Daily Archives: April 15, 2015

The government on Tuesday set out the basic axes of an emergency plan to deal with an increased influx of immigrants into the country.

The plan was announced by government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis following a meeting at the Maximos Mansion involving Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis, Alternate Citizens’ Protection Minister Yiannis Panousis, Alternate Immigration Policy Minister Tasia Christodoulopoulou as well as coast guard officials.

The plan — which includes many measures introduced by previous governments with limited success — foresees the transfer of all new arrivals from the Aegean islands to reception centers on mainland Greece, where they will be identified as undocumented immigrants or refugees and will undergo health tests. Syrian refugees will receive “all necessary documents immediately,” he said. Authorities will also push for migration to be tackled at a European level. “The refugee problem is international, not Greek,” Sakellaridis said. He stressed that most migrants arriving in Greece are fleeing war and deserve protection, echoing comments earlier by Christodoulopoulou.

The latter fueled widespread scorn on Tuesday when she claimed that migrants thronging the streets of central Athens are not homeless but “sunning themselves.” Her comments came as municipal authorities in Athens, where most migrants end up, said they were unable to host additional arrivals. Government sources said they would reach out to Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis for a solution. Christodoulopoulou said around 100,000 immigrants are expected to enter Greece this year, adding that most were refugees meriting protection. Her stance did not appear to be shared by Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who said Greece cannot handle an endless influx of migrants.

source:ekathimerini.com

The state’s debts to third parties, such as suppliers, are growing by the month, according to data released on Tuesday by the General State Accounting Office. In the year’s first couple of months the state’s unpaid dues were up 232 million euros on last December.

At the end of February the entities in the broader public sector, including social security funds, hospitals and local authorities, among others, had total expired obligations of 3.245 billion euros, compared to 3.013 billion at end-December.

The increase in February alone amounted to 146 million euros, and the situation is likely to deteriorate further given the cash crunch the government has been up against.

The general government’s primary surplus in the year to end-February amounted to 1.017 billion euros, compared to 3.17 billion euros in the same period last year. The general government debt is down 11.7 billion euros year-on-year, at 312.8 billion euros.

source:ekathimerini.com

As Greece’s cash reserves continue to dwindle, European officials indicated Tuesday that a lack of progress in negotiations between the Greek government and the country’s creditors meant it was unlikely a deal could be reached in time for a Eurogroup summit scheduled for April 24.

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told Germany’s Handelsblatt that next Friday’s Eurogroup in Riga, Latvia, will not approve aid for Greece. “There will only be a look at the progress in talks,” he said, adding that Athens should submit a list of updated reform proposals by April 20. The head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), Klaus Regling, struck a similar note in comments to Portuguese media, saying the government has not yet submitted a “coherent” list of proposals and noting that the country’s “liquidity buffers are becoming very, very small.”

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici also underlined that creditors were awaiting a list of “precise reforms” from Greece.

Greece appears to be far from fulfilling that demand, with officials said to be resisting calls for proposals on how to reduce spending, restart a stalled privatizations program and overhaul an overburdened pension system. Representatives of Greece’s creditors are said to be frustrated with what they regard as “unilateral actions” as most reforms the government has pushed into law, such as the poverty benefits which were detailed Tuesday, involve public spending. Labor Minister Panos Skourletis insisted Tuesday that Greece will not cut pensions while Alternate Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas indicated that value-added tax might be raised on some goods.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is to travel to Washington on Wednesday, where he is to have several important meetings, notably with US President Barack Obama on Thursday. On Friday, Varoufakis is to meet European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

The visit comes at a critical time for Greece as speculation that Greek authorities are preparing for snap elections or bankruptcy, and a eurozone exit, have dominated the foreign media.

ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot warned that a Greek default may have a contagion effect. “The already shaky liquidity position of Greek banks will worsen if deposits continue to flow out,” Knot said in the Dutch central bank’s semi-annual Financial Stability Report. “An unhoped-for bankruptcy of the government would heavily derail the Greek economy,” he said, adding that “the impact of such an event on other countries in the euro area is still uncertain.”

The EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Europe must show flexibility in dealing with the Greek debt crisis “not just out of a sense of solidarity but most of all for sake of the common interest.” “If one falls, the whole system falls, I’m very much convinced of that,” she said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier meanwhile advised against “frivolous” talk of a Greek eurozone exit.

source:ekathimerini.com