The wreckage of a Turkish jet shot down by Syria has been located in Syrian waters, but the search continues for two pilots.
It comes as Nato agreed to a request from Turkey for an emergency meeting of member states on Tuesday to discuss its response to the incident.
The jet was shot down over the Mediterranean on Friday, about eight miles from the Syrian coast.
Turkey's foreign minister has claimed the plane was hit without warning in international airspace. Ahmet Davutoglu said the F4 Phantom jet momentarily strayed into Syrian airspace - but was not on a spying mission. He said the plane was unarmed and had no "covert mission related to Syria," and was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities. Syria has said its action was "not an attack", but took down the plane because it violated its airspace.
While Mr Davutoglu admitted the plane had entered Syrian airspace by mistake, he asserted it was shot down in "international airspace" several minutes after it left, and without warning. Mr Davutoglu told state TV: "According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria. "The plane did not show any sign of hostility toward Syria and was shot down about 15 minutes after having momentarily violated Syrian airspace."
The minister said there was no warning from Syria before it shot down the plane, adding: "The Syrians knew full well that it was a Turkish military plane and the nature of its mission."
Tensions have been growing between the neighbouring countries since the incident on Friday, with the international community urging both nations to exercise restraint. Mr Davutoglu said he would present the incident formally to the Nato military alliance under article four of its founding treaty. The article provides for states to "consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened".
It stops short of the explicit mention of possible armed responses cited in article five.
Turkey has taken in more than 30,000 refugees who have fled the violence in Syria and the year-long uprising against President Bashar al Assad. British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned Syria's shooting down of the plane as "an outrageous act".
"This deplorable incident underlines the urgent need to find a solution to the current crisis in Syria in order to bring an end to the violence and to achieve a genuine political transition," he said.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
Monday, June 25, 2012
'Close to death, his wife by his side': Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak taken off life support but still critical after being declared 'clinically dead' by his doctors
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived for his trial in Cairo, Egypt, lying in a hospital bed earlier this month because of his poor health
Ousted: Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison on June 2 for failing to stop the killing of civilians during last year's protest against his 30 year rule
Protest: Egyptians gathered to demonstrate in Tahrir Square last week in the run up to the election
Results of Egypt's presidential election were delayed last night, stoking fresh tensions in the country.
It appears two candidates claim to have been victorious in last weekend's poll.
Egyptians went to the polls to choose a replacement for Hosni Mubarak, who was said to be fighting for his life in hospital. He was ousted in an Arab Spring uprising last year.
Mubarak, who is said to have suffered a series of strokes, was jailed for life on June 2 for his role in the deaths of protesters during the demonstrations which swept him from power.
The leading election candidates were the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy and Ahmed Shafik, a former air force commander who was Mubarak's last prime minister.
'We cannot say when the election results will be announced because we are listening to the representatives,' said presidential elections committee judge Hatem Bagato.
The review involved 'looking at records and logs related to the electoral process'.
A delay to the results risks prolonging uncertainty and stoking tensions when it is unclear how big a role the military will play in leading Egypt.
Omar Salama, a legal adviser and member of the election committee's secretariat, said Morsy had filed more than 150 complaints against Shafik.
The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said Shafik had submitted 221 complaints about the results.
Reports had suggested 84-year-old Mubarak was on life support and might even be clinically dead. But yesterday he was said officially to be critical but conscious and stable.
He was transferred to a military hospital from the Cairo prison hospital where he has been kept since his June 2 conviction and sentencing for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising.
The state news agency Mena said Mubarak was ‘clinically dead’ when he arrived at the hospital and that doctors used a defibrillator on him several times. It initially said the efforts were not successful.
His wife Suzanne was by his side in the Nile-side hospital in Maadi, a suburb just south of Cairo.
Security officials said a team of 15 doctors, including heart, blood and brain specialists, was supervising the condition of Mubarak, who needed help with his breathing.
Mubarak was convicted of failing to prevent the killing of some 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising that forced him out of office on February 11, 2011.
He and his two sons, onetime heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were acquitted of corruption charges.
But the two sons are held in Torah awaiting trial on charges of insider trading.
The two were by their father's side at the Torah prison hospital, but the officials said prison authorities refused their request to accompany him to the Maadi military hospital.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
The Muslim Brotherhood Victory: A Seismic Shift in the Middle East
By Chris Mitchell The victory today by Mohammed Mursi represents a seismic shift in the Middle East. Now a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic organization that has spawned most of the terror groups in the world—including Hamas—is the leader of the largest and most influential Arab nation in the Middle East.
While Mursi said he would govern with "moderate Islamic references," it's important to remember the creed of the Muslim Brotherhood:
"Allah is our objective; the Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations."
During Mursi's campaign, he also attended a rally at which Sheik Safawat Higzazi rallied the crowd in a chant to liberate Gaza and make Jerusalem the capital of Egypt. Here's an excerpt from a MEMRI translation:
"Brandish your weapons... Say your prayers... And pray to the Lord. From the eyes of all Jews... Come on, you lovers of martyrdom... Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews. Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas. Indeed, all the lovers of martyrdom are Hamas. I say from this podium, from al-Mahalla, from the heart of the Delta, the heart of Egypt, so that the whole world may hear. We say it loud and clear: Yes, Jerusalem is our goal. We shall pray in Jerusalem, or else we shall die as martyrs on its threshold.”
A number of huge questions remain following Mursi's victory:What will the consequences be for Israel? Is the more than 30 year peace treaty in jeopardy?
Will the Muslim Brotherhood confront the military, the current de facto power in Egypt?
What will be the fate of the millions of Coptic and evangelical Christians in Egypt?
Will women's and minorities rights be tolerated?
These questions remain and for now the scenes of jubilation from the Muslim Brotherhood crowd in Tahrir Square have gone around the world. But many, many Egyptians are deeply troubled. Here's how one Egyptian now living in the West expressed his feelings:
“Muhammad Mursi of Muslin Brotherhood won the election in Egypt. Today the true democracy dies in Egypt, may the Lord have mercy over the minority in Egypt, today human rights dies in the Middle East, I lost my country twice, the day that I left and today.”
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
The president of the EU, Herman Van Rompuy, is to unveil a Banking Union Plan
European Union president, Herman Van Rompuy, hopes to unveil a proposal for a banking union at this week crunch EU leaders' summit.
Herman Van Rompuy sees banking union as key to breaking the link between bank risk and sovereign debt
A banking union would be the first step in a long-term roadmap to political union that he will outline to EU leaders, with dates and institutional problems such as treaty change set out by year's end.
"Banking union is a fundamental element," he told German paper Welt am Sonntag, in an interview published on Sunday. "I think we can move forward there more quickly than in other areas."
The success of his plan depends on whether EU leaders can overcome opposition to increasing the role of the European Central Bank. The ECB and Germany are opposed to increasing the role of the central bank to allow it become a lender of
last resort and underwrite the sovereign debt of eurozone countries.
Pressure for a banking union has increased in recent week after a rise in Spanish borrowing costs threatened the eurozone's fourth-largest economy and forced the country to seek help from its euro partners to prop up its ailing banks.
Spain is expected to make a formal request for €100bn of aid for its banks on Monday.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, warned last week that the eurozone is under "acute stress" and at risk of a downward spiral. She urged the eurozone to channel aid directly to struggling banks rather than via governments.
Mr Van Rompuy, who said recently the eurozone stood "at the edge of a cliff" with "a knife at its throat", told German paper Welt am Sonntag on Sunday: "Banking union is a fundamental element. I think we can move forward there more quickly than in other areas."
Proposals for a 'banking union' are expected to include a joint deposit guarantee scheme and a fund to wind down failing banks.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the EU rescue funds to cap the bond yields of countries vulnerable to contagion, or to recapitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states.
"Each country wants to help but if I am going to call on taxpayers in Germany, I must have guarantees that all is under control. Responsibility and control go hand in hand," she said after a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome.
"If I give moneystriaght to Spanish banks, I can't control what they do. That is how the treaties are written," she said.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Turkey goes to NATO over plane it says Syria downed in international airspace
Foreign minister says Ankara will take incident to NATO and dismisses Syria's claim it did not know plane was Turkish.Ahmet Davutoglu says the Turkish jet entered Syrian airspace but quickly left, and was then shot down without warning by Syrian forces.
NATO is to meet on Tuesday at Turkey's request following the shooting down of one of its warplanes by Syria in what it says was international airspace.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said Ankara would formally present the incident to its Nato allies to prepare a response under article four of the organisation's founding treaty.
The article provides for states to "consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened". It stops short of the explicit mention of possible armed responses cited in article five.
Turkish media reported on Sunday that the wreckage of the downed plane was found in the Mediterranean sea at a 1,000-metre depth. Turkey has filed an official protest to Syria about shooting down.
Davutoglu told the state broadcaster TRT on Sunday that the plane had entered Syrian airspace but quickly left when warned by Turkey and was shot down in international airspace several minutes later.
He said the plane was clearly marked as Turkish, dismissing Syria's earlier statement that it had not known the plane belonged to Turkey, and that it was shot down over Syrian airspace. He said it was on a training flight to test Tur
key's radar capabilities and had no "covert mission related to Syria".
Turkey's president, Abdullah Gül, said on Saturday that it was "routine" for jets flying at high speeds to violate other countries' air spaces for short periods of time.
A statement by the Syrian military said the Turkish plane was flying low 1km off the Syrian coast when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. The plane fell in Syrian waters seven miles west of the village of Um al-Touyour.
In a telephone interview with Turkish TV news channel A Haber on Saturday, Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the incident was "not an attack".
"An unidentified object entered our airspace and unfortunately as a result it was brought down. It was understood only later that it was a Turkish plane," A Haber quoted Makdissi in a translation of the interview. "There was no hostile act against
Turkey whatsoever. It was just an act of defence for our sovereignty."
The Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, urged Turkey and Syria late on Saturday to show restraint over the incident, his ministry said.
In a telephone conversation with Davutoglu, Salehi said he hoped the two sides would "settle the issue peacefully to maintain regional stability", said a statement on the Iranian foreign ministry's website.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, said the "outrageous" act underlined the need for Assad's regime to go. "My thoughts and sympathies are with the families and friends of the missing Turkish pilots. I have made clear to Foreign Minister Davutoglu the UK's strong support for the Turkish government at this difficult time," he said in a statement.
"The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behaviour. The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the United Nations security council."
Turkey has been one of the Syrian regime's most ardent critics over its brutal domestic crackdown and the incident threatens to add a new international dimension to the internal revolt against the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
With the second biggest army in Nato, and 30 years of experience fighting Kurdish rebels, Turkey would be a formidable foe for the Syrian army, which is already struggling to contain the 16-month-old revolt.
Ankara, which had drawn close to Syria before the uprising against Assad, turned against the Syrian leader when he responded violently to pro-democracy protests inspired by popular upheavals elsewhere in the Arab world. Turkey now gives refuge to the rebel Free Syrian Army on its frontier with Syria.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
ITALIAN PM WARNS EUROPE FACES APOCALYPTIC CONSEQUENCES: “We have a week to save the euro”
"Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, has warned of the apocalyptic consequences of failure at next week's summit of EU leaders, outlining a potential death spiral that could threaten the political and economic future of Europe," reports the UK Guardian. "The Italian leader is to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the French president, François Hollande, and Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, in the hope that the single currency's big four countries can pave the way for a breakthrough at next week's meeting. Speaking to the Guardian and a group of leading European newspapers, Monti said that, without a successful outcome at the summit, 'there would be progressively greater speculative attacks on individual countries, with harassment of the weaker countries.' The attacks would be focused not only on those who had failed to respect EU guidelines, but also on those like Italy, which he said had abided by the rules 'but which carry with them from the past a high debt.' Monti warned: 'A large part of Europe would find itself having to continue to put up with very high interest rates that would then impact on the states and also indirectly on firms. This is the direct opposite of what is needed for economic growth.' Outlining the result of a failure at the talks, Monti said that, faced with creeping economic paralysis, 'the frustration of the public towards Europe would grow,' creating a vicious circle."
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
RUSSIA, IRAN, SYRIA, CHINA TO HOLD MASSIVE WAR GAME: Echoes of Bible prophecy?
By Joel Rosenberg"Iran, Russia, China and Syria will hold the Middle East's largest ever war game, Iranian news outlets reported quoting unnamed sources," reports the Jerusalem Post. "According to the report, 90,000 troops, 400 warplanes and 1,000 tanks from the four countries will take part in land and sea exercises. The war games will feature Russian atomic submarines, according to Iranian media, as well as warships, aircraft carriers and mine-clearing destroyers. Semi-official Iranian FARS news agency stated that the exercise was being planned in coordination with Egypt, which recently acceded to grant the passage of 12 Chinese warships through the Suez Canal. The report stated that the Chinese naval convoy is due to dock in Syrian harbors within the next two weeks. Regarding the timing of the planned exercise, FARS quoted unnamed Syrian officials as saying the war game would be held 'soon'...."
The story is particularly intriguing -- and disturbing -- in light of Bible prophecies in Ezekiel 38-39 that indicate a Russian-Iranian military alliance will develop in the "last days" to attack the nation of Israel. While it remains too early to know for certain if the "War of Gog and Magog" prophecies are going to be fulfilled in the near future, geopolitical trends in recent years and even in recent months have been curiously consistent with the ancient Biblical text. A militaristic Czar -- Vladimir Putin -- has risen to power in Russia. Putin is the only Russian leader in history to visit Israel (7 years ago), and is preparing to visit again on June 25, trying to make the Israelis feel comfortable with him. Yet Russia has been selling billions of dollars in arms to Iran and other nations described in the prophecies. Russia is currently sending naval ships and forces to Syria. Israelis are living more securely in the land, and are more prosperous, than ever in their modern history also consistent with the prophecies.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Greek bailout is back on. Hopes rise for future of the euro as pro-rescue parties say they WILL work together
• Pro-bailout centre-right New Democracy party wins 29.6% of the vote
• Has three days to form coalition government with other pro-bailout parties
• World markets initially rise on the positive outcome of the election
• But stocks have since tempered by increasing fears over Spain and Italy
• FTSE-100 down 0.05% down; CAC 40 down 0.67%; DAX up 0.13%
Greece's pro-bailout political parties today gave the 17-nation eurozone hope that the single currency will be saved - by revealing they will work together.
The head of Greece's centre-right New Democracy party began talks to form a government with other pro-bailout parties after yesterday's narrow election victory over the left.
Party leader Antonis Samaras was due to meet Evangelos Venizelos, the head of the Socialist PASOK party, at 3pm after he received a mandate to form a government from Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
Days of chaos: Greece is facing a race against time to form a coalition government, but there was a glimmer of good news as it looks like the ultra-right party Golden Dawn will not be part of any ruling group
Victorious: Leader of conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samaras arrives with his wife Georgia to make statement on the election results in Athens after claiming victory in Sunday's national election
The once-mighty PASOK, now reduced to third place after the dramatic rise of the leftist anti-bailout party SYRIZA, said it would support Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join the government or just offer parliamentary backing.
It means the nation can proceed with its austerity programme and be eligible for bailout money.
Samaras said Greece would fully meet its commitments but added: 'We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment and huge hardships.'
More...
Now put Eur house in order: G20 leaders to pile on the pressure after Greek decision to stay in the single currency
Hollande's Socialists triumph in French Parliamentary election giving president free rein to implement anti-austerity measures
Five reasons to fear another meltdown Cameron tells G20 as he urges leaders to get a grip on eurozone crisis
In deep recession, crushed under its huge public debt and forced to slash public spending and hike taxes repeatedly, Greece is struggling to restore its near-bankrupt economy, and a new government could face new protests after taking office.
'The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted,' said Theodore Couloumbis, political analyst and vice-president of Athens-based think-tank ELIAMEP.
'For this government to last it has to show results. You can't continue with 50 per cent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession,' he said.
SYRIZA, which had promised to tear up the bailout deal signed in March with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, scored strongly in the election.
Party leader Alexis Tsipras promised to continue its opposition to the painful austerity measures demanded of Greece.
'I don't think anything good will come out of these elections,' said Dinos Arabatzis, a 56 year-old taxi driver who voted for New Democracy.
'DON'T PRECIPITATE A GREEK EXIT FROM EURO', GERMANY WARNED
Lord Mandelson urged Germany not to precipitate a Greek exit from the euro, saying: ‘I would say be careful what you wish for.
‘Not only do you have the risk of contagion of market panic spreading across the more vulnerable members of the eurozone and this sort of growing sense within the markets that the euro has ceased to be a permanent currency.’
In a speech at the G20 summit of world leaders in Mexico today, David Cameron will repeat his warnings that eurozone countries must make sacrifices if they want their currency to survive.
‘The reality is that there are a set of things that eurozone countries need to do, and it’s up to eurozone countries whether they are prepared to make the sacrifices these entail,’ the Prime Minister will say.
‘The challenge is one of political will as much as economics. Of course these things are difficult to do. But just because these things are difficult does not mean we should not say them.
‘If the eurozone is to stay together, then it has to make at least some of these difficult decisions.
‘The alternatives to action that creates a more coherent eurozone are either a perpetual stagnation from a eurozone crisis that is never resolved, or a break-up caused by a failure to address underlying economic fundamentals that would have financial consequences that would badly damage the world economy, including Britain.’
Mr Cameron will add that the ‘fight for the future of the world economy won’t be won by a few governments in isolation’.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor George Osborne have long argued that a single currency can work only if the eurozone creates an effective single economic government.
Britain would stand outside any such arrangement, and the Prime Minister refused to sign a treaty taking more tentative steps toward a fiscal union last year.
'Whoever is in power now will get burned. Samaras will get burned, and Tsipras will come out much stronger if we go to elections again - that's what worries me,' he said.
With nearly 100 per cent of ballots counted in the election, a re-run of a poll on May 6 that left no party able to form a government, New Democracy had won 29.7 per cent of the vote, ahead of SYRIZA on 27 per cent, and PASOK on 12.3 per cent.
A 50-seat bonus automatically given to the party that comes first would give a theoretical New Democracy-PASOK alliance 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament, enough for a majority broadly committed to the €130billion bailout.
'The result showed people want the euro, but society remains divided. SYRIZA will be a militant opposition, possibly complicating the new government's efforts,' a senior New Democracy official said.
'The new government must deliver a positive development soon - an easing of the bailout terms or a positive sign in the economy - or people will lose trust in a week.'
In the markets, trust had an even shorter shelf life. Though the FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.1 per cent at the open, the index had shed all those gains before two hours were up.
It seems the underlying problems in the euro zone brought investors back to earth. The euro's rise also evaporated.
More worryingly, Italian and Spanish borrowing costs rose strongly with yields on Spain's 10-year bonds at dangerously high levels of over 7 per cent with equivalent Italian debt over 6 per cent.
The FTSE-100 is 0.05 per cent down at 5,475.88; France's CAC 40 is 0.67 per cent down at 3,066.93; while Germany's DAX is 0.13 up at 6,237.66.
PASOK officials said today that the meeting would decide how they would support Samaras - whether by participating fully in government, or by voting with the coalition in parliament.
The smaller, anti-bailout Democratic Left party was also due to decide today whether it would back the conservatives.
The new government may get some help from eurozone peers, relieved that SYRIZA had not won and set Greece on course for a euro exit with incalculable consequences for the rest of the 17-member bloc.
However, they have offered no prospect of any major overhaul of the bailout agreement, which requires Greece to find €11.7billion in spending cuts in June to qualify for the next loan instalment.
Greece has enough funds only last for a few weeks without more aid but European partners have become deeply suspicious of the commitment of Greek politicians to implementing unpopular austerity measures.
Show of support: Golden Dawn supporters shout slogans and celebrate the results of the elections outside their headquarters office in Thessaloniki last night
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the substance of the bailout agreement was 'not negotiable', but he said creditors might be willing to offer some flexibility on timing for some of the targets, given the time lost in campaigning.
'We're ready to talk about the timeframe as we can't ignore the lost weeks, and we don't want people to suffer because of that,' he told German radio today.
However, even if it were granted some leeway, a coalition that won only 40 per cent of the vote would struggle to push through reforms in the face of deep public resentment of repeated rounds of tax hikes and pay and pension cuts.
Despite his loss Tsipras, 37, appeared buoyed by the election and rejected calls to join an all-party unity government, saying his party was now the main opposition force and promising to fight the bailout package.
His attitude has raised fears of a return to the anti-austerity protests that have left parts of Athens scarred by angry graffiti and patrolled by squads of police in riot gear.
'Obviously I voted for SYRIZA so it could win, but the left is becoming stronger by the day and I'm happy about that,' said Panagiotis Panagiotou, 55, a butcher in central Athens whose business has been hit by the crisis.
'SYRIZA will be a very powerful opposition party and when we have elections again - which we will - it will be even stronger, if not first.'
Underlining the signs of potential instability, the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party took 18 seats, repeating its success of May 6 and confirming its status as a force in Greek politics, carried by an angry mood of public protest.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THERE'S PANIC ON WORLD MARKETS?
If the election results spark panic on financial markets today, central banks around the world are ready to launch a massive intervention.
Germany will come under intense pressure from other world leaders at the G20 to throw a lifeline to moderates in Greece, perhaps by giving Athens longer to pay off its huge debts.
Angela Merkel is also being pressed to agree a lasting deal to shore up the eurozone, which would effectively mean Berlin underwriting the debt of struggling economies.
However the strong showing by Syriza is a major blow to the German chancellor and other EU leaders who had urged Greek voters to deliver a decisive show of support for the bailout deal.
Any new coalition is likely to prove too fragile to survive for long, given the intense pressure Greece’s economy is under.
Party leader Alexis Tsipras has vowed to rip up Greece’s bailout deal and repeal the austerity measures, which have included deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education and infrastructure, as well as tax hikes and reductions of salaries and pensions.
His pledges, which include cancelling planned privatisations, nationalising banks and rolling back cuts to minimum wages and pensions, have horrified European leaders.
Germany has warned that payments to Greece will be frozen if it abandons the terms of the bailout deal – a move that would see Greece run out money by July 20.
Leaders of Italy and Spain, two countries at the centre of contagion fears in the eurozone debt crisis, today welcomed the Greek election result as good news for Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said the poll outcome augured well for the future of the European Union and eurozone countries but added that Athens must move quickly to form a new government.
'This allows us to have a more serene vision for the future of the European Union and for the eurozone,' he told reporters in Mexico upon arriving for a G-20 summit.
Monti, whose comments were aired on Italian television, said he was very pleased with the the victory of the New Democracy party.
'We hope that a strong government can be formed which confirms the commitments made with the EU,' he said.
Monti said Greeks had understood the importance of the EU, even if under difficult circumstances.
Speaking on his arrival at Los Cabos for the G-20 talks, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy greeted the election outcome as 'good news for Greece, very good news for the European Union, for the euro and also for Spain'.
'I am totally convinced that this strengthens the euro. The euro project is irreversible and we must continue to make progress on it.'
Both Spain and Italy saw their borrowing costs rise to near unsustainable levels as investor jitters about a possible Greek exit from the eurozone intensified the currency bloc's debt crisis in the weeks leading up to the rerun Greek election.
Rajoy said he was in favour of European fiscal integration and a banking union. 'It's true that some things take time but it's also true that we need to take steps in the right direction,' he added.
Basking in the sun as Greece went to the polls yesterday, Dimitri Panaglos sipped a cold beer and gave a personal – and very cynical – insight into how his tiny country could ignite global financial meltdown and leave the cradle of civilisation in economic ruins.
Widely travelled, with family in London where he studied for a degree in fine art, the 40-year-old smiled grimly and told me: ‘We Greeks are all thieves.
People didn’t know it when we had the drachma. But you soon knew when we joined the euro. We borrowed and spent without ever planning to pay it back. That’s just the Greek way.’
Now selling hand-drawn cartoons to tourists, having lost his studio and home, he added: ‘We are Greeks, not Europeans. That’s why we have always had two prices in every cafe – one on the sign that’s for foreigners and local cheap rates for Greeks.
‘Europe has never understood Greece – it’s a country where you take from foreigners, not give.’
Many of his countrymen would fiercely dispute his words. What cannot be denied, however, is that the good life seems to be coming to an emphatic end for the Greeks.
With Europe demanding austerity measures in return for keeping the country afloat – more than 240billion euros has already been provided by Europe’s taxpayers – Greeks were last night effectively voting on whether to accept the deal or plunge into chaos and possible bloodshed.
The EU has said that the conditions of the latest 130billion-euro bailout deal must be accepted fully by a new government or funds will be cut off, driving the country into bankruptcy.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, warned that Greece will not be allowed to dodge its austerity agreement and ‘lead everyone else through the arena by the nose ring’.
Show of strength: Members of the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn shout slogans and celebrate the results of the elections outside of their headquarter office in Thessaloniki
Many businesses are already pulling out of the country, with Carrefour, the French supermarket giant, the latest to announce it is quitting. This is against a background of fears that Greece is about to descend once more into the political dark ages almost four decades after the end of the country’s military dictatorship.
Germany’s biggest newspaperBild, , summed up the mood of taxpayers there in an open letter to the Greek people this weekend.
It said: ‘Your cash machines continue to give you euros only because we put them there, the Germans and the other nations that have the euro.
‘Yet you still call us “Nazis”. If the elections are won by parties that want to put an end to austerity and reform – breaching every agreement – we will stop paying. You will choose between painful logic and complete disaster. And we are very much afraid that you don’t get that yet.’
Already, in a chilling portent of what may lie ahead, some hospitals were yesterday running short of medicines.
As a harbinger of possible civil unrest, two grenades were thrown at a TV station. No one was hurt, it heightened fears that armed groups are preparing to capitalise on any disorder.
With predictions of violence if the country exits the euro, and with shortages of money to pay for petrol, medicines or power, thousands of Athenians left the capital over the weekend, fearing battles between groups fighting for control of the country.
The latest election results have threatened to spark turmoil across the Eurozone as Greece looks set to reach political stalemate while rival parties try to form a coalition government
Countless Greeks have moved their money abroad – fearing banks could run out of money in the event of a Left-wing triumph and prompting EU leaders to finally put an end to the seemingly limitless amounts of cash lavished on a country of under 11million people.
Meanwhile, in what’s been called Drachmageddon, central banks from London to Tokyo are readying new arsenals of money to defend banks and national currencies against any post-election turmoil on the financial markets.
All this has started to fracture Greek society. Crime is soaring, while rubbish piles up in the streets and beggars proliferate.
Traditionally a rough port city, for all its ancient ruins and noble history, Athens is now the scene of frequent violence as even beggars fight viciously over scraps.
Yesterday I watched two groups of immigrants battling over possession of an abandoned shopping trolley loaded with junk. After punches were exchanged and one man was battered with a piece of wood, the winners of this pitiful contest ran off, whooping and shouting, pushing their trolley of scrap metal.
Ominously, such a febrile mood is playing into the hands of the resurgent, black-shirted fascists and neo-Nazis who now patrol the streets and have launched attacks in immigrant areas. They are often seen riding around on powerful motorcycles and armed with clubs and knives.
Outside the headquarters of the far-right Golden Dawn party I watched yesterday as muscular men in black T-shirts waved and cheered as police on motorbikes roared past, giving thumbs-up signs to the neo-Nazis protesters. Elements in the police are alleged to have strong links with the far-Right.
Nico, one stocky member of the group, told me that he and his cronies have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards immigrants suspected of crimes and ‘stealing’ jobs from local people.
He warned: ‘I can’t say what we will do – but there will be actions taking place through the night.’
So far, similar ‘actions’ have resulted in brutal attacks on immigrants, estimated to make up almost two million of Greece’s population.
In one incident, an African man was run through with a sword in front of stunned passengers on the capital’s gleaming 20billion-euro metro (paid for, of course, entirely out of EU cash).
With Golden Dawn vigilantes touring immigrant areas on motorbikes, and more attacks feared, the issue of racial violence was highlighted after five Egyptians were savagely attacked in the capital, and a member of the foreign press was badly beaten for filming masked neo-Nazis chasing Africans through the streets.
Perhaps, even at this late hour, Greece can pull back from the brink.
But as the stars came out over the Acropolis last night, it was difficult not to conclude that whatever the election outcome, darkness beckons for this once proud country.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
• Has three days to form coalition government with other pro-bailout parties
• World markets initially rise on the positive outcome of the election
• But stocks have since tempered by increasing fears over Spain and Italy
• FTSE-100 down 0.05% down; CAC 40 down 0.67%; DAX up 0.13%
Greece's pro-bailout political parties today gave the 17-nation eurozone hope that the single currency will be saved - by revealing they will work together.
The head of Greece's centre-right New Democracy party began talks to form a government with other pro-bailout parties after yesterday's narrow election victory over the left.
Party leader Antonis Samaras was due to meet Evangelos Venizelos, the head of the Socialist PASOK party, at 3pm after he received a mandate to form a government from Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
Days of chaos: Greece is facing a race against time to form a coalition government, but there was a glimmer of good news as it looks like the ultra-right party Golden Dawn will not be part of any ruling group
Victorious: Leader of conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samaras arrives with his wife Georgia to make statement on the election results in Athens after claiming victory in Sunday's national election
The once-mighty PASOK, now reduced to third place after the dramatic rise of the leftist anti-bailout party SYRIZA, said it would support Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join the government or just offer parliamentary backing.
It means the nation can proceed with its austerity programme and be eligible for bailout money.
Samaras said Greece would fully meet its commitments but added: 'We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment and huge hardships.'
More...
Now put Eur house in order: G20 leaders to pile on the pressure after Greek decision to stay in the single currency
Hollande's Socialists triumph in French Parliamentary election giving president free rein to implement anti-austerity measures
Five reasons to fear another meltdown Cameron tells G20 as he urges leaders to get a grip on eurozone crisis
In deep recession, crushed under its huge public debt and forced to slash public spending and hike taxes repeatedly, Greece is struggling to restore its near-bankrupt economy, and a new government could face new protests after taking office.
'The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted,' said Theodore Couloumbis, political analyst and vice-president of Athens-based think-tank ELIAMEP.
'For this government to last it has to show results. You can't continue with 50 per cent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession,' he said.
SYRIZA, which had promised to tear up the bailout deal signed in March with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, scored strongly in the election.
Party leader Alexis Tsipras promised to continue its opposition to the painful austerity measures demanded of Greece.
'I don't think anything good will come out of these elections,' said Dinos Arabatzis, a 56 year-old taxi driver who voted for New Democracy.
'DON'T PRECIPITATE A GREEK EXIT FROM EURO', GERMANY WARNED
Lord Mandelson urged Germany not to precipitate a Greek exit from the euro, saying: ‘I would say be careful what you wish for.
‘Not only do you have the risk of contagion of market panic spreading across the more vulnerable members of the eurozone and this sort of growing sense within the markets that the euro has ceased to be a permanent currency.’
In a speech at the G20 summit of world leaders in Mexico today, David Cameron will repeat his warnings that eurozone countries must make sacrifices if they want their currency to survive.
‘The reality is that there are a set of things that eurozone countries need to do, and it’s up to eurozone countries whether they are prepared to make the sacrifices these entail,’ the Prime Minister will say.
‘The challenge is one of political will as much as economics. Of course these things are difficult to do. But just because these things are difficult does not mean we should not say them.
‘If the eurozone is to stay together, then it has to make at least some of these difficult decisions.
‘The alternatives to action that creates a more coherent eurozone are either a perpetual stagnation from a eurozone crisis that is never resolved, or a break-up caused by a failure to address underlying economic fundamentals that would have financial consequences that would badly damage the world economy, including Britain.’
Mr Cameron will add that the ‘fight for the future of the world economy won’t be won by a few governments in isolation’.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor George Osborne have long argued that a single currency can work only if the eurozone creates an effective single economic government.
Britain would stand outside any such arrangement, and the Prime Minister refused to sign a treaty taking more tentative steps toward a fiscal union last year.
'Whoever is in power now will get burned. Samaras will get burned, and Tsipras will come out much stronger if we go to elections again - that's what worries me,' he said.
With nearly 100 per cent of ballots counted in the election, a re-run of a poll on May 6 that left no party able to form a government, New Democracy had won 29.7 per cent of the vote, ahead of SYRIZA on 27 per cent, and PASOK on 12.3 per cent.
A 50-seat bonus automatically given to the party that comes first would give a theoretical New Democracy-PASOK alliance 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament, enough for a majority broadly committed to the €130billion bailout.
'The result showed people want the euro, but society remains divided. SYRIZA will be a militant opposition, possibly complicating the new government's efforts,' a senior New Democracy official said.
'The new government must deliver a positive development soon - an easing of the bailout terms or a positive sign in the economy - or people will lose trust in a week.'
In the markets, trust had an even shorter shelf life. Though the FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.1 per cent at the open, the index had shed all those gains before two hours were up.
It seems the underlying problems in the euro zone brought investors back to earth. The euro's rise also evaporated.
More worryingly, Italian and Spanish borrowing costs rose strongly with yields on Spain's 10-year bonds at dangerously high levels of over 7 per cent with equivalent Italian debt over 6 per cent.
The FTSE-100 is 0.05 per cent down at 5,475.88; France's CAC 40 is 0.67 per cent down at 3,066.93; while Germany's DAX is 0.13 up at 6,237.66.
PASOK officials said today that the meeting would decide how they would support Samaras - whether by participating fully in government, or by voting with the coalition in parliament.
The smaller, anti-bailout Democratic Left party was also due to decide today whether it would back the conservatives.
The new government may get some help from eurozone peers, relieved that SYRIZA had not won and set Greece on course for a euro exit with incalculable consequences for the rest of the 17-member bloc.
However, they have offered no prospect of any major overhaul of the bailout agreement, which requires Greece to find €11.7billion in spending cuts in June to qualify for the next loan instalment.
Greece has enough funds only last for a few weeks without more aid but European partners have become deeply suspicious of the commitment of Greek politicians to implementing unpopular austerity measures.
Show of support: Golden Dawn supporters shout slogans and celebrate the results of the elections outside their headquarters office in Thessaloniki last night
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the substance of the bailout agreement was 'not negotiable', but he said creditors might be willing to offer some flexibility on timing for some of the targets, given the time lost in campaigning.
'We're ready to talk about the timeframe as we can't ignore the lost weeks, and we don't want people to suffer because of that,' he told German radio today.
However, even if it were granted some leeway, a coalition that won only 40 per cent of the vote would struggle to push through reforms in the face of deep public resentment of repeated rounds of tax hikes and pay and pension cuts.
Despite his loss Tsipras, 37, appeared buoyed by the election and rejected calls to join an all-party unity government, saying his party was now the main opposition force and promising to fight the bailout package.
His attitude has raised fears of a return to the anti-austerity protests that have left parts of Athens scarred by angry graffiti and patrolled by squads of police in riot gear.
'Obviously I voted for SYRIZA so it could win, but the left is becoming stronger by the day and I'm happy about that,' said Panagiotis Panagiotou, 55, a butcher in central Athens whose business has been hit by the crisis.
'SYRIZA will be a very powerful opposition party and when we have elections again - which we will - it will be even stronger, if not first.'
Underlining the signs of potential instability, the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party took 18 seats, repeating its success of May 6 and confirming its status as a force in Greek politics, carried by an angry mood of public protest.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THERE'S PANIC ON WORLD MARKETS?
If the election results spark panic on financial markets today, central banks around the world are ready to launch a massive intervention.
Germany will come under intense pressure from other world leaders at the G20 to throw a lifeline to moderates in Greece, perhaps by giving Athens longer to pay off its huge debts.
Angela Merkel is also being pressed to agree a lasting deal to shore up the eurozone, which would effectively mean Berlin underwriting the debt of struggling economies.
However the strong showing by Syriza is a major blow to the German chancellor and other EU leaders who had urged Greek voters to deliver a decisive show of support for the bailout deal.
Any new coalition is likely to prove too fragile to survive for long, given the intense pressure Greece’s economy is under.
Party leader Alexis Tsipras has vowed to rip up Greece’s bailout deal and repeal the austerity measures, which have included deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education and infrastructure, as well as tax hikes and reductions of salaries and pensions.
His pledges, which include cancelling planned privatisations, nationalising banks and rolling back cuts to minimum wages and pensions, have horrified European leaders.
Germany has warned that payments to Greece will be frozen if it abandons the terms of the bailout deal – a move that would see Greece run out money by July 20.
Leaders of Italy and Spain, two countries at the centre of contagion fears in the eurozone debt crisis, today welcomed the Greek election result as good news for Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said the poll outcome augured well for the future of the European Union and eurozone countries but added that Athens must move quickly to form a new government.
'This allows us to have a more serene vision for the future of the European Union and for the eurozone,' he told reporters in Mexico upon arriving for a G-20 summit.
Monti, whose comments were aired on Italian television, said he was very pleased with the the victory of the New Democracy party.
'We hope that a strong government can be formed which confirms the commitments made with the EU,' he said.
Monti said Greeks had understood the importance of the EU, even if under difficult circumstances.
Speaking on his arrival at Los Cabos for the G-20 talks, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy greeted the election outcome as 'good news for Greece, very good news for the European Union, for the euro and also for Spain'.
'I am totally convinced that this strengthens the euro. The euro project is irreversible and we must continue to make progress on it.'
Both Spain and Italy saw their borrowing costs rise to near unsustainable levels as investor jitters about a possible Greek exit from the eurozone intensified the currency bloc's debt crisis in the weeks leading up to the rerun Greek election.
Rajoy said he was in favour of European fiscal integration and a banking union. 'It's true that some things take time but it's also true that we need to take steps in the right direction,' he added.
Basking in the sun as Greece went to the polls yesterday, Dimitri Panaglos sipped a cold beer and gave a personal – and very cynical – insight into how his tiny country could ignite global financial meltdown and leave the cradle of civilisation in economic ruins.
Widely travelled, with family in London where he studied for a degree in fine art, the 40-year-old smiled grimly and told me: ‘We Greeks are all thieves.
People didn’t know it when we had the drachma. But you soon knew when we joined the euro. We borrowed and spent without ever planning to pay it back. That’s just the Greek way.’
Now selling hand-drawn cartoons to tourists, having lost his studio and home, he added: ‘We are Greeks, not Europeans. That’s why we have always had two prices in every cafe – one on the sign that’s for foreigners and local cheap rates for Greeks.
‘Europe has never understood Greece – it’s a country where you take from foreigners, not give.’
Many of his countrymen would fiercely dispute his words. What cannot be denied, however, is that the good life seems to be coming to an emphatic end for the Greeks.
With Europe demanding austerity measures in return for keeping the country afloat – more than 240billion euros has already been provided by Europe’s taxpayers – Greeks were last night effectively voting on whether to accept the deal or plunge into chaos and possible bloodshed.
The EU has said that the conditions of the latest 130billion-euro bailout deal must be accepted fully by a new government or funds will be cut off, driving the country into bankruptcy.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, warned that Greece will not be allowed to dodge its austerity agreement and ‘lead everyone else through the arena by the nose ring’.
Show of strength: Members of the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn shout slogans and celebrate the results of the elections outside of their headquarter office in Thessaloniki
Many businesses are already pulling out of the country, with Carrefour, the French supermarket giant, the latest to announce it is quitting. This is against a background of fears that Greece is about to descend once more into the political dark ages almost four decades after the end of the country’s military dictatorship.
Germany’s biggest newspaperBild, , summed up the mood of taxpayers there in an open letter to the Greek people this weekend.
It said: ‘Your cash machines continue to give you euros only because we put them there, the Germans and the other nations that have the euro.
‘Yet you still call us “Nazis”. If the elections are won by parties that want to put an end to austerity and reform – breaching every agreement – we will stop paying. You will choose between painful logic and complete disaster. And we are very much afraid that you don’t get that yet.’
Already, in a chilling portent of what may lie ahead, some hospitals were yesterday running short of medicines.
As a harbinger of possible civil unrest, two grenades were thrown at a TV station. No one was hurt, it heightened fears that armed groups are preparing to capitalise on any disorder.
With predictions of violence if the country exits the euro, and with shortages of money to pay for petrol, medicines or power, thousands of Athenians left the capital over the weekend, fearing battles between groups fighting for control of the country.
The latest election results have threatened to spark turmoil across the Eurozone as Greece looks set to reach political stalemate while rival parties try to form a coalition government
Countless Greeks have moved their money abroad – fearing banks could run out of money in the event of a Left-wing triumph and prompting EU leaders to finally put an end to the seemingly limitless amounts of cash lavished on a country of under 11million people.
Meanwhile, in what’s been called Drachmageddon, central banks from London to Tokyo are readying new arsenals of money to defend banks and national currencies against any post-election turmoil on the financial markets.
All this has started to fracture Greek society. Crime is soaring, while rubbish piles up in the streets and beggars proliferate.
Traditionally a rough port city, for all its ancient ruins and noble history, Athens is now the scene of frequent violence as even beggars fight viciously over scraps.
Yesterday I watched two groups of immigrants battling over possession of an abandoned shopping trolley loaded with junk. After punches were exchanged and one man was battered with a piece of wood, the winners of this pitiful contest ran off, whooping and shouting, pushing their trolley of scrap metal.
Ominously, such a febrile mood is playing into the hands of the resurgent, black-shirted fascists and neo-Nazis who now patrol the streets and have launched attacks in immigrant areas. They are often seen riding around on powerful motorcycles and armed with clubs and knives.
Outside the headquarters of the far-right Golden Dawn party I watched yesterday as muscular men in black T-shirts waved and cheered as police on motorbikes roared past, giving thumbs-up signs to the neo-Nazis protesters. Elements in the police are alleged to have strong links with the far-Right.
Nico, one stocky member of the group, told me that he and his cronies have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards immigrants suspected of crimes and ‘stealing’ jobs from local people.
He warned: ‘I can’t say what we will do – but there will be actions taking place through the night.’
So far, similar ‘actions’ have resulted in brutal attacks on immigrants, estimated to make up almost two million of Greece’s population.
In one incident, an African man was run through with a sword in front of stunned passengers on the capital’s gleaming 20billion-euro metro (paid for, of course, entirely out of EU cash).
With Golden Dawn vigilantes touring immigrant areas on motorbikes, and more attacks feared, the issue of racial violence was highlighted after five Egyptians were savagely attacked in the capital, and a member of the foreign press was badly beaten for filming masked neo-Nazis chasing Africans through the streets.
Perhaps, even at this late hour, Greece can pull back from the brink.
But as the stars came out over the Acropolis last night, it was difficult not to conclude that whatever the election outcome, darkness beckons for this once proud country.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Europe: Extreme Crises Demand Extreme Solutions
June 14, 2012 | From theTrumpet.comDon’t look away now; the long-prophesied German-led European empire is almost here.
Brad Macdonald
It’s difficult, especially amid the doom and gloom in Europe, to realize that we are now moments away from the creation of a United States of Europe.
Of course, “moments” in the long grind of human history are measured in weeks and months. The point is, Europe’s financial crisis is so bad that virtually everyone—most especially Germany—now realizes that the only way forward is greater consolidation and integration, more unity. In other words, the formation of a United States of Europe.
Meeting this goal won’t be easy, simple or clean. There will be casualties. Many countries will likely have to make some pretty extreme sacrifices, the essence of which will involve relinquishing national sovereignty. But Europe’s financial crisis is intensifying and rapidly heading to the point of no return. Last weekend, Spain requested a $125 billion loan to bail out its banks; many worry that Italy will be next; on Sunday, Greeks head to the polls in a run-off national election that could easily be the catalyst for Athens defaulting on its debt, then leaving the eurozone.
In Greece, anxiety is so intense, people are emptying their bank accounts and stocking up on food ahead of Sunday’s election.
Everyone agrees: A far-reaching solution cannot be put off much longer.
The most telling signs of how close we are to the emergence of a United States of Europe come from Germany. Ever since this crisis began in 2008, Berlin has reacted slowly and with tremendous caution. When others moaned and wailed and demanded more extreme measures—eurobonds, larger rescue funds, more spending—Germany simply ignored, even rejected, these cries. But over the last two to three weeks, there have been hints that Berlin might finally be ready to act.
Speaking on German TV last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the “need [for] more Europe.” Europe doesn’t just need a currency union, she explained, “we also need a so-called fiscal union, more common budget policies.” Merkel’s recognition of the need for a “fiscal union” is significant, but it was what she said next that caught the attention of some commentators: “AND WE NEED ABOVE ALL A POLITICAL UNION. That means we must step by step, as things go forward, give up powers to Europe as well.”
Notice who Merkel was speaking to. This wasn’t a press conference in Brussels or a speech before the European Parliament. Many Europeans, especially European leaders, don’t need to be convinced of the need for more Europe. Merkel was speaking directly to the German public. She was, as Spiegel noted, “carefully preparing the public for the possibility that great changes are coming and that established certainties are no longer valid.”
Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, was recently in Berlin to discuss Europe’s problems with German policymakers. He wrote in the New York Times this week that “the view of German policymakers … is that the government will do what is necessary to save the euro.” Germany knows it is going to have to intervene on a major scale, and even has measures in place, explained Grant. But it’s not overtly publicizing these measures because it’s concerned this may encourage some states to “slacken efforts to curb budget deficits and enact reforms.” That’s pretty smart.
It seems we are now getting an idea of what these measures may look like.
On Monday, Spiegel published an article outlining a plan currently in the works to stabilize the eurozone and the euro. According to George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor, Spiegel’s “report appears to be well-grounded, with European leaders confirming that the four individuals are working on a plan.” The plan is the brainchild of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
Spiegel says these four are conversing on the phone daily. A watered-down version of the plan is already circulating in Europe’s capitals, while a more comprehensive presentation is being prepared for the European summit later this month. A concrete version is expected as soon as August.
IF IT GOES AHEAD, THIS DRAMATIC PLAN WILL REVOLUTIONIZE EUROPE—AND THE WORLD!
Spiegel reports that the four leaders intend on “making the currency union irreversible, and DEEPENING IT TO BECOME A POLITICAL UNION” (emphasis added throughout). Remember, this is exactly what Chancellor Merkel also desires. S
Spiegel continues: “A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EUROPE WOULD EMERGE FROM SUCH A PROCESS. The plan envisions nation-states giving up significant elements of their sovereignty to European institutions. … At the heart of the deliberations is the CREATION OF A REAL FISCAL UNION, which would prohibit member states from taking on new debt on their own.”
Basically, the plan envisions an all-powerful EU fiscal authority that would have dictatorial power over the finances of member states!
One possibility under this new plan is the creation of a special EU institution to supervise Europe’s banks. This overarching EU body “would not only keep an eye on systemically relevant financial institutions, BUT ON ALL BANKS,” reported Spiegel. If you think Brussels has too much of a controlling presence in the lives of Europeans now, wait till this plan is enacted.
The plan also provides for the creation of a eurobond, a bond backed by all eurozone nations, most importantly Germany. This will please France and many other countries, and could go a long way to solving Europe’s debt crisis. A eurobond backed by Germany is a thousand times more attractive than anything else on the market. But there’s a catch. In order to soothe Berlin’s justified concerns about a eurobond, which would basically result in all Germany taking on liability for the debt of individual countries, states would have to meet a laundry list of rules and guidelines. Rules and guidelines, mind you, essentially created by Germany.
Most notably, the plan puts the power to issue eurobonds—and leadership of the EU fiscal authority itself—in the hands of one individual, “a kind of European finance minister” with supreme authority.
WHAT POWER! If this plan proceeds, European states will effectively transfer control of their national budgets to a European fiscal authority—headed by a single individual!
Here’s another important development. Citing sources in Brussels, Spiegel also reports that the plan includes “turning the office of European Commission president and European Council president into one” and CREATING AN OVERARCHING “EUROPEAN PRESIDENT.” (Incidentally, this now-confirmed plan by an elite group to create a European super-president was exposed by Trumpet columnist Ron Fraser more than a month ago.)
This plan is still under construction. As it forms and becomes more public, it will likely be met with a lot of opposition as EU states and citizens fear ceding more power to Brussels and Berlin. But you watch: As this crisis escalates and as pressure mounts—if Greece defaults on its debt and leaves the eurozone; if Italy too needs a bailout; if the euro suddenly plummets; if even more destructive riots and protests break out—Europeans and their leaders will compromise.
Extreme crises demand extreme solutions—even as extreme as ceding power to Germany!
Consider one last observation. In its article on this dramatic plan to rescue Europe, Spiegel states that this plan would mark the “BEGINNING OF THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE.” On Sunday, the Independent’s Peter Popham explained how “amid the bailouts, a UNITED STATES OF EUROPE takes shape.” Today, if you type the term United States of Europe into Google, you’ll get hundreds of hits from news items posted in just the last few months. It seems politicians and news nerds the world over have given this term to the political organism now forming in Europe.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
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