EU Officials Agree to Bailout Greece

On Friday night, May 7, EU officials signed off on the package to aid Greece. The pack totals to $957 dollars, with $560 billion in loans, $76 billion under an existing lending program and $321 billion coming from the IMF.

Because of the reluctance and disunity shown by Germany and France, the total amount is much higher than what was expected. The E.U. Officials hope that the package will show the E.U.'s commitment to staying united and helping out countries in the union.

NY TIMES ARTICLE

Dogs involved in Greek Protests

(Image taken from Newsweek)

Above is an interesting slide show made by Newsweek showing how the protests in Greece have a history of involving not only aggressive human citizens, but also aggressive dogs.

Several of the dogs seem actively involved in the protests. In a photo from a November 2008 protest a dog looks like its staging a sit-in as it lies in front of the barrier between protesters and the official residence of the prime minister. The photo from a January 2009 commemoration March a dog is standing up to an official who is waving tear gas. In a photo of the most recent protests in April 2010 over the extreme austerity measures, a dog is seen barking at Greece authorities.

This slide show shows a different side of the Greek riots. It seems that everyone gets caught up in the rebellion, humans and canines alike.

Germany signs Greece Bailout

Germany approved its share of the Greece bailout on Monday, May 3. They have agreed to accept Greek bonds as collateral for loans despite fear of downgrades.

The cabinet approved up to 22.4 euros in loans for up to 3 years. The IMF and E.U. countries' rescue plan totals 110 billion euro. The plan is still subject to parliamentary approval, but the bill is expected to pass in all the E.U. countries by the end of the week.

VIDEO: Greece announcing Financial Bailout

IMF Terms for the Bailout

Greece has come to an agreement with the International monetary Fund to take on a new austerity plan in order to obtain financial assistance. This new austerity measure is expected to yield 23 billion Euro in pension overhauls, wage cuts, the abolition of bonuses paid civil servants and tax raises.

The cut of bonuses is estimated to produce 1.4 billion Euro, while the tax is expected to raise from 21-23%. Greek labor Unions responded to previous Austerity measures with violent strikes in Athens. Prime Minister George Papandreou met with the heads of business and labor groups to gain support for the measures, but they still believe they are unfair. The unions are planning a 24 hour nationwide strike for Wednesday.

Though the conditions are harsh this is seen as Greece's only way out. A Greek official told the Wall Street Journal, "This is the way the IMF works--if you want the money, you go by their terms."

EU suffers from Greece's Debt

(Image to the left from NY TIMES)
The European governments are being criticized for how they handled the debt crisis in Greece. Germany's reluctance to support the bailout has led to four month delays that have caused Greece's debt to spiral out of control and some say beyond repair. There is a fear that by the time a bailout plan is in effect, Greece might never be capable of paying back its loans to the countries that helped them.

The debt problem has begun to threaten other indebted countries in the E.U. and managed to lower the value of the Euro significantly. Spain and Portugal are already suffering from the Euro's diminishing value. The exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. dollar was 1.49-1 just five months ago, but has dropped to 1.22-1.

Greece, the Internet and Social Media

The best way to describe Greece's involvement with the internet and social media would be a steady growth. Though the country does not rank very high for total internet users(number 47 according to the CIA World Factbook with 4,253,000 users) their country does have a much smaller population compared to the higher ranking countries(Greece Pop.-11,237,094, USA Pop.-307,006,550). But still, in 2008 according to World Bank, World Development Indicators the percentage of internet users in Greece was only 43.1 percent. The graph above shows there was a stead growth in internet users from 1997-2008.

Greece's use of social media is limited because their presence on the internet is insignificant. In Sysomos' ranking of the top 17 countries on Twitter, Greece is not even mentioned. In 2008, Inside Facebook named Greece number 5 on the ranking of the Top 25 Fastest Growing countries on Facebook. This blog, which uses data taken from Facebook, has Greek ranked 26 in the Top 30 Countries with the most Facebook users in March 2010. This data shows a 100% growth from March 2009. With 2,611,420 Facebook users about half of Greece's internet users have a Facebook page.

(it was difficult to find credible sources for these statistics, I think it is because Greece's presence in social media is very limited.)

Volcano in Iceland Hurts Greece Economy

Iceland Volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted March 20, 2010 leading to ash clounds covering most of Europe during the end of March and early April. Like several other EU countries, Greece's tourism sector has taken a blow. Though most domestic flights in Greece continue to depart, all international flights have been halted because of safety concerns; the ash can supposedly do serious damage to aircraft engines.

Hundreds of flights destined for Athens were cancelled leading hotels in the capital city to have a severe drop in bookings. The most recent estimates say that the tourism sector income rate is supposed to drop between 6 and 8 percent. Aegean Airlines, the largest Greek Airline, said the cancelled flights are costing 600,000 euros per day, while their rival Olympic Air has been losing 400,000 per day.

Kathimerini Article

I.M.F. Bailout Conflicts for E.U.

The European Union is looking toward the International Monetary Fund (or I.M.F.) to bail Greece out of its financial crisis, but they are leery of appealing to this organization because it could hurt the pride of the EU. Countries such as Paris, firmly believe that Greece’s debt problem should be solved by European tax-payers. Whereas Germany does not want to bailout Greece and would rather turn to the I.M.F. Little can be done for Greece within Europe without Germany's help, so tensions are high between Paris and Germany. The United States has an important role in the I.M.F., so turning to this organization is seen as embarrassing to some members on the EU. They want Greece's debt problem to be solved within Europe and feel that reaching outside of it will lessen the credibility of the entire euro-zone.
NY Times Article

Greece on Reporters without Borders

Greece is ranked 35 on Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index 2009. The list consists of 175 countries, America ranking number 22, Denmark number 1 and in the last spot Eritrea number 175.

On Freedom House's Map of Press Freedom 2009, Greece is highlighted as FREE, one of 70 countries that are marked free out of 195.

Greece on Reporters without Borders

Press Freedom Index

Media Control in Greece

The Greek Constitution guarantees the Freedom of Expression for print media, but television, radio and film in Greece are regulated by the National Council for Radio and Television, or NCRTV. There are 87 newspapers in circulation, four public radio channels, around 150 satellite radio channels, and 2 digital television providers (NOVA, which runs the private channels, and ERT which runs the public). The two most dominant news agencies in the country are Athens News Agency and Macedonian. Concentration of ownership is near impossible in Greece because they practice a "two out of three" rule, in which one company cannot have ownership in more than two different mediums.

As seen in one of my previous posts, internet usage in Greece is very low, especially compared to usage in other EU countries. Though Greece's media does not have a large presence globally through the internet or other sources, the country is slowly trying to expand. In 1999, NOVA brought private television channels to Greece via satellite exposing Greece to global cultures, also, almost all of their newspaper's have a corresponding website. A goal for the country is to eventual expand their media into the Balkans and then to Eastern Europe.

Media Landscape

Conditional Aid Offer Extended to Greece

Germany and France have agreed to help Greece out of its financial crisis. A conditional offer to acquire 20-30 billion euro of debt has been extended; half of this debt will go to France and Germany and the other half to private market debt investors.

Greece's debt deficit is 12.7%, which is four times the limit of debt for European Union countries. In order to accept the aid, Greece must agree to lower their deficit by at least four percent by cutting public spending. This condition will require the country to cut spending by 64 billion euro. There have already been civil servant strikes in Athens over these spending cuts, and the protests are continuing. Civilians are not taking the wage freezes, tax increases or bonus cuts very lightly.

EU countries whose debt deficit increases over the 3% limit are supposed to be kicked out of the European Union. But decisions like these can have severe consequences for international relations, so it is better for fellow EU countries to lend a hand.

Internet Users in Greece--Access to Global Communication

Rank	Country	Internet Users
...
40	Hungary	5,873,000
41	Switzerland	5,739,000
42	Philippines	5,618,000
43	Chile	5,456,000
44	Denmark	4,579,000
45	Portugal	4,476,000
46	Finland	4,383,000
47	Greece	4,253,000
48	Sudan	4,200,000
49	South Africa	4,187,000
50	Hong Kong	4,124,000 FULL CIA WORLD FACTBOOK CHART

The above chart is a ranking of the total amount of people within a country which access the internet. As one can see, Greece ranks 47th within the top 50 nations. Greece ranks relatively low, when compared to fellow European Union countries. For example: Germany, 6th, United Kingdom, 7th, Italy, 14th, and Belgium, 34th. Furthermore, they rank lower than some non EU countries such as: China, 1st, United States, 2nd, India, 4th, and Iran, 17th. However they did fair better than some EU countries, Bulgaria, for example, was ranked significantly lower at 72nd.

This data provides us with insight on Greece's influence upon global news media when compared to other nations. Though Greece is a member of the EU and a relatively developed nation, they still have little presence on the internet when compared to other EU countries. With the internet being a dominant portal to global communication, Greece's lack of internet presence affects its influence over other nations, and other nations influence upon it. Perhaps this lack of influence has helped Greece preserve its rich culture and language.

Civil Servant Strikes

Civil Servants protested in Athens last week against the implications of their current financial crisis. Under the pressure of other European Union countries, Greece cut its budget deficit by freezing salaries and raising taxes hoping not to fall $28 billion dollars in debt in the next couple months. The protest, held by people employed in a civil service, was very mild considering the direct implications of these budget cuts. These citizens are frustrated that their income has to be compromised for this financial crisis that they did not cause. Implications such as the salary freezing and tax raising put upon the strikers will be beyond necessary to save the financial standing of the country unless another European Union country decides to help Greece out.

Though the other European countries say that they will aid Greece in order to protect the Euro, none of these countries have given any details as to what their bailout strategy will be. Germany, the European country with the best economic standing, is becoming more and more reluctant to come to Greece's side. Until a bailout plan is set in motion, Greece is left to fend for themselves.

Financial Crisis In Greece

Greece has recently made U.S. news concerning its current budget plan, extreme debt, and their implications on the euro. Greece's budget deficit reached 13 % of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2009, and plans to change that to 3% of GDP by 2012. This budget plan includes major spending cuts and boosting tax revenue. The dramatic change in financial planning has posed extreme concerns for the country's poor economy. With major spending cuts there can come a lack of growth, leading to lower tax revenue. Greece's financial crisis also has the potential to damage the status of the euro, the currency which it shares with several other European Union countries. The exchange rate of the euro is currently $1.377 , a low largely influenced by the crisis in Greece.

EU leaders are scheduled to meet tomorrow(2/11) and a bailout for Greece seems to be the primary concern. Both France and Germany are negotiating a budget plan to help resolve Greece's financial problems. Germany has suggested guarantees of loans, but no plan is set in stone just yet.

Unfortunately, many people in Greece have already been affected by the spending cuts. Schools, courts, and public offices have been closed due to striking of citizens.

Above is Greece's Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou announcing the new budget plan for the country.(photo from NY TIMES)

VIDEO: Greece announces financial crisis.

New York Times

Popular Television in Greece

Here are the websites of the popular private and public television networks in Greece. There are some schedules of TV programs and links to different media on the sites.

Private: NOVA

Public: ERT

Some Background Information about Greece

GREECE! No...not what your bacon is covered in. Greece is a beautiful European country filled with rich culture and a complex history.

Greece is also known as the Hellenic Republic, or to the people of Greece: Hellas. Its capital is Athens, and national language is Greek. Greece is a peninsula in southeastern Europe, surrounded by the Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Aegean Sea. The country is divided into thirteen peripheries: Attica, Central Greece, Central Macedonia, Crete, East Macedonia and Thrace, Epirus, Ionian Islands, North Aegean, Peloponnese, South Aegean, Thessaly, West Greece, West Macedonia, and a fourteenth autonomous area called Mount Athos.

Formerly apart of the Ottoman Empire, Greece won its independence in the Greek War of Independence in 1829. Today, Greece is a parliamentary republic. Leading the country is current president Karolos Papoulias, who was elected by the parliament. Though the position of president is mostly ceremonial, the majority of the power goes to the Prime Minister, the current one is George Papandreou. New Democracy and Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK are the two main political parties of the country.

Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and Homer are just four ancient Greeks who have changed the world forever. Philosophy, Literature, and Mythology dominate the Greek culture, and the work of Greek scholars has been taught and studied in most other countries.

Some of the most popular Greek Newspapers are Kathimerini, Eleutherotupia, and Naftemporiki. Some Greek newspapers available in English are Athens News, Macedonian Press Agency News, and Kathimerini.

Greece at Google Maps