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For example the statute of limitation for criminal cases 20-25 years for a citizen however for a
government official it’s the 2nd regular term after they have left office (which cant be less than 4
months but could be as little as 1.5 years) meaning hundreds of files are submitted to parliament
every 2 years with no procedure to look at them leading to institutional immunity for government
officials!
So why did this happen?
In short the private bond holders were rescued (especially banks) and not Greece. The rescue
package of 2010 (first loan) was to offer a safe emergency exit to private bond holders. The report
highlights that the IMF are liable for what happened to Greece and although the preliminary report
was sent out to all members of the EU no one put it to any use!
In 2015 Greece took another loan of 85 billion Euros in addition to the 325 billion Euros they
received before. They are now in 410 billion Euros in debt.
In context, that means that every baby born will owe 41,000 Euros when they are born!!
Extreme austerity measures have cut pensions to 44.4% below the poverty line. The Social Security
Bill means that self-employed professionals will be paying 80/90% in taxes and fees and going
forward pensions will drop to a flat rate of 384 Euros for everyone which is reckless and dangerous
at best when the poverty line sits at 780 euros!!!
Zoe was removed from being speaker of Parliament as she and 40 other SYRIZA MPs voted against
the measures and the group have been bullied and harassed since! The other MPs backed down and
chose themselves over their constituents which led them to stay in power. Zoe told us for a normal
person serving a position of power is like serving a prison sentence. Those still there now are in
charge of privatising what’s left of Greece’s services for example Pireaus Port.
The minister of maritime policy was seen as the left of the left of SYRIZA but he is now tendering for
the sale of the port. By having a left wing government do the EU’s dirty work it’s showing the
country there is no alternative which has helped in the disillusion of the people of Greece who saw
SYRIZA as a beacon of hope that completely u-turned and betrayed them. They do not understand
what has gone on behind the scenes to cause it.
Zoe told us Greece is not the first country to be blackmailed by the European Central Bank;
In Cyprus March 2013 they closed the banks and within 10 days had changed the Parliamentary
vote. In Greece they closed the banks and blackmailed the government.
In her opinion France and Germany are trying to pull away from the Treaties for their own gain.
She said what was happening to Greece was not a fatality but if there had been more people ready
to fight things would be different now – something other countries need to be prepared for!
Politics can be done differently you don’t have to just repeat bad politics!
Zoe is part of a group called European Level Initiatives who are actively looking into alternatives for
Europe and want to incorporate and include everyone who wants to be involved in a better
alternative Europe.
Refugee Crisis