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Eurogroup Humiliation Of Greece Complete: The Troika Is Coming Back To Athens
Having been shamed what seems like numerous times now by the Eurogroup in recent weeks, Greece suffered its greatest humiliation today. First, the farcical renaming of 'Troika' to 'Institutions' was summarily dismissed as "semantics," as France played good cop (asking for the group not to call it Troika) while Germany's bad-cop Schaeuble used the T-word four times in one interview. And second, Eurogroup chairman Dijsselbloem stated that "technical teams will begin considering Greek reform plans on Wednesday," adding that some of the negotiations will have to take place "in situ in Athens." So instead of discussing reforms with institutions in Brussels, the Varoufakis-defined "cabal of technocrats" Troika will be back on Greek soil to straighten out the nation.
Reuters explains that, despite the Eurogroup deciding to call the Troika "institutions"...
The Eurogroup now calls the troika "the institutions" and the talks will, formally at least, be based in Brussels. EU ministers say they do not want "semantics" to get in the way of negotiations intended to prevent Greece going bankrupt and potentially being forced to abandon the single currency.
Not everyone did... (as The Guardian notes)
Greek officials are not hiding their frustration at the reappearance of the dreaded word “Troika” in statements made by several euro zone finance ministers today, reports Helena Smith.
The German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, no less, used it four or five times - in what some are calling a deliberate act of spite.
To which the Greeks responded...
“Why couldn’t he just say institutions? We agreed on February 20th that there was no more Troika.”
And the French played peacekeeper...
"It's important to make the effort" of not speaking about the troika anymore, says Sapin.
Then things got even worse for the Greeks credibility...
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has previously insisted the "troika is finished," describing them as "a cabal of technocrats that used to enter ministries with power play that smacked of colonial attitude."
He was instead willing to discuss reforms with the institutions in Brussels, but as The Guardian reports today, European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas, stated some of the negotiations between Greek authorities and technical teams, aimed at fleshing out reforms, would have to take place "in situ in Athens."
As Dijsselbloem explains, The Eurogroup discussed the current review of the Greece's commitments under the existing arrangement. Ministers agreed that Greece and the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund would begin discussions on Wednesday (11 March), in Brussels.
Technical teams from the institutions will be welcome in Athens to support this process.
Greek FinMin Varoufakis stomped his feet a little... (as ekathimerini reports,)
"The idea of troika visits, comprising cabals of technocrats from the three institutions in lockstep walking into our ministries and trying to implement a program which has failed ... that is a thing of the past,"
Then folded...
"We will consult wherever possible but #Greece can't ask permission for every single thing" #Greece
* * *
So Troika is back with boots on the ground in Athens... austerity continues... and the country has 3 weeks or less cash until it is done... but apart from that - as Spain said this morning "I see no risk of Greek bankruptcy."
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Too funny and they didn't even get a kiss before the got Greeked
We will likely have to wait for the next Greek government to finally opt out of the EU and default on an unpayable debt. The existing set of clowns have already discredited themselves.
double
Blasphemy. Schäuble said "Troika". 4 or 5 times. Stone him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaORknS1Dk
strange love for a Russian word. perhaps Germany needs a law that forbids it's FinMin to utter foreign words?
but those are our times: bombs are dropped, artillery is used, and the one thing that makes blogospherians really mad is... words
They'll default in June, this year. Either that, or they'll end up in a civil war.
So on a Scale of 1 to Greece.. how f**ked are they?
Okay Greeks, stop your grinnin and drop your linen
At least, Caligula has not forced the Senators
wives and daughters into the brothels...,
Yet.
Or Caligula's Killing Machine shown in 1980 movie.
Flip 'em the bird and say "We're going Iceland". Just default. Just DO IT!
Really? Greece is bending over and going to take it again. You're cheering is like saying hit 'em in the dick harder with your asshole
I dunno, the ones in government are the ones rolling over, not the peeps.
This may not end well, for government workers ;-)
It's agonizing to watch. Guess I'll go back to watching the U.S. agony - seems like a better trance
I'm beginning to think the Greek businessmen and the Oligarchy above them was never to fond of the tax and spend government. They're consistently playing the middle. They don't want to leave the security of the EU but they don't want to pay the taxes required to rightfully stay. I think they hate their socialist Greek brothers as much as the Troika. If the Greek people aren't willing to have a REAL people's revolution that repudiates the EU debt AND the pensions and all the other goodies they disproportionately pay for, they'll wait for the whole thing to crack up.
At this point it seems if you're a producer in Greece both political powers want your money. Playing them against each other would seem to be the best option. Greece stays "functional" and you keep your own money. As long as you pay just enough taxes to keep the military paid you're relatively safe. The rank and file Greeks will never be a concern as long as they vote for Syzira while at the same time polling positive on remaining in the EU. And the Greek upper class know that as long as they can paper things over with new loans no one in the EU wants them to leave.
+1 for a comment that takes the perspective of the Greek People, which are of different opinions on their own governments or even the EU
Greece...
a nation of bitches...
why should anyone respect u when you have no self-respect....
fucking pathetic.
why don't you just default and get it over with, the suspense is killing me - well not really.
Troika is finished. Get used to it.
This whole story is created by the systemic media to turn voters against Syriza and give a reason fot the opposition to exist.
Hmm.. the promises of Syriza were never possible to keep anyway, so why vote them? Talking about reality..
Where's McMolotov?
So the Greeks went to their banks, made their withdrawls and then voted in Syriza.
I can't figure it out but its still funny as hell...lol.
Troika owned Greece from beginning of elections, all words about negotiations from both sides are pure bs
Yeah, agreed.
But only on paper ;-)
Honey Badger Don't Care.
There's no such thing as being just "a little" pregnant
Default, new currency, new cards, new game.
your best work
That movie has always given me the utter creeps and we've never even seen the whole thing.
"That movie has always given me the utter creeps"
Yes, me too. Abysmally bad movies that try to convey some "message" but end up just incomprehensible and boring tend to produce that sort of effect.
Some history to go with that image
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/03/08/the-hidden-history-of-the-incred...
The blood of nearly 100 Million Orthodox Christians calls from the grave (the article's numbers). Is the Eastern Orthodox Church just a tentacle of the Vatican now?
Time will tell.
Some circles will be broken. The words in red should carry forward into a new age, whether they were simply ink from a pen or not.
The guy w/o a mask is an undercover Bankster, and Agent by the name of BEN DOVER, or Double-O Naught (000).
I guess the new Greek FinMin will be Phil McCavity
Not sure why the govt is caving in. The Euro is a losing curency, the Greeks would be better off with rubles.
Humiliation is the price of a non-default default. Greece must show indignation but NEVER actually leave the Union, as the union is all that matters. The Union is power. Greece is broke and there is no way their debts will ever be repaid. Everyone knows it, so the game is to create agreements that are deliberately vague and impossible to verify. Its about having a default without calling it one. And the humiliation is the price, the disincentive for every other country to not follow suit. Which of course they will eventually....as they must.
WINNAH, WINNAH! Pick out a nice cupie doll for your girl friend there young man and don't forget to see the Bearded Lady before you leave, she's my Sister in Law and they need the dough.
A bit simplistic. The austerity is the disincentive to rack up unpayable debt. The humiliation is for attempting to stand up to the bully.
My point is that the most important thing to the EU is the Union and while everyone knows Greece cannot pay their debts, they cannot simply be allowed to default. Besides the financial costs to these markets through derivatives and such and its contagion to the markets, their greater risk is in presenting a viable option to the larger countries that are bankrupt and weak relief. That cannot be allowed to happen openly as default. No, their debt like Greece's, cannot be repaid, but they must present it as though it will be paid....at some time in the distant yet undetermined future at some vague and not yet determined interest cost and at some future but undisclosed haircut to potential investors. The humiliation is simply the price Greece must pay to allow this non default to occur. They must be made an example of for the way there nations.
It is always, as it has always been....can kicking. But the one thing it does do is create ever more dependency on a central bank and central governance to control it.....power to the previously weak and disorganized European Union....soon to require capitulation of all sovereign governments for the sake of economic survival that can only be provided by a single source of infinite fiat.
Maybe the EU plans to colonize Greece to contain the contagion, and isolate the impacts.
Seems like that's what they do when they bailed-in Cyprus...like Cyprus is a leper colony somewhere in the doldrums.
Detroited some folks.
Panic in Detroit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXxmIcsmpnQ
Varoufakis is now nothing but human lube for involuntary "greek" on the citizenry. So much for hope and change this time around.
ZH's sympathy for that nation of tax-evading low-productivity public-employees is as pathethic as Greeks requests in these days.
If Greeks had any pride they'd be churning out reforms at neckbreaking pace instead of complaining. Clueless A&Y should do what every great stateman does: win the elections on certain promises but once in power do what's best for the country without looking at consensus for the next elections.
Yes, it's pathetic but it fits so well into the ZH narrative. Never mind the Greeks elected a corrupt government one after the another for years. That they cheated themselves into the Euro, that they 'fix' numbers, that they threat with Jihadists and and and.. It's easier to blame everything on the Germans while it's actually Spain, Portugal and France who are afraid that the radical left or right is successfull and will topple them in the next elections.
There have been various studies pointing out Greece has churned out more reforms in such a short period of time than any country in modern history. You're just stupid is all.
yeah, sure, like the reform about tourist-snitches or cutting a couple of those hundred of thousands of public employees in excess just to have them back on Tsipras' first day. Nothing about corruption, nothing about tackling tax evasion for real, nothing about the education system, nothing about productivity, nothing of nothing... Just claims, pig-lipstick to appeal voters and to try to cheat the EU... Do you really think one could take this country seriously? Be thankful we still hand out money to avoid further misery... Greece has a clock ticking: they either become a European country soon or they'll become a third world one, the rest of the continent has run out of patience.
so all the new greek leadership has is to argue over the name of the group that's their big daddy and telling them what to do to get more funds? this is what the greek people wanted in office? greek's "new regime" is no different than the old regime except they started out talking tough but didn't follow through with any of it which is the same thing as not talking at all as actions are what matters. i'd like to see the greek people throw these lying bums out and give someone else a chance maybe they'll find someone, anyone that walks the talk.
Greeks will take in one more 199 billion tranche ... the default.....
think of it like working in an office...
bad enough when your boss calls you to his office and then proceeds to verbally smack you down - bad enough...
now imagine when the whole Human Resource department comes to see you at your work station and proceeds to shame you in front of all your co-workers....ahhhh, there's nothing like a little public humiliation to remind you who's The Boss !
Fuck Greece... in the Homeland aka USSA, we have to deal with a Tea Party and *fake conservatives* that never saw a war funding bill or spending bill they didn't like.
Is there any likelihood that Syriza are letting the Eurogroup show themselves for what they really are, in order for them (Syriza) to say to the Greek people "these Eurozone cunts don't give a fuck about the wishes of the Greek people, we've given them every opportunity to meet us half way, now that you see them for what they are, in your name we're now going to default"
Is there any chance that this is Syriza's strategy?
If Vlad was Greek, yes. Unfortunately...
Good at hand-to-hand and Judo...might wrastle up a few.
Interesting times.
That could be their strategy but either way there is going to be a lot of pain. Ths is always especially true for old people who thought they had a pension and are too old to work. Their government meds will be cut off and a lot will die. Their kids can and will leave for Europe or the states.
How much shit can a Eurozone State eat before taking the unavoidable decision of getting rid of the Euro? I'm deeply concerned about Italy.
Actually, Syriza does have a card to play.
Syriza said that it wanted to remain in the Euro before the election.
Syriza could decide that a referendum be put to the greek people, remain in the Euro or Grexit.
If the referendum said Grexit, then Syriza would be mandated to leave the Euro with the blessing of the Greek people. If the referendum said stay in the Euro, then so be it.
Syriza needs political cover now for whatever decision she makes.
Someone in the troika must surely have dug up something on syzria's leaders that caused the complete capitulation. Or of course a simple bribe. It was all too quick a turnaround.
They should take them as hostages when they arrive.
Fuck it, nothing else has worked.
Yes.
How they meet in Greece.
How many.
How protected.
It might shed some light on the Greek Situation.
The unfolding Cypriot bail-in blueprint.
The Greek "leaders" are either complete idiots or they are planning to get every Euro that they can out of the EU and then default.
Well, they gave a little hope and change. Hopium still seem to be working. Now reality sets in. Greek now like sheep still under the illusion that things will be fine while they are on the way to the slaughterhouse.
Troika's got everybody where they wanted. Debt is the force that drives Western society and controls it.
Firth of Fifth
Genesis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk0etBP5un8
The path is clear
Though no eyes can see
The course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men
The sheep remain inside their pen,
Though many times they've seen the way to leave.
He rides majestic
Past homes of men
Who care not or gaze with joy,
To see reflected there
The trees, the sky, the lily fair,
The scene of death is lying just below.
let's analyze...Sheep.
We dont pay taxes, we have a non-conforming goverment, we fight, we dont pay banks, we dont work hard, we dont really care about indexes and inflation.
You do all the above, have been and always will.
I rather see my self as a black sheep...it makes me feel better.
How do you see your self?
Let me give you a hint http://fbcoversking.com/follow-like-sheep-facebook-cover/
Are Greek women as attractive as Ukrainian women? I'm
Thinking German sex tourists will have their way with either but who wins the comparative advantage between the two failed states?
I can not answer the above question as I never had the Ukrainian experience and will be one-sided if I support my women.
What I can tell you is Greek men have a great ability to teach you all about Prostate Orgasm so if you ever come to my country please email me.
To say that the Greeks folded like a cheap tent would be an insult to cheap tents. What a bunch of gutless wonders. Did they really think that it would be a cake walk? How do these people look at themselves in the mirror. Or was there a nailgun on the negotiating table?
Well...it depends what time of the day we look at the mirror. Let me confirm to you that we are very cheap.
But my question to you is this...who is cheaper? Someone who fights and looses or someone who never fights and kneels all his life?
I tell you the answer....look at the mirror your self and you will see the second above.
Thank you for caring.
Some 72 new moons ago when all this started happening....we were told by the Germans (and the world media) that ..."Greeks had cooked their books for 30 years and got that many loans".
I thought...OMG we must be very good if we managed to fool Europe's financiers for 30 years. Pythagoras should be very proud of us.
Now I think we are also genius in fooling Europe's politicians.Pericles should be very proud too.
Yes...please come back to Athens...Humiliate us more, we love it.
When they say Troika, I assume there's like a planeload of EU bureaucrats landing in Greece. So they land, get in cars to go to their hotel, the bellboy opens the door to the cars, and no one is there. Like the Troika just disappeared. Everyone around is Greek and is playing the Dindu Nuttin card.
Next week, another planeload of bureaucrats and armed guards lands in Greece. Same thing happens.
"I love it when a knockout-gas-equipped-cars plan comes together," said Dr. Evilopoulos.