Greece is a moving target. A new bail-out package in the wings? Being negotiated as these lines are going to print? An act of desperation? – Confusing for sure – for the electorate, for observers – but especially for the suffering every-day Greek. Almost hour by hour things are changing.
Greece will be in default with the € 1.6 billion payment due to the IMF mid-night Washington time (7:00h Athens, June 30). A last-minute, last ditch negotiation with Brussels for a new bail-out program has apparently been initiated by Athens. For two years. No amount has been mention – let alone the austerities that Greece would have to accept – or the troika would insist on – is known.
More debt – perhaps. A referendum is planned for 5 July. The Greek are to vote for or against something – is it the austerity program of the ‘old’ remaining ‘bailout’ of € 7.2 billion, that Brussels is now not paying out due to the impending default – a bailout that is no longer in the cards, if a new one would successfully see the light of the new day – 1 July1 2015? – or is it for or against the Euro? The latter one would be clear. And it would be a very tight vote.
The Greek people, with € 60/day withdrawal capacity from ATM machines – soon to be reduced to perhaps as low as € 30 per day – for how long? – have no clue what is going on. What the new ‘austerities’ are that Brussels – the troika – insists on.
A public relation information campaign – describing the austerities is totally lacking. The Greek people may be called to vote for something that is no longer relevant – if a new rescue package is being successfully negotiated during the current night, or until 5 July.
Aids to Mr. Tsipras have already hinted that the referendum may be withdrawn altogether. In the same breath however, Mr. Tsipras lets it be known that if the Greek vote ‘yes’ – for the austerity program, he may resign – that might bring the hegemon’s desired ‘regime change’. Then Mr. Tsipras would have given Washington a double-whammy, capitulation and a likely new neoliberal government. Wow!
But, wait a minute – how could he resign, if he is willing to negotiate with the Money Lords even more debt? Debt, that is is assumed the Greek people want, no matter what – as long as they stay in the Eurozone.
Greece is divided between the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ voters, between those who still support Alexis Tsipras, and those who are losing patience.
Why did Mr. Tsipras come up with the referendum idea five days after the non-payable due date for the € 1.6 billion? – Why not before the due date of 30 June 2015? In fact, if Brussels, in fact the notorious troika, doesn’t change its position – as of now that’s what it looks like – the referendum may be irrelevant anyway – there will be no more money, no more imposed austerity, other than the austerity already bleeding Greece to death.
Does Mr. Tsipras know that Vladimir Putin, or actually Gazprom, is just finalizing a Master Deal with Germany for a Nord Stream pipeline directly into Germany, avoiding not only Ukraine, but also all the Russia-hostile NATO countries?
Together with the South Stream project through Turkey and Greece, Europe could be supplied with all their energy needs for the foreseeable future; a much brighter future than waiting for Washington to find an alternative solution, while colonizing Europe.
The writing is on the wall – clearer than ever. Yet Mr. Tsipras is ready to commit suicide to hang on to a decaying system, to a sinking ship. Why? – The future for Greece and for Europe is clearly with the East – at least for now.
See also http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42263.htm .
Mr. Tsipras, give your fellow citizens a break – and a bright new beginning and future.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik News, the Voice of Russia / Ria Novosti, TeleSur, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution – Essays from the Resistance.
