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Title: Greek elections: Tsipras declares victory, thanks voters for 'clear mandate'
Source:
CNN
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/20/europe/greece-elections/index.html
Published: Sep 21, 2015
Author: Jethro Mullen, Ivana Kottasova and Elind
Post Date: 2015-09-27 07:48:28 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 2077
Comments: 12
(CNN) A month after he resigned from his post as prime minister, a jubilant Alexis Tsipras declared victory in Greece's snap elections Sunday. Speaking to a crowd of cheering supporters in Athens, Tsipras said his Syriza party had been given a "clear mandate" at the polls. "This result does not belong to Syriza. This result belongs to the working classes of this country, the people who fight for a better tomorrow, who dream of a better tomorrow," Tsipras said, "and this is something that we will achieve through a lot of hard work." With more than 50% of votes counted, Syriza was emerging as a clear winner with 35.5% of the vote, according to preliminary elections results released by the Greek Interior Ministry. That would give Syriza 145 of the Greek Parliament's 300 seats. Panos Kammenos, the leader of the right-wing Independent Greeks party, told reporters that his party, which won 3.7% of the vote, would ally itself with Syriza to form a coalition. Together, they'd have enough seats to secure a majority in parliament. Even before the final vote tally was announced, one thing was clear: The economically frail country doesn't have time for a fresh round of political uncertainty. Athens needs a government to tackle its struggling economy, keep the bailout on track and try to deal with the challenge of thousands of migrants arriving on its shores. Unless a new government gets to work quickly, Greece risks being unable to get more money from Europe. That would leave it unable to pay 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion) it owes to the International Monetary Fund later this year. "Greece is not sustainable and the big issues are how far the program will go off track and how many eurozone members will join Germany in viewing missed targets as no longer a price worth paying," said Gabriel Sterne, the head of global macro research at Oxford Economics. The rescue agreed to in July with Europe -- worth up to 86 billion euros ($97 billion) -- prevented financial collapse and kept Greece in the euro. The leader of Greece's opposition New Democracy party, which had argued it was better qualified to implement the measures called for by the latest bailout, conceded defeat Sunday as preliminary results of snap elections came in. It was Syriza's leader, Tsipras, who accepted the terms of the new bailout, disappointing many of his left-wing supporters. Tsipras became Prime Minister after winning elections in January with pledges to get some of Greece's huge debt burden written off and roll back unpopular austerity measures. But he was eventually forced to back down as EU leaders refused to budge and the Greek economy sank deeper into the mire. After having to rely on opposition lawmakers to secure parliamentary approval for the rescue package, Tsipras resigned as Prime Minister last month and called for early elections. He said he wanted the Greek people's support to take the reform program forward. Regardless of the result, the IMF says Greece desperately needs "substantial" debt relief. Without it, the country may once again find itself unable to pay its bills in the long term. Europe has been unwilling to talk about that, saying the first review of Greece's economic reforms takes precedence. Meanwhile, Greece's economy remains in a fragile state after the chaos of the summer. Capital controls are still in place, its industrial base has shrunk, and unemployment has been hovering around 25%. "We've seen a big drop in economic sentiment; we've seen big drops in imports and exports, so there's likely to be a big slowdown in the economy," Raoul Ruparel, a director of Open Europe, told CNN. Greek GDP is expected to shrink by 2.3% this year and by 1.3% next year. And the disruption brought about by yet another round of voting isn't helping matters. "Nothing is happening in the political sphere and that means nothing can happen in reforming the economy," Ruparel said.CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Yasmin Amer, Vasco Cotovio and Isa Soares contributed to this report. Poster Comment: A week late but it's still news here at LF.
'Greece is not sustainable'
New bailout, new elections
Economy expected to shrink
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#1. To: cranky (#0)
I've been waiting all week for you to post some Greek news. It seems that Tsipras is more durable than some people thought.
Yes, you should memorize his name.
For all your sneering, I was correct about the outcome of the Greek elections. Not that that ever had any predictive effect for Teh Donald even though you were trying to pretend it did.
I don't understand why they are accepting those people in the first place?? BTA they are broke so probably can't get the military to leave base except for a night out in the cat houses... Wonder how long it will take before some of LFs resident Socialists show up to say the Greeks should have elected another far Left Wing leader???
Posting "maybe, maybe not" does not qualify you for Sage of the Year.
Tsipras is pretty much a commie anyway but doesn't call himself a communist. Greece still has a fairly strong Communist Party.
Yes, it does.
Greece has refused the American request to stop Russian overflights of military equipment and men to Syria. So, Syriza now has a path forward to get some hard currency in by way of Russia, making Greek airfields and ports available for Russian stopovers going into Syria. The EU can't push Greece too hard, or they risk the eastern gate of NATO. Greece has to keep playing the Russian card, but it is what gives them leverage to keep the entire discussion about finances and bank power. Because if the only thing on the table is financial power, the Gerrnan banks run the table. With geostrategic issues on Israel's border in play, Greece is the most important nation in Europe for the ISIS crisis, because Greece is the vector by which the Russians reach Syria. It's a very interesting game. Tsipras has met with Putin a couple of times. Things are moving on parallel tracks.
The EU can't push Greece too hard, or they risk the eastern gate of NATO. A rare perception of Tsipras as Greece's Blackmailer-In-Chief. And Greece can disrupt the rest of the EU by keeping the gateway to Europe open to all these migrants, an unsettling prospect as the hard reality of who and what these migrants are becomes apparent, especially in Germany and Sweden. It is very bold of Greece to take this direction in policy. I can't say they're wrong. To try to stop Tsipras and Greece might be a blow that finishes off the teetering EU. Tsipras seems a lot smarter and more devious than Merkel. And I think he still has some cards to play, with Putin for instance but also with other countries in the southeastern EU (Serbia, Hungary, etc.). Then there is the rising threat of the EU's various hard Right parties, evidenced recently by the upcoming show trial for Marie Le Pen over fairly innocuous remarks she made at a speech 4 years ago.
I myself don't think that the Greeks are particularly in the wrong about much of any of this. It isn't so much the EU that Greece's non-cooperation with the US puts into play, it is NATO. For Greece can choose to neither withdraw from the EU OR NATO, and yet still let the Russians fly over and maybe even refuel and use Greek bases. And the Russians can provide a stabilization fund to alleviate some Greek suffering - and they can do it intoning Orthodox brotherhood, and expressing concern about the Orthodox Syrians. The more the EU squeezes Greece economically, the more Greece opens to Russia. And if the Americans put pressure on Greece, the Russians have an incentive to up their financial aid to Greece - allowing Greece to turn to America and tell America to make the EU give them better terms. Which America may well do. NATO cannot shut Greek airspace, and cannot prevent the Greeks from opening Greek bases and ports to Russian supply visits and pass-throughs, or even (gasp) some naval basing there. Russia doesn't need Syria as a naval base if they have bases in Crete. Greece is a bit like Cuba, but with much greater leverage, because it is in two organizations, each of which loses if the other retaliates against the Greeks. It should be noted that the CHINESE have ALSO been sending ships into Tartus. Yes, the CHINESE. Greece is a gateway into Europe for CHINA also. The best thing that the Europeans could do is to write off most of the Greek debt and allow the Greeks, thereby, to return to prosperity quickly. Money regenerates quickly. Germany is still more populous and more productive, and after the pain of the haircut, Germany will remain at the economic peak nevertheless. Make it harder for Greece, and Greece has a strong incentive to ally with the Russians WITHOUT revoking their NATO Membership OR their EU Membership. Forcing NATO and the EU to placate the Greeks. The Greeks have already lost everything they can lose. They've been beaten down and humiliated by the Germans - but they did not give away the farm. And now, Greece is the most strategic of all EU countries, and has nothing to lose anymore by angering the EU - the EU has already humiliated the Greeks as far as the Greeks will go. It would be altogether fitting if NATO were to lose its Eastern gate and the Euro start to come apart because the secular West, unwilling to forgive the debts of some very poor and struggling people, end up causing the Greeks and Russian Orthodox to realize they are brothers, uniting them to save the Syrian Orthodox, and causing Syria, and then Lebanon, to become the forward bases of an Orthodox defense structure in the Middle East...which will result in the Americans losing their grip, and the Israelis now having a Russian presence they cannot control on their border...which EASES the threat to Israel, and causes the Israelis to become as friendly to the Russians as to the Americans. "Dice are rolling, the knives are out, I see every bad sign in the book and as far as they can, overweight to a man, they have that lean and hungry look." Juan Peron, from EVITA
I agree but I'm not too confident we can see all the factors in play here. Something pretty big is going on but we don't have some key information. I wouldn't go that far. But recall how many Israelis are Russian immigrants, the numbers of Russian Israelis that keep a foot in both countries, the warm relations that Bibi has tried, with some success, in winning favor with Putin (like holding out when Obama wanted Bibi to vote to condemn Russia over Crimea like all our other client states and Bibi pointedly refused and then cavorted in public with Pootie). So Russia and Israel are not so far apart these days. Much as with the Saudis, the Israelis are building bridges with powers that are not so fond of America anymore. It is debatable that our former loyal clients like Egypt and the Saudis actually like Israel better than they like America these days. And that is a profound change. The Russian deployment in Syria is certainly notable but the full extent of it isn't yet apparent. It is still a modest effort but Putin isn't going to cut and run. Having deployed, he is in it now and cannot easily withdraw.
#2. To: misterwhite (#0)
Well, should I memorize his name or not?
#3. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Kind of like your predictions about The Donald.
#4. To: TooConservative (#0)
and try to deal with the challenge of thousands of migrants arriving on its shores.
#5. To: TooConservative (#0)
#6. To: TooConservative, A K A Stone (#3)
"For all your sneering, I was correct about the outcome of the Greek elections."
#7. To: CZ82 (#5)
Wonder how long it will take before some of LFs resident Socialists show up to say the Greeks should have elected another far Left Wing leader???
#8. To: misterwhite (#6)
Posting "maybe, maybe not" does not qualify you for Sage of the Year.
#9. To: TooConservative (#0)
#10. To: Vicomte13, Pericles (#9)
So, Syriza now has a path forward to get some hard currency in by way of Russia, making Greek airfields and ports available for Russian stopovers going into Syria.
#11. To: TooConservative (#10)
#12. To: Vicomte13 (#11)
(Edited)
It isn't so much the EU that Greece's non-cooperation with the US puts into play, it is NATO.
It would be altogether fitting if NATO were to lose its Eastern gate and the Euro start to come apart because the secular West, unwilling to forgive the debts of some very poor and struggling people, end up causing the Greeks and Russian Orthodox to realize they are brothers, uniting them to save the Syrian Orthodox, and causing Syria, and then Lebanon, to become the forward bases of an Orthodox defense structure in the Middle East...which will result in the Americans losing their grip, and the Israelis now having a Russian presence they cannot control on their border...which EASES the threat to Israel, and causes the Israelis to become as friendly to the Russians as to the Americans.
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