John O’Donovan, Radio Producer, presenter and lecturer in media says that Greece now needs an election before any deal can be agreed.
After a victorious referendum result that saw the Greek people defeat an austerity deal by a clear mandate of 61%, Greece has now been bounced into what appears to be an even more swingeing bailout deal. The third bailout deal will keep Greece in the Eurozone, if it is passed in the Greek Parliament by Wednesday, but at a substantial cost to sovereignty and national autonomy. As part of the ‘agreement’ thrashed out in Brussels, Greece will be in receipt of an €86 billion bailout, but the condition at Germanys insistence that €50 billion worth of Greek state assets will be placed in a trust to directly pay down debts beggars belief. If reports are to be believed it is akin to the Aran Islands being offered up by the Irish state to placate the monolith that the power hungry European elite has now become.
The fact that Tsipras managed to convince ‘diplomats’ at the heart of Europe to manage the structure in Athens rather than in Luxembourg is of little concession to the Greek people. The revelation that the Luxembourg institution is a wholly owned subsidiary of German National Bank, KfW, that is chaired by Wolfgang Schauble, is truly distressing and highlights what sort of a Europe spearheaded by Germany that we are so called members of. The fact that this humiliation for Greece was averted is of little comfort for a Prime Minister, a Government and a nation that has been battered bruised and destroyed by a subversion of democracy and national sovereignty.
Whatever the outcome of the remainder of this week, surely the whole concept of the European Union project that purported to espouse values to avoid conflict and deliver social justice is now nothing more than an incoherent smokescreen that is only concerned with cruel and corrosive financial logic without any understanding of human suffering and democracy. The only realistic option now is for Alexis Tsipras to call a snap election and let the Greek people decide if they wish to agree to this extremely harsh deal. It is inconceivable that the Greek Parliament can pass these measures after the Greek people voted against measures that were less harsh in the recent referendum.
Alexis Tsipras today argued that, “We resisted demands for the transfer of state assets abroad and averted a banking collapse which had been meticulously planned.”, the fact that the EU planned the Greek banking collapse and it was averted through negotiation, says a lot about the European Unions approach to partnership amongst member states. Furthermore, what is most concerning for the Greek people awaiting the reopening and recapitalisation of their banks is the statement from the Euro Summit that, ‘The Euro Summit is aware that a rapid decision on a new programme is a condition to allow banks to reopen…The ECB/SSM will conduct a comprehensive assessment after the summer’, so what will this mean in practical terms?
We have seen demands for complete capitulation from Tsipras and his Government by the EU and the actions are nothing less than a Coup to overthrow a legally elected Government in Greece and a stripping of the countries national assets. There is a EU behavioural trend here, as Angela Merkel said the deal was ‘completely in line’ with other programmes agreed upon, such as the ones met with Ireland. What we can see from this simple statement is that the Irish Government was also bullied and berated into capitulating to the then imposed bailout terms or face fierce vindictiveness and financial ruin for the country. This is not to excuse the Irish Government of the time but rather to highlight the fact that this European Union project is beyond saving and it is only a matter of time before the smaller countries stand up to the European elites and cry stop.
The actions of Germany and their cohort in the kernel of European power have finally overstepped the mark by initiating a coup and an over throw of democratic principles. The people of Greece must now decide in fresh elections whether they want a Greek exit from the EU or if they want to their new Government to implement these vindictive new bailout terms.
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