鈥淕reece avoided another financial crisis by paying about 鈧500 million in wages to public sector workers, but suffered another downgrade of its credit rating,鈥 The Guardian on May 16.
The payment came with Greece's SYRIZA-led government, that is seeking to break with austerity, locked in difficult talks with its creditors. Greece is seeking to release 鈧7.2 billion in bailout funds to avoid a default and exit from the eurozone.
Alexis Tsipras
Greek prime minister and leader of Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Alexis Tsipras, released the statement below on April 20, which is abridged from
鈥淎 high-ranking official close to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the Greek government is not planning to give in to its creditors鈥 pressures and go against the program they had promised to the Greek people who brought them to power,鈥 on April 16. The comment came amid rising tensions between Greece's SYRIZA-led anti-austerity government and its creditors 鈥 the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on April 2 that his government would strengthen the country's public health system by the hiring of 4500 extra staff and abolishing a compulsory 鈧5 fee for treatment at public hospitals, that day.
The measure forms part of a broad package of reforms aimed at overhauling the country鈥檚 broken medical system by providing universal access to quality healthcare.
The Greek parliament has debated a proposal to establish a committee to investigate loan agreements between previous governments and international lenders, on March 31.
The motion, tabled by ruling anti-austerity party SYRIZA, would examine credit accords dating back to 2009 with organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank.
Greece demands Germany pay war reparations
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has proposed creating a joint commission of Greek and German experts to address the issue of World War II reparations, TeleSUR English said on March 23.
鈥淎thens wants to come to an agreement regarding the issue of reparations, we need to find a common denominator,鈥 Kotzias said. The foreign minister added that he prefers a political solution to the issue, rather than a legal one.
Greece鈥檚 parliament passed what it called a 鈥渉umanitarian crisis鈥 bill on March 18 in order to help the poorest sectors of its population.
In a move opposed by representatives from the European Union, the government of left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pushed for housing allowances and emergency food aid to people in need.
The parliamentary speaker in Greece's Chamber of Deputies Zoe Constantopoulou announced on March 17 the formation of a committee to audit the country鈥檚 public debt, that day.
Greek Member of the European Parliament Sofia Sakorafa and Belgian political scientist, public debt expert and spokesperson for the Committee to Abolish Third World Debt (CADTM) Eric Toussaint will be on the new committee.
Experience proves that left-wing movements can win government, but nevertheless not hold power. Democracy, in other words the exercise of power by the people and for the people, requires much more.
The problem is now being faced in Greece with with radical left party SYRIZA, which won elections in January. It will have to be faced in Spain if the new anti-austerity party Podemos wins November elections.
He is an economist, academic, poet, blogger, video game consultant, libertarian Marxist, motorbike rider and accidental fashion icon. Now he鈥檚 the holder of possibly the most difficult job in the world: Greece鈥檚 finance minister.
Meet Yanis Varoufakis, SYRIZA Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras鈥檚 right hand man and the key negotiator between Greece and its creditors.
In downtown Athens, Varoufakis is well liked among the public. He is the definitive cosmopolitan, self-made man who sees himself as a citizen of Europe as much as Greece.
Support for the Greek government headed by radical left party SYRIZA is growing, new polls show. The polls also found high support for SYRIZA's negotiations with its creditors, which secured a deal to extend its loans package by four months.
The deal came with significant concessions to the institutions that have imposed austerity on Greece, which led to strong criticisms from SYRIZA's Left Platform.
Greece鈥檚 new SYRIZA government submitted its list of proposed economic reforms to the Eurogroup (the finance ministers of eurozone nations) on February 23 as a precondition for its international creditors to approve a four-month loan extension. The deal was signed on February 20.
With Greece鈥檚 existing loan arrangement expiring on February 28 and bankruptcy looming, a last-minute deal was finally agreed after three weeks of intense negotiations. The talks had been characterised by daily 鈥 sometimes hourly 鈥 twists and turns, claims and counterclaims, leaks and threats.
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