political stability of the organization. And truly, Greece is making sacrifices. Reason why she needs to be supported to recover and carry on.
The Chancellor's One-Pronged approach is not a solution. It is a weapon.
You cannot cut wages, fire people, raise taxes, and claim a solution is imminent. You can only claim that the economy will be restored in 10 to 20 years, retire, wait for the economy to fix itself, then publish a memoir claiming credit for solving the problem.
The single-most read article on my blog is "Merkel's Last Stand"
The second? "The EuroCrats Trojan Plan--Destroy Greece"
I once stated that under Merkelism (An economic system based on the fear that someone, somewhere is earning a living.) Germany will be last in the line of dominoes to fall.
That China will now lift the world economy is a foregone conclusion.
For the American Market I wrote "Underestimating China Again"
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