Posted on 02/01/2015 7:06:51 PM PST by Lorianne
The North European power structure has issued stern and inflexible warnings to Greece. Syriza’s triumphant radicals must pay the country’s debts and stick to the letter of the hated `Memorandum’ imposed by creditors.
If premier Alexis Tsipras breaches the terms of Greece’s EU-IMF Troika bail-out – signed by earlier leaders under duress, and deemed unjust in Athens – Europe will cut off €54bn of support for the Greek banking system and force the country out of the euro in short order. Europe must not yield to “blackmail,” said Germany’s ZEW institute.
Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, said the new Syriza government is bound by the contractual terms of Greece’s €245bn loan package from the Troika. “Elections change nothing. There are rules. We did whatever could be done to support Greece in difficult times, again and again," he said.
When the crisis first erupted in 2010, and re-erupted in 2012, Europe lacked a firewall. The conflagration threatened to spread instantly from Greece to Portugal, Ireland, and beyond.
This time Mr Schäuble thinks they are ready. “We face no risk of contagion, so nobody should think we can be put under pressure easily. We are relaxed,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Why? Greece obligated themselves and now they say they don’t want to pay???
I guess the debt was valid till a new Greece government took charge.
The longer the Germans and others wait to turn off the Euro spigot, the worse the eventual crash will be. Time to stop the insanity. I know the German workers/taxpayers must be growing weary of this give away.
So Greece begged for money and now they don’t want to pay?
A lot of Northern European politicians might lose election if Greece defaults.
They poured a LOT of money down the Greek hole.
I am of two minds on this. The Greeks down the years have been remarkably improvident with the public purse. However much of the “bailout” is not directed at “saving Greece” or helping Greeks in any way but at avoiding making those bankers, investors, bankers, other governments, oh, and did I mention bankers? foolish enough to have lent vast sums of money to improvident Greek government take a haircut on their bad investments. Should Greece repay its debts? Yes, but quite frankly, if you were stupid enough to lend money to Greece, you deserve to be paid back in new drachmas that start out nominally worth a Euro, and will promptly collapse in value down to a level that will make a Greek export and tourism economy based on cheap labor viable.
Thing is. Greece owes a lot of money to the European Union. Greece says it doesn’t want to pay it back, or, wants loans forgiven. Germany says, pay back the money you borrowed from our taxpayers. Greece says, thribbit ...
” The longer the Germans and others wait to turn off the Euro spigot, the worse the eventual crash will be. Time to stop the insanity. I know the German workers/taxpayers must be growing weary of this give away. “
Germany has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the EU.
I suspect we will see at least three nations leave before this is over.
That smirk on Ambrose’s face is growing again...he knows that SOMETHING is about to go down.
Kind of like saying in 1937 that the ascension of Hitler to Chancellor was a terrible mistake but getting rid of him would be an even bigger mistake.
They may try to sell us on the idea that the Euro is too big to fail, but I don’t think they will really have a choice. There is no one to bailout the whole system. Greece will go, others will follow, It will just accelerate.
I’m rooting for Greece to crash the EU! ... :-) ...
Maybe the U.K. should pour its own money to Grease instead of demanding that Germany and France do so.
I think this idea is part of the "economic" democracy rage that is sweeping the left these days. If you want something, just vote for those who promise what you want. Then, like magic, all your dreams will come true with somebody else picking up the tab for the whole party! It's really great! If EU goes along with it, Spain is lurking in the background with an order of magnitude larger list of things they want.
Let’s name anything a three letter “security”.
Round up and register illegals, Greece, and Cuba.
Name, the round up, a three letter acronym calling it a “security.” Then peddle the acronym as a “security.” Then as they fail , pass the ponzi scheme on, pockets full.
If you look back at 2008...when Iceland defaulted, they refused to pay. It was to the tune of roughly 85-to-90 billion dollars. Huge amount of hostility brewed for a year in Uk and Germany...but it did not matter...they refused to pay. Big losses throughout Europe and harsh times in Iceland for at least three years, then they just marched on.
I admit...Greece in heavier debt (probably over 300 billion dollars). Lot of private citizens who have cash in the bank within Greece will lose their capital in a matter of days. But I can envision the whole Icelandic scenario occurring here.
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