The financial markets and Europe's politicians are starting to prepare for Greece's exit from the Eurozone, the business paper Hospodářské noviny writes:"While Eurozone representatives were still discussing Greece's future in the zone, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel only spoke of Athens staying in the EU. She made no mention of the Eurozone at all. Certainly, a Greek exit would create huge turbulence on the markets, but the Union is far better prepared for that now than it was two years ago. The politicians are thinking much more about how to deal with the consequences for Spain, Italy and Portugal than about keeping Athens in the Monetary Union at all costs. ... Of course, they are seeking the most politically and economically acceptable variant. But the current behaviour of the Greeks leads one to believe we'll have to buy drachmas for our next Greek holiday." (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Martin Jašminský
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Leaving the Eurozone could be very hard for Greece's crisis-ridden economy in the short term, but advantageous in the long term, writes the liberal business paper Financial Times: "The immediate consequences of Greece leaving or being forced out of the Eurozone would certainly be devastating. ... All existing contracts would need to be redenominated and renegotiated, creating financial chaos. Perhaps most politically devastating, fiscal austerity might actually need to intensify, since Greece still runs a primary deficit, which it would have to correct if EU and International Monetary Fund financing vanished. ... And that would set in motion a process of adjustment that would soon reorientate the economy and put it on a path of sustainable growth. In fact, Greek growth would probably surge, possibly for a prolonged period, if it adopted sensible policies to restore rapidly and sustain macroeconomic stability." (15/05/2012)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greece's exit from the Eurozone could drag Portugal, Ireland and Spain into the abyss, the liberal business paper Diário Económico fears: "By next month, Greece may already have left the Eurozone. The Germans seem to have had enough of the Greeks' stubbornness and are now willing to risk the split. They gladly pay to see this. And the central bankers, too, have already drawn up their emergency plans. … But no one can predict the far-reaching consequences if this Pandora's box is indeed opened. Will there be enough money to protect Portugal, Ireland and Spain? Or will we experience the domino effect that will put paid to the euro for good? Yesterday's plunging stock markets are proof of how jittery the markets are." (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Bruno Proença
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Euro Group chairman Jean-Claude Juncker wants to do "everything possible" to keep Greece in the Eurozone. A noble goal that entails many risks, writes the liberal daily La Stampa: "Europe would do well to think about the alternatives. … The EU has put Greece under too much pressure. … Now Germany and other advocates of austerity must show that Greece's threat to drag the other partners into the abyss if they don't open their purses is empty talk. They must put their cards on the table and say which specific measures they are willing to adopt for struggling countries. … Because otherwise the mounting pressure on the crisis countries will be exposed as merely a bluff. A conclusion that above all the financial markets are already leaning towards." (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Stefano Lepri
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

François Hollande takes over the French presidency from his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy today and will pay his first official visit to Chancellor Angela Merkel this evening. The two should show a spirit of compromise, writes the former French Minister for Europe Noëlle Lenoir in a commentary published by the liberal daily Sme: "Hollande's proposal was initially regarded as lèse-majesté against Germany. Now all European leaders ... agree on the need to revive the European economy. Merkel and Hollande will discuss the main question - how to spur economic growth without increasing public debt - on May 15 in Berlin. While Merkel opposes Hollande's proposal to create euro bonds with a view to financing industrial projects, they cannot afford to waste time in reassuring jittery markets with a message of cohesion. Merkel has already welcomed Hollande's ideas for a growth plan for Europe. Hollande, too, will have to make concessions." (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Noëlle Lenoir
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greek President Karolos Papoulias has proposed the formation of a government of experts as a solution to the government crisis in his country. He plans to meet all the party leaders today - with the exception of the leader of the fascists - to discuss this possibility. If the talks fail new elections on June 10 or 17 would likely be inevitable. This is precisely what the boss of the leftist alliance Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, is hoping for, writes the liberal daily Corriere del Ticino: "If it comes to new elections Greece could well end up in the hands of the radical Left, which according to the polls would gain ground and emerge as the strongest force in parliament. The prospect of an election victory strengthens the position of this party in a country where the political camps are at loggerheads over the austerity measures. This is why Tsipras is taking a gamble and insisting that any new government - be it a cabinet of technocrats or one that emerges from new elections - must annul the austerity programme and instead rely on a consistent bailout package from the European Community and the International Monetary Fund."   (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Gerardo Morina
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The social-democratic SPD emerged triumphant from Sunday's elections in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, while on the same weekend the local football team Borussia Dortmund also won the coveted DFB Pokal. The liberal daily NRC Handelsblad looks into the symbolism of these two victories: "The Pokal match was no normal game. For the impoverished Ruhr Area scoring 5-2 against Bayern München was like a revenge against demure Bavaria, which is so fond of giving economic lectures to the rest of Germany. Is it not high time that North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's biggest German state which has been paying for the reconstruction of eastern Germany for the past two decades while itself experiencing an economic decline, was given more free rein? This was the question both in Dortmund and in Düsseldorf. The SPD's election victory is first and foremost an expression of this sentiment. ... The voters in and around the Ruhr Area made it clear that new industrial and social dynamism can be more important than mere budget discipline. So democracy and the financial markets are at odds also in Europe's still rich north-west." (15/05/2012)

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In Spain, the protest of the "indignant" began on 15 May 2011 (15-M) with a major demonstration at Madrid's Puerta del Sol Square against the austerity policy and corruption in politics. To mark the anniversary of the protest, tens of thousands of demonstrators are once again gathering in Spanish cities. They want to regain their sovereignty as the people, and it is their legitimate right to do so, writes political scientist Ramón Cotarelo in the left-leaning daily Público: "Sovereignty rests with the people, not because the constitution says so but because this is the way it is regardless of what the constitution says. Of course it's better that the constitution recognises this, but even if it didn't it wouldn't mean that sovereignty rested with anyone other than the people. … The people can transfer this sovereignty to a representative institution, or if they believe that the institution is not fulfilling its role they can retrieve it. And this is precisely what spontaneous movements like 'Democracia Real Ya' [real democracy now'] and 15-M, which agree that they want to change the political, economic and social system in its totality and revise the social contract, are now doing." (14/05/2012)

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Who's saying what » The world protests

Europe's economy needs growth, but not at the expense of future generations, writes political scientist Claus Leggewie in the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, proposing a green growth pact for southern European countries: "Instead of strangling Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy with austerity dictates the EU could for example draw up a Marshall Plan for expanding renewable energy sources in Southern Europe and North Africa. What these countries need is public and private investments in new and sustainable infrastructures rather than repairs on existing energy and transport infrastructures or burrowing holes with job creation schemes only to fill them in again afterwards. … Political ecology must become the benchmark for the governments of both Germany and France. Chancellor Merkel has reiterated her commitment to climate protection and resource efficiency. Now, together with François Hollande and other partners of a 'coalition of the willing', she should develop this into a maxim for European development." (15/05/2012)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

According to a recent report by the European Commmission, Cyprus' public debt is constantly growing and could increase by seven points next year, amounting to 78 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The conservative daily Simerini writes that the Cypriot government needs to act quickly before the country is forced to resort to the EU bailout mechanism: "Greece is a classic example of what not to do. Because if no measures are taken those that eventually become necessary are even worse. And if Cyprus becomes a member of the EU bailout mechanism the troika will doggedly introduce the measures - in its own way and with its own weapons. The public sector employees should therefore themselves insist on preventing waste of public funds. … The old times are gone for good. Progress is no longer possible without reforms and budget discipline." (14/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Giannos Charalampidis
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The environmental organisation WWF published the Living Planet Report 2012 on Monday, according to which humanity is living above its means and overburdening the world's resources. If the countries of the North come off better in the report it's only because the burden is unequally distributed, writes the liberal-conservative daily Die Presse, and because "we've outsourced the dirty work to the South. And the people there are supposed to save the world for us out of gratitude, for example by conserving the big animals, the lions and the elephants that attack farmers and destroy their crops. Meanwhile if even a single bear from the South manages to show up here all of the efforts of the WWF won't help, although it does what it can. It does the same for the forests, whose destruction in the South occupies a central place in the report. But the people there also have to live somehow, something they once did in huge numbers: The Amazon, for example, wasn't a forest for the longest time. Until the European invasion it was fields and gardens, completely different from today. And it could play the same role once again, in a sustainable way. But for us the rain forests are a sacred grove: let the people in the South move into favelas!" (15/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Jürgen Langenbach

The Finnish Ministry of Justice plans to publish practically all the documents of the public prosecutors and the courts on the Internet in the next four years. The liberal daily Turun Sanomat points to potential problems with data protection: "Although decisions by the justice authorities are generally public the court can declare certain parts of them confidential. This is done for example to protect the identity of a victim of a crime. Creating clear public access criteria for all documents put on the Web is a prerequisite for setting up this database. The second challenge consists in ensuring that no confidential information of a personal nature inadvertently slips through the net - as happened a while ago in the case of a sexual crime tried before a court in Turku. It is to be hoped that the database won't end up becoming a snooping oasis where everyday surfers can find out about their neighbour's misdemeanours. Preventing this is easier said than done." (15/05/2012)

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Lithuania commemorates today the 40th anniversary of the death of Romas Kalanta, who set himself alight after calling out "Freedom for Lithuania!" at nineteen years of age. Kalanta's act of protest has an extraordinary symbolic significance for Lithuanians, writes the liberal daily Lietuvos rytas: "Kalanta's sacrifice was an inspiration to the entire young generation that later formed the Sajūdis freedom movement, whose members stopped the tanks with their bare hands in 1991 and so defended Lithuania's right to freedom. The act is also a striking historical example of how one person can shake a seemingly invincible empire to its very core. The KGB archives that have since been made accessible show that Kalanta's self-immolation and the resulting demonstrations and popular resistance to the militia and the army were hugely unsettling to the occupation government." (15/05/2012)

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