The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in St. Petersburg to improve their relationships after the sanctions that Russia imposed on tourism and Turkish exports due to the deadly air fighter incident that took place last November, when Turkey took down a Russian fighter. Turkey’s approach towards a revival of a […]Turkey to let EU alone struggle with the migrant crisis while enhancing its economic ties with Russia instead?
August 10, 2016 by 1 Comment
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in St. Petersburg to improve their relationships after the sanctions that Russia imposed on tourism and Turkish exports due to the deadly air fighter incident that took place last November, when Turkey took down a Russian fighter. Turkey’s approach towards a revival of a […]Deutsche Bank: the next financial crisis is here and the lenders need €150 billion from taxpayers
July 14, 2016 by 1 Comment
Last Monday David Folkerts-Landau, the chief economist of Deutsche Bank, the ailing largest lender of Germany, in an interview with the prestigious newspaper ‘Die Welt’ stated that European banks must be subsidized with €150 billion in rescue money to recapitalize. Obviously, it will be the taxpayers to once more provide the capital the euro area […]The Brits are not an exception and that’s why they voted to leave
June 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The choice made by a bit more than half of the adult Britons to exit the European Union has already triggered financial and political turmoil. In a short while the direct impact on people’s lives will start to materialize. Let’s count the most important adverse effects: the financial markets turmoil, the international trade fallout, the […]Europe provides financial support to African countries while Turkey denies to change terrorism laws jeopardising the EU deal
June 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission convened yesterday in Strasbourg and announced its plans to create a Partnership Framework with third countries and particularly Africa in order to manage migration more effectively. This attempt comes after the EU-Turkey deal which aims at reducing the influx of immigrants coming to Europe via the Aegean Sea. It seems that the […]Another doomed EU attempt to interfere in Libya?
May 26, 2016 by 1 Comment
Last Monday, the Italian coastguard rescued a round number of 2,000 immigrants and refugees in the central Mediterranean off the Libyan waters. In those fifteen operations the Italian coastguard was aided by two ships of the country’s navy, another two ships operated by the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) […]Greece bailout programme: Full agreement after marathon negotiations on debt relief between IMF and Eurozone
May 25, 2016 by 1 Comment
The Finance ministers of the Eurozone met yesterday in Brussels to discuss mainly on the implementation of Greece’s ESM economic adjustment programme and have come to a final deal which will lead to the conclusion of the first review unlocking the second tranche of 10,3 billion euros. The Ministers gave a direct assignment to the […]Conflicting statistics and bad banks haunt the Eurozone
May 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week, Eurostat, the EU statistical service, released its flash estimate of the GDP of the first quarter of 2016, finding it, in both the Eurozone and the EU28, to be 0.5% bigger in comparison to the previous period. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GDP had also grown by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. Does […]EU readies for eventual annulment of the Turkish agreement on immigrants-refugees
May 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The highly possible collapse of the EU-Turkey agreement about the management of the refugee and immigrant flows in the Aegean Sea, has rang alarms in Brussels. Alexander Winterstein, the Deputy Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission denied the existence of a plan B, in case the Turks repudiate the pact which the just dismissed Prime […]Greek citizens to pay the price again but Tsipras risks losing next elections
May 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It was last Monday when the Eurogroup took place in Brussels to discuss about the Greek programme but no final decisions were made neither on the ESM’s programme first review nor on the debt relief. The Eurozone Finance Ministers decided though to come to an agreement at their next meeting on May 24, after the […]Tsipras doesn’t seem to have learned his “almost Grexit” lesson and Greece faces again financial and political dead end
May 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The teleconference of the EuroWorking Group which took place yesterday is the forerunner of the extraordinary meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Eurozone on May 9 where Greece’s programme review is about to be discussed. The outcome was, as expected, disappointing regarding the agreement between the two sides on the package of basic and […]No hard drivers in sight to remodel the stagnating affairs of the EU
April 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It’s a tautological statement to say that the euro area is an economy which barely moves ahead, towards producing more jobs and incomes for the tens of millions of the unemployed and materially deprived. However, it seems that it’s worse than that. Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, said it plainly in […]Can Greece’s devastating economy deal with the migration crisis?
April 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission’s assessment on the Action Plan where Greece describes how to cope with migration deficiencies regarding its external border control reveal that the Southern country has shown remarkable improvement but there are still many points that need to be addressed and improved. What is more, the Commission made clear on yesterday’s press release […]EU-Turkey deal on migrants kicked off but to who’s interest?
April 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Monday, 4 April, Greece and Turkey kicked off the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement. For migrants and refugees alike it foresees deportation from the Greek islands to Turkey, just some dangerous miles eastwards, over rough sea straights at times. Ankara is to receive from Brussels € 3+3 billion for that. During the past twelve […]Merkel had it her way with the refugees & immigrants but can Greece and Turkey deliver?
March 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Early in the morning of 7th March, ahead of the first meeting in the series of the latest traumatic gatherings of the 28 EU leaders with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, this newspaper argued that the EU had to prove on that day it could remain in one piece. This didn’t happen then. Last […]Migration crisis update: What are the chances of a fair deal at this EU Summit?
March 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Everyone in Europe is putting all his money for the migration crisis ‘gamble’ on the EU-Turkey summit taking place this week on March 17-18 in Brussels. The 28 EU leaders had a bit more than a week now since the last summit to evaluate the proposals of the Turkish side and return to the table of negotiations in order to make a […]Spending another 3 billion euros on Turkey feels better than admitting EU’s failure
March 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The migration summit which took place yesterday in Brussels between the 28 EU leaders and the Prime Minister of Turkey was a surprise. The reason is that Ahmet Davutoglou came to the meeting with specific proposals which are able to allow Turkey to take the upper hand and take advantage of the refugee crisis to better […]The EU has to prove it can remain one piece
March 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Today the European Union has to prove that it can solve its stalemate, which the immigrant and refugee flows from Asia and Africa have created. Some years ago nobody could imagine that an unseen before movement of people, could lead to the unraveling of the EU project. To deal with this problem, the 28 EU […]Migration crisis update: The “Habsburg Empire” comes back to life while EU loses control
February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It is today that Austria is arbitrarily hosting a Western Balkan counties migration meeting called “Managing Migration Together” where the Interior and Foreign ministers of seven countries (Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) have been invited to participate, with Greece, the main migrant gate, to be paradoxically excluded from the discussions. […]The Syrian knot cannot be cut without devastating consequences
February 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Brussels seems quite lost with what is happening now in Syria. The statement issued last Monday 15 February by the European High Representative Mogherini and Commissioner Stylianides on the atrocious and murderous attacks on hospitals and schools in Syria stands as an infallible witness to that. At this point in time, the foreign powers, regional or […]Failing to see reality or deceiving the masses? The EU about poverty and social exclusion
February 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Some six years ago the European Union set targets for an ambitious project called “The Europe 2020 Strategy”. Amongst other equally fallacious if not deceitful objectives, the leaders of the 28 EU member states undersigned the Commission’s proposal to “lift 20 million people out of poverty and social exclusion by 2020”. No need to say […]Migration crisis update: Greece could probably say goodbye to Schengen really soon
January 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It was two days ago when the European Commission’s draft report revealed “serious deficiencies” of the Greek government to comply with its obligations under the Schengen’s Agreement rules regarding the control of the migrant influx. If these suggestions are voted by the majority of the EU member states, then Greece will be given a 90 […]One more country to test the EU project: Kaczynski’s Poland
January 14, 2016 by 1 Comment
Poland, with a population of 40 million or 8% of the EU is not the land locked and Russia loving Hungary that Brussels may easily pretend doesn’t exist. The October electoral triumph of the Eurosceptic, if not anti-EU, Law and Justice party (PiS) under the extreme right wing politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a rampant populist, decisively […]The New Year 2016 will not be benevolent to Europe
January 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The year that just ended was rather nasty to the European Union and the New Year 2016 won’t be any better. The economic, financial and political problems culminated to the migration crisis in the second half of 2015, with Greece implicated in more than one of the abovementioned predicaments. The lagged reaction of Brussels to […]The three sins the EU committed in 2015
December 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During 2015, the year that now ends, the European Union has brought its well-known inability to manage the egocentric and centrifugal action of its major three nations (Britain, France and Germany) to new highs, a practice that has lately led to ineffectiveness and Euroscepticism. The EU cooperated this year with Britain, France and of course […]The 28 EU leaders unable to start a relevant debate on migration and Brexit
December 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The poor results of last week’s meeting of the 28 EU leaders are reflected in the triviality of the remarks by the Council President Donald Tusk, in summarizing the outcome of the 17 – 18 December gathering in Brussels. His most vivid comment was about the “hard work done and the extreme efficiency of the […]EU to manage external borders against the will of member states; Greece to be the first target
December 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday 15 December the European Commission adopted a groundbreaking proposal for the establishment of a powerful European Border and Coast Guard to ensure strong management of the Schengen area external borders and better administration of immigration flows. According to the Commission, this Guard should be able to intervene with or without the consent of […]Unemployment and immigrants haunt the EU; who can offer relief?
December 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
On Tuesday 1st December, Eurostat the EU statistical service reminded us all that in the euro area the October unemployment rate still remained in the double digit region with 10.7%. Understandably, this is the official percentage of people without a job, while the real unemployment rate may be double that, as this newspaper has proved, […]Germany objects to EU Commission’s plan for a Eurozone bank deposits insurance scheme but Berlin could go along
November 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday the European Commission aired a groundbreaking proposal, about the creation of a euro-area wide insurance scheme for bank deposits. In this way the European Banking Union will start having a meaning for the average European. It’s a plan for a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) which is meant to complete the Banking Union […]EU responds to terror fallout by eroding borderless Europe and molesting the refugees
November 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The very title of the Press release which the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union issued after its 20 November meeting, is quite indicative of the multiple fractures that the Union suffers after the terrorist attacks, which took place in Paris on 13 November 2015. The title reads as follows: “Conclusions […]Migration has set EU’s political clock ticking; the stagnating economy cannot help it and Turkey doesn’t cooperate
October 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The more action clauses a document of a Western Balkans-EU agreement contains, meant to “improve cooperation and step up consultation between the countries along the migration route”, the less cooperation there will be. That was the case last Sunday 25 October when 11 leaders of Balkan and EU countries met in Brussels. They knew very […]EU takes again positive action on migration crisis while Turkey asks for dear favors in exchange for cooperation
October 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A mini-summit took place in Brussels last weekend involving the Western Balkan countries and aiming at tackling the escalating migration crisis in the EU. The outcome was the promotion of a 17-point plan which aspires to tackle the issue. The problem that keeps on lingering though is whether the EU countries will look at the greater good of […]Why impoverishment and social exclusion grow in the EU; the affluent north also suffers
October 22, 2015 by 2 Comments
The European Union which mobilizes its warships to keep the flows of poor and destitute refugees and immigrants out of its supposedly prosperous interior, at the same is impotent to offer to its own citizens not a prosperous life but not even a secure economic and social environment. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service, […]Will the Greek economy ever come back to growth?
October 7, 2015 by 2 Comments
Eurozone’s Finance Ministers convened in Luxemburg two days ago and proposed that Greece should immediately focus on the necessary reforms in order to be able to cope with the third bailout programme. Both sides (creditors and Greece) agreed that Greece will have to implement the 48 prerequisites- measures that will unlock the next much needed tranche […]
