Greece will hold a referendum on a new European Union aid package intended to resolve the country's debt crisis, Prime Minister George Papandreou says.Don't get me wrong here: the Greeks have a debt crisis and someone has to do something about it. The Germans are rightly getting pissed off about paying gazillions into the EU so that the Southern nations can continue their siesta lifestyle, and it all had to come to an end. There is a debt to be paid, and whether it is paid in cash or in lost confidence is something that will have to be decided. But it seems that Mr Papandreou feels that the decision must be made by the Greek people.
Last week eurozone leaders agreed on a 100bn-euro loan (£86bn; $140bn) to Athens and a 50% debt write-off, in a effort to tackle the euro crisis.
But there have been large-scale protests in Greece against austerity measures demanded by the EU.
Mr Papandreou told a meeting of his governing Socialist party that Greek people would have the final say on the package, which is designed to reduce Greek debt by about 100bn euros.Nice that at least one Euopean leader feels that the people are the best judge of their own situation.
"The command of the Greek people will bind us", he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
And in other news, the second e-petition for a British referendum on the EU has reached 11,783 signatures.
Which will also be ignored.
I heard an interesting view from a Greek commentator: the Germans cleared out all the gold from the treasury of Greece when they invaded in WW2. Greece was forced to forgive that debt as part of the US plan to stabilize (western) Europe after the War. That reserve would now be worth over 95 billion euros. It's a funny old World.
ReplyDeleteWell, I didn't know that. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteTurkey's voting for Christmas?
ReplyDeleteTurkey's voting for something Islamic, surely.
ReplyDeleteTurkey still wants to join the EU!
ReplyDelete