Dora Bakoyannis tells AHEPA youth she is in Greek politics for the long-haul

Dora Bakoyannis’ view on Greek crisis

Achilleas Youth – the new youth wing of AHEPA Australasia – interviewed the Hon. Dora Bakoyannis, current MP for Athens District A, on the topic of the Greek sovereign debt crisis.

President of Achilleas Youth, Jiannis Tsaousis, asked Mrs Bakoyannis what lead Greece to its current situation at “the edge of abyss”; why liberalism has traditionally been strongly unpopular in Greece; the path of real reform needed for Greece to realise long-term prosperity; the decay of the modern Greek state and how the diaspora can help its motherland in extreme times of need as those Hellenes traverse today.

The former Foreign Minister of Greece (2006-09), Minister for Culture (1992-93), Lord Mayor of Athens (2003-06) and World Mayor 2005 noted the “political price” she has paid for pushing for real reforms in Greece in 2010 by voting for the May 2010 IMF/EU/ECB bailout, as she was sacked by the New Democracy party and only welcomed back in June 2012.

Furthermore, the former Foreign Minister and prominent Greek liberal said “we must demolish” the Greek state as it is known, which she believes was built on hollow foundations from the start, after the fall of the junta in 1974 and especially after 1981 when the first PASOK government was elected.

In reference to the IMF’s recent change of tact towards Greece, as Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s Managing Director has begun to openly promote a two-year extension to Greece’s bailout terms, Mrs Bakoyannis says that she has been “warning these troika gentlemen” of the consequences of the horizontal cuts asked for, in pushing for real, structural reform in Greece.

Importantly, Mrs Bakoyannis said that investors will never lose out from Greece, Mrs Bakoyannis affirmed to Achilleas Youth that she is in Greek politics for the long run to remake the Greek state and society.

Greek crisis recipe: A trigger for domino effect?

Janis A. Emmanouilidis, a senior policy analyst at the European Policy Center, talks about potential risks of Greece’s exit from the Eurozone.

We have seen over the last couple of weeks that there is a strong determination in the German Government and Germany to do whatever is needed to keep the country within the Eurozone provided that the country i.e. Greece will be able to fulfill the obligations which have been agreed between the Greek Government and the troika.

But it seems that the German Government is more committed than in the past to do whatever is needed to avoid the exit of Greece from the Eurozone.

Are they concerned about the so called domino effect?

Well, there are obvious risks which would be linked to a potential exit of one country and in this case Greece from the Eurozone that would worsen the situation in other member states, that could lead other members of the Eurozone to the same path.

So, one wants to avoid entering this path of countries exiting the Eurozone and it seems that one is ready to do that at a lot of costs because the risks of that happening would go much beyond Greece and thus become much more costly than only the Greek component of a potential exit or restructuring.

And what kind of risks exactly are we talking about?

Well, there are obviously financial and economic risks if Greece would exit the Eurozone and other countries might follow.

That would have enormous direct financial cost for banks, financial institutions which have invested in the bonds of these sovereign countries.

But it would also have political effects because if we would have a move towards disintegration of the Eurozone, that would obviously have an effect which goes beyond the common currency affecting also the EU as such.

But if I’m not mistaken most of the Greek politicians are unwilling to exit from the Eurozone.

And then, why would other countries want to follow if Greece leaves the Eurozone?

Well, as you said correctly the Greek political elite and also the majority of Greek citizens want the country to remain within the Eurozone.

But on the other hand we’ve seen that over the last 5-6 years the country is in a deep recession and we see that the attempts to exit the crisis have put enormous pressure on the citizens and their daily lives.

So, if the situation worsens we can’t exclude that a majority at some stage might think that sticking to the Greek crisis recipe may not be the right way. If that’s the case – that could have also a negative effect on the other member states triggering not only economic and fiscal but also political negative domino effect.

When we are talking about the Greek recipe, if I’m not mistaken it all comes down to austerity measures.

It is a mixture. Obviously they need to cut down the huge deficit which the country had found itself in in 2009-2010. And a lot has been achieved since then and the country is even to having a primary surplus in the upcoming period.

So, there is a strong emphasis of cutting down expenditures but at the same time the things which have been agreed between the Greek Government and its European supporters and also the IMF and the troika – the things which have been agreed among them include a lot of structural reforms.

So, we are talking about both – major structural reforms and cutting down expenditures and in this case that also leads to austerity.

Επιστρέφουν στην Αθήνα οι Έλληνες του “Estelle”

Στην Ελλάδα αναμένεται να φτάσουν εντός της ημέρας οι πέντε Έλληνες πολίτες, ανάμεσά τους και δύο βουλευτές του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, οι οποίοι επέβαιναν στο πλοίο “Estelle”…

Σύμφωνα με εκπρόσωπο του ελληνικού τμήματος της πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα καράβι για τη Γάζα», καταβάλλονται προσπάθειες ώστε οι Έλληνες ακτιβιστές να επιστρέψουν με την επόμενη πτήση, η οποία φθάνει στο αεροδρόμιο «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος» στις 3:30 το απόγευμα.

Εν τω μεταξύ, τηλεγράφημα του Γαλλικού Πρακτορείου από την Ιερουσαλήμ αναφέρει ότι οι ισραηλινές αρχές αποφάσισαν να επιτρέψουν την επιστροφή στις χώρες τους σε οκτώ ακτιβιστές, πέντε Έλληνες, δύο Ισπανούς και έναν Ιταλό.

Σύμφωνα με την Υπηρεσία Μετανάστευσης του Ισραήλ, 19 ακτιβιστές θα κρατηθούν για 72 ακόμη ώρες, ενώ για τρεις υπηκόους του Ισραήλ που βρίσκονταν στο πλοίο θα συνεχιστεί η ανάκριση από τις ισραηλινές αρχές.

Σύμφωνα με πηγές των ακτιβιστών, είναι πιθανό να τους απαγγελθούν κατηγορίες για «υποκίνηση σε στάση» και «παροχή βοήθειας στον εχθρό».

Το πλοίο οδηγήθηκε χθες στο λιμάνι του Ασντότ, μετά την ανακοπή της πορείας του από το ισραηλινό πολεμικό ναυτικό, όπου πλήρωμα και επιβαίνοντες κρατήθηκαν από τις ισραηλινές αρχές.

Στο υπό φιλανδική σημαία «Εστέλ», που κατευθυνόταν προς τη Γάζα στα πλαίσια επιχείρησης της πρωτοβουλίας «Ένα καράβι για τη Γάζα», επέβαιναν 30 συνολικά ακτιβιστές, στην πλειοψηφία τους Νορβηγοί και Σουηδοί, ανάμεσά τους και μέλη ευρωπαϊκών κοινοβουλίων.

Praying with the Monks of Patmos, Greece

Source: TheBostonGlobe

PATMOS, Greece — It’s 3:45 a.m. on a Saturday and I am outside the Holy Monastery of St. John the Divine, wondering if my invitation to join the monks in an overnight prayer service will be honored. The locked gates to one of the world’s most revered holy places are themselves imposing, looming high above the port of Skala on this island in the eastern Aegean.

DAVE SEMINARA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Father Simeon, a monk who lives at St. John’s Holy Monastery in Patmos, posed in front of the exterior of the church.

Little do I know that before the night is over, I will be on the receiving end of an apocalyptic prophecy.

The monastery was built by St. Christodoulos in 1088 to venerate St. John, who wrote the Book of Revelation in a nearby cave after being exiled to the island in 95 AD by the Roman emperor Domitian. Now home to 15 monks, the monastery is located at the highest point of Hora, which is a spiral of whitewashed buildings, many in varying states of graceful decay, perched dramatically over the port.

Visiting the monastery was my first order of business on Patmos and it did not disappoint. The church’s icons are visually arresting, the views of the surrounding islands are sublime, and the presence of black clad monks a reminder that St. John’s is a magnet for devout Christians.

Locals claim that Patmos has more than 300 churches, or one for every 10 residents, and Theologos Kononis, the gatekeeper at St. John’s, resolved to help me visit some of the holiest places after we bonded over the fact that we both have family in Boston.

Kononis introduced me to Father Ioustinianos, 62, a monk from Crete who has lived at St. John’s for 22 years. Ioustinianos took me on a private tour of Zoodochos Pigi, an early 17th-century monastery in Hora, and invited me to an afternoon service at St. John’s. I sat outside the monastery at the appointed time for an hour, but alas was never invited in.

A few hours later, my wife, children, and I were at an outdoor restaurant in Skala, and we bumped into Ioustinianos and asked him to join us. Over dinner, we learned that he had become a monk after his wife died years ago. He said Orthodox priests could marry, but those who did couldn’t move up in the church hierarchy.

Before he left, I told him I had been stiffed at the afternoon service.

“Patmos,” he said, with a shrug.

He told me that to get the full St. John’s experience I should join them for their liturgy service the following night around 3:45 a.m.

I arrived at the appointed time. A young monk answered the door and ushered me in without saying a word.

I had butterflies in my stomach as I entered the compound and heard ritualistic singing coming from the church. The service was in progress.

The small church was lighted only with candles and two dim reading lamps. At first I couldn’t tell how many monks were in the room. Two monks stood at pulpits while Father Simeon, a portly monk whom Kononis had introduced me to on my first visit, paced between two pulpits, chanting and praying.

Ioustinianos made eye contact with me but didn’t smile or acknowledge my presence. A rotating cast of monks shuffled in and out of the room to sing, pray, and read from the Bible, as I sat and watched, feeling I was witnessing something mystical and timeless.

I stifled yawns as the clock neared 4:30 and felt like a voyeur watching the spectacle and not participating. At 5 a younger monk with intense, almost black eyes began to sing from the Scriptures and I began to wonder when the service would end.

Another hour passed and, as complete exhaustion began to set in, I realized that I had no way of getting out of the locked compound. Feeling trapped, I left the chapel and climbed up toward the roof to get a peek at the rising sun. Right after I ducked back into the church, around 6:15, the monks began to exit, kissing the icons on their way out.

I approached Simeon, who was the lone English speaker, and thanked him for allowing me to attend. “Do you do that every night?” I said.

“Oh no,” he said. “Only three nights per week.”

He locked the church with an ancient looking key and began a rambling speech about the folly of rich people who believe they can buy their way to heaven. And as we walked, he stopped in his tracks. “We study the book of Revelation,” he said, “which was revealed to St. John here on Patmos. And I know that the United States — your country — is about to be destroyed. Completely destroyed.”

“Is it only the US that’s going to be destroyed,” I said.

“Not at all,” he said. “Great Britain, France, and Germany will also be destroyed, but the US will be first.”

“And what about Greece?” I asked.

“Greece will be fine,” he said. “Because God loves Greece.”

And with that, he excused himself, saying he was in need of a nap.

3 μέρη στην Ελλάδα ανάμεσα στα 101 καλύτερα του κόσμου

Source: KalaNea

Το τεύχος Νοεμβρίου του Αμερικάνικου περιοδικού Travel & Leisure, που θεωρείται βίβλος για τους απανταχού της γης ταξιδιώτες, με μηνιαία κυκλοφορία άνω των 950,000 τευχών, δημοσίευσε τη λίστα με τα ‘101 μέρη που πρέπει να γνωρίζει ο κάθε ταξιδιώτης’.

Η λίστα είναι το αποτέλεσμα των προτάσεων από το διεθνές δίκτυο ανταποκριτών και γευσιγνωστών που συνεργάζεται με το περιοδικό και δέχτηκε να μοιραστεί τις πιο μοναδικές του εμπειρίες.

Κανένα από τα 101 μέρη δεν αναφέρεται απλά σε έναν προορισμό, αλλά στην εμπειρία που μπορεί κανείς να έχει όταν βρεθεί εκεί, – τα 27 βρίσκονται στην Ευρώπη, και από αυτά τα 3 στην Ελλάδα:

Πρόκειται για τον Παρθενώνα στην Αθήνα, την Κόκκινη Παραλία στη Σαντορίνη, και το Amanzoe resort στην Πελοπόννησο το μοναδικό ξενοδοχείο από την Ελλάδα που περιλαμβάνεται στην λίστα του δημοφιλούς περιοδικού, και από τα ελάχιστα που συμπεριλαμβάνονται στη λίστα ως ξεχωριστοί προορισμοί που προσφέρουν μοναδικές εμπειρίες!

δείτε εδώ ολόκληρη τη λίστα:

Click to access travel_leisure_-_usa_-_nov_12.pdf

Greek film festival 2012 director Interview

Source: Penny Kyprianou

The 2012 Greek film festival looks set to be a ripper, so we decided to ask its director Penny Kyprianou a few questions about it over a virtual cup of coffee and baklava…

How did you get involved with the Festival?
I first volunteered with the Greek Film Festival back in 2001, when the Festival was still screening films at Treasury Theatre in East Melbourne. Back then the Festival was run entirely by a passionate group of volunteers, two of those being Costas Markos and Eleni Bertes. Costas is very much still entrenched in the Greek Film Festival. I admired the love that this group of people had for the Festival, and the desire they had to share Greek films with Melbourne. After working on seven Melbourne International Film Festivals I took a break, albeit a short one, from film, and then an opportunity came up in 2009 to put together the Greek Film Festival. I jumped at the opportunity, programming the Greek Film Festival part-time, and in 2011 I took a full-time position with the Greek Community of Melbourne (the organising behind the Greek Film Festival), which also includes overseeing a year-long program of cultural activities.

How do you go about choosing the films that are included in the program?
Searching for films is a year round job, and we keep a close eye on International Film Festivals and we also stay in regular contact with directors and producers. In past years, many films were sourced from the Greek Film Centre (Greece’s equivalent to Screen Australia), however with funding dwindling, lower budget films are being picked up by European distributors, so it’s important we stay in regular contact with companies such as Match Factory. For example, we’re screening a film called Boy Eating the Bird’s Food (Dir. Ektoras Lygizos) which just screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, and we’re lucky enough to be screening this film before it even has its premiere in Greece at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in November.

Boy Eating the Birds Food
What films are you looking forward to watching and or have you already had the pleasure of seeing?
Part of my job includes watching all of the films that we’ve programmed this year, but I do love watching our films on the big screen with audiences during the Festival, and I’m really looking forward to sitting back and enjoying Jerks (Dir. Stelios Kammitsis) which follows three friends as they roam the streets of Exarcheia in Athens before they plan to leave for Berlin, and one of our most powerful dramas, The City of Children (Dir. Yorgos Gikapeppas), a day-in-the-life of four pregnant couples in modern Athens, but with stories that differ drastically to the usual ones of hope and joy. I’m also looking forward to seeing Theo Angelopoulos’ Landcape in the Mist, from 1988, on the big screen, when we’ll be paying tribute to this truly amazing filmmaker.

City of Children
How much effect has the economic crisis in Greece had on the local funding in the Greek film industry, and have they had to turn elsewhere for funds?
The economic situation has had a dramatic effect on local funding within the Greek film industry, and when I had to chance to talk with Babis Makridis, director of L (which screened at MIFF this year, and is also part of our program this year), he explained that filmmakers are getting around this problem by sharing resources and reducing their drastically reducing their budgets. It’s not an ideal way to be making films, but it does mean that their films can be made. There is a strong sense of camaraderie among this new breed of inventive filmmakers.

Yorgos Lanthimos has his next film (after the magnificent dogtooth) in this year’s festival “Alps”, can we expect another challenging film?
The Greek Film Festival screened Lanthimos’ Dogtooth in 2009, following its win at the Cannes Film Festival that year, and we are fortunate to be screening Alps after its Best Film win at the Sydney International Film Festival this year and sell-out sessions at the Melbourne International Film Festival. I remember watching Dogtooth for the first time and instantly wanting to know how this new director ignited his creativity and originality. It was a film that has stayed with me, and Alps will leave a very similar impression on those who see it. In Alps we encounter a group of ‘stand-ins’, hired by people that have lost ones, as a way to grieve the loss of their loved on. The step in and take on mannerisms, speech and even sexual behaviour, in order to fill the void the passing of a loved one has left. It’s very hard not to be seduced by the originality of Lanthimos’ films.

Alps
The closing night film “Dead Europe” is based on a Christos Tsiolkas novel (writer of the slap) will there be characters we can fall in love with, or ones we can only see the things we dislike in ourselves and despise?
Christos Tsiolkas is brilliant at forcing us to confront our own darkness, and Tony Krawitz’s adaptation translates that darkness with such intensity, that it’s difficult not to fall in love the film, but maybe not the characters themselves! It’s as though Tsiolkas predicted the current situation in Europe when he wrote Dead Europe, and the film portrays a gritty, dirty and somewhat damaged Europe. Thematically, it’s the perfect closing night film for the Greek Film Festival, and we are really lucky to have it this year.

And finally, why should people come and see a film at the Greek Film Festival?
It’s an incredible year for Greek cinema, and we’re so proud to have such strong films in our program this year.
Audiences should come along to gain a new perspective on Greek cinema, experience an intense new breed of filmmakers, and see how these filmmakers are interpreting the current climate in Greece. We’re right behind these filmmakers, and Melbourne audiences should be too. As Babis Makridis said to me earlier this year, “We (Greeks) are in suddenly in fashion, and I hope the fashion doesn’t end.”

Ελληνίδες ταξιδεύουν στην Ιταλία για να βγουν στην πορνεία!

Source: http://www.ilmessaggero.it

Απίστευτο δημοσίευμα της ιταλικής εφημερίδας.

Τελικά τα αποτελέσματα της οικονομικής κρίσης στη χώρα μας δειχνουν να έχουν πολύ σημαντικότερες επιπτώσεις στην κοινωνία, πέρα από την ανεργία, την οικονομική ανέχεια, την αύξηση της εγκληματικότητας.

Μάλλον, για να είμαι πιο ακριβής οι συνέπειες των τελευταίων, και ειδικά της ανέχειας που προκαλείται από την παρατεταμένη, συχνά, ανεργία έχουν οδηγήσει αρκετούς σε κινήσεις και “λύσεις” πρωτάκουστες, που, όχι λίγες φορές, φαντάζουν απελπισίας.

Το πιο συχνό φαινόμενο είναι η μετανάστευση. Ενίοτε, κάτω από οποιεσδήποτε συνθήκες, καθώς η απελπισία οδηγεί αρκετούς στο να φύγουν για μια ξένη χώρα χωρις καν προηγουμένως να έχουν εξασφαλίσει εργασία ή κατοικία. Κάποιοι τα καταφέρνουν, άλλοι πάλι όχι.

Ένα φαινόμενο το οποίο δεν είχαμε, μέχρι σήμερα, ξανακούσει ήταν αυτό της μετανάστευσης για… εκπόρνευση!

Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η ιταλική εφημερίδα Il Messaggero, σε πρόσφατο άρθρο της – έρευνα, στοιχειοθετεί πως Ελληνίδες ταξιδεύουν στην Ιταλία για να γίνουν πόρνες.Το άρθρο ξεκινά αρκετά σοκαριστικά: “Από την Πάτρα, την Αθήνα, την Ηγουμενίτσα, την Ηπειρο, δύο βήματα από το αλβανικά σύνορα.

Η Ελλάδα των αυστηρών μέτρων που έχει επιβάλλει η Ευρώπη, αρχίζει να κάνει την εμφάνισή της στα πεζοδρόμια, τα οποία εδώ και χρόνια όριζαν συμμορίες που εκμεταλλεύονταν πόρνες από τη Ρουμανία, τη Μολδαβία, την Ουκρανία και τη Νιγηρία”.

Περιγράφει δηλαδή κατάσταση που ζούσαμε τις τελευταίες δυο περίπου δεκαετίες στην Ελλάδα, αλλά με γυναίκες από την Αφρική ή τις χώρες του πρώην Ανατολικού Μπλοκ.

Οι αποδείξεις που παρέχει η εφημερίδα δεν είναι τίποτε λιγότερο από μαρτυρίες αστυνομικών οι οποίοι έχουν εντοπίσει και συλλάβει εκδιδόμενες συμπατριώτισσές μας, κυρίως στη Ρώμη, αλλά και σε κάποιες μικρότερες πόλεις της επαρχίας.

Όπως δήλωσε χαρακτηριστικά ένας υπεύθυνος της Αστυνομίας της Ρώμης:

“Δεν ξέρουμε αν οι γυναίκες αυτές δρουν αυτόνομα, χωρίς διασυνδέσεις με τον υπόκοσμο, ή αν τις εκμεταλλεύονται εγκληματικές οργανώσεις της Ελλάδας ή ακόμα και της Ρουμανίας που είναι από τα ισχυρότερα κυκλώματα πορνείας στην Ιταλία.

“Η εγγύτητα και η ευκολία της πρόσβασης μέσω Μπάρι και Μπρίντεζι, κυρίως, κάνει την υπόθεση της μετακίνησης για τις γυναίκες αυτές προς την γειτονικής χώρα ιδιαιτέρως απλή.

Περιμένουμε να δούμε σε ποια σημεία εξαθλίωσης μπορούμε να οδηγηθούμε ακόμα.

Nigel Farage on the Fall of Europe

Source:

Nigel Farage never elicits a neutral reaction…ever. His brutally honest remarks inspire either love or hate – kind of like country music, calvados or the Kardashians.

Even here, inside the Daily Reckoning brain trust, Farage produces a spilt reaction. One of your editors thinks Farage is the cat’s meow; the other editor thinks he’s the cat’s litter box. So one thing is clear; neutrality is not an option.

Farage, leader of the UK Independent Party, is a very outspoken advocate of small-to-no government, which makes him a very outspoken critic of the European Union. Farage is not an anarchist, but he would like to see the European Union wither up and blow away so that the nations of Europe could reclaim their political and economic sovereignty.

Late last week, Farage sat down with Lauren Lyster, the witty and engaging anchor of Russian TV’s Capital Account, to discuss his anti-eurozone perspective. (One of your editor’s loved it; the other, not so much).

As they launch into the interview, Lyster notes that Farage’s comments and interviews often “go viral” on the Internet. The reason is obvious, she says. ‘There’s a bull market for the truth. There’s a bull market for getting past the B.S. and the rhetoric.’

Farage clearly delivers a perspective that ‘gets past the B.S.,’ but not without utilizing his own brand of rhetoric.

‘One of the ironies of the European project,’ Farage remarked last time we featured his comments in the Daily Reckoning, ‘is that this project that was set up to make us all love each other is actually beginning to make us hate each other… Far from Europe coming together, Europe is being torn apart and we are risking stirring up the very kind of nationalisms that the project was supposed to stop in the first place.’

This time around, Farage takes his scorn for the Eurozone and kicks it up a notch. ‘I think that anybody who looks at economics from a fundamental perspective is going to say, “This eurozone should never have been put together the way that it has been and that, frankly, it can’t last.” The only question is how long can the agony go on for.’

Intelligence and National Security – The Case of Greece

Source: Rieas.gr

During the first decade of the 21st century, as long as national and international security is concerned, terrorism remains a major issue. The events of September 11th 2001 in the USA, March 11th 2004 in Madrid, July 7th 2005 in London and most recently July 18th 2012 in Burgas, Bulgaria, indicate, or actually prove, that the distribution and analysis of information by those who are competent to eliminate international terrorism is inefficient.
Intelligence cooperation is still an obstacle for information analysis due to the combination of a net centric world which facilitates terrorist groups with ethnocentric perceptions.
Moreover, the fact that intelligence services are integrated into the state apparatus, and as a result suffer from relative bureaucratic weaknesses, has been disregarded. This fact cannot be easily studied due to the covert nature of these particular services.
The writer had the chance to speak with Michael Herman, an academic analyst of the intelligence services (Oxford University), who underlined that «the dramatic increase of workforce in the intelligence area and the fact that most of the employees have obtained a public-employee mentality is the biggest change since 1945. Intelligence services have adopted the features of “Weberian bureaucracy”, which has changed because of the computer technology but it is ubiquitous as a structure». Like the Greek National Intelligence Services (NIS), intelligence agencies in other countries services suffer similarly and undergo the comparable changes within the bureaucratic environment of each country.
During the last decades most intelligence services of European countries and the USA have conducted sweeping changes concerning their way of function and action, but also their way of recruiting new executives –highly merit and with constant training-, while they make sure that their workforce is always adjusted to the new environment. All the changes mentioned have brought the managing practices of these services closer to the existing techniques of private organizations and moreover in many cases there is modernization of the logistical infrastructure as well as establishment of new building substructure.
It is important to mention that these changes took place during the transition to the post-Cold War era, when the new facts imposed strict supervision and more effective management of these services by their societies (Parliamentary Oversight).
The current economic crisis that plagues our country, with the uncontrollable illegal immigration –which constitutes a national threat for the consistency of Greek society- and the Turkish threat, calls for the establishment of a Greek Intelligence Community, which will be able to cope with the contemporary challenges with high-level skills, efficiency and human resources management.
The National Intelligence Services have to face the need for adjustment to a constantly changing environment in order to serve the interests of Greek foreign policy and support cultural, economic and military choices of the executive authority.
But how can the National Intelligence Services live up to this duty, when Greek interests have not yet been clearly determined and a national strategic plan has not been contructed? The National Intelligence Services should be an elite service and being treated like one by all Greek governments, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
The writer has repeatedly referred to the need for modernization of the National Intelligence Services in articles published in academic journals (citation of the articles at the end of the text), that inclued some of the following suggestions:
1) establishment of an Intelligence Academy which will provide academic education giving the corresponding diploma in studying intelligence services and creating a new generation of talented operational analysts,
2) establishment of a department –within the Academy- for the communication strategy of the National Intelligence Services with Greek and foreign media and
3) smoother cooperation with the Parliament and various other agencies.
Greek society is unaware of NIS work and unfortunately treats it with mistrust despite its defense of Greek national interests.
In conclusion, we hope that Greek territory will not shrink due to current geo-economic and geopolitical processes in our area (Balkans, Mediterranean, Middle East) and that intelligence and that our security agencies will be able to prevent any future unpleasant situations.
International Bibliography
Nomikos J, “Reforming the Greek Intelligence-Security Community: New Challenges”, Journal of Romanian Intelligence Studies, No.5, June 2011, Bucharest, Romania.
Nomikos J and Liaropoulos A, “Truly Reforming or Just Responding to Failures? Lessons Learned from the Modernisation of the Greek National Intelligence Service”, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2010, Sydney, Australia.
Nomikos J, “Greek Intelligence Service”, in Global Security and Intelligence, (ed) by Stuart Farson, Peter Gill, Mark Phythian and Shlomo Shpiro, (Praeger Security International, 2008), USA.
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Τα δάνεια της Ελλάδας και τα δάνεια των Ελλήνων

Τα δάνεια της Ελλάδας και τα δάνεια των Ελλήνων

Στην Ελλάδα που -δυστυχώς- αποδεικνύεται καθημερινά ότι την κυβερνά το ΔΝΤ, οι Έλληνες φορολογούμενοι πολίτες, εκείνοι που σήμερα έχουν πληρώσει περισσότερο και περισσότερα από οποιονδήποτε άλλο τα λάθη των κυβερνώντων

και τα χρέη με τα οποία εκείνοι φέσωσαν το κράτος, ζούμε άπαντες ένα πραγματικά εξευτελιστικό οικονομικό «βιασμό», τέτοιο που δεν μπορεί να φανταστεί ούτε ο πλέον αρρωστημένος νους.

Είναι αδύνατο να δεχτεί οποιοσδήποτε λογικός πολίτης αυτής της χώρας το απίστευτο θέατρο του παραλόγου που παίζεται όλα αυτά τα χρόνια και που μέρα με τη μέρα γίνεται ολοένα και πιο δραματικό για τα εισοδήματα των νοικοκυριών.

Τα… κακά νέα έρχονται πλέον από τις απαιτήσεις της τρόικα να σπεύσει η κυβέρνηση να βάλει μπροστά την έναρξη των πλειστηριασμών της ακίνητης περιουσίας των Ελλήνων. Η είδηση της επεξεργασίας ενός σχεδίου, το οποίο θα καταργεί τη μοναδική ασπίδα προστασίας που είχαν οι Έλληνες, σώζοντας -τουλάχιστον- το σπίτι τους, εν μέσω αυτής της οικονομικής λαίλαπας, λόγω του παγώματος των πλειστηριασμών της πρώτης κατοικίας, προκαλεί σοκ.

Σοκ και δέος μαζί για τα αρρωστημένα μυαλά που δίχως ίχνος ντροπής άκουσαν από τους τροϊκανούς να τους επιβάλλουν το μέτρο της υφαρπαγής των σπιτιών και των μαγαζιών των Ελλήνων και δεν τους έστειλαν από εκεί που ήρθαν.

Αλήθεια, όμως… Ποιος να τολμήσει να ορθώσει ανάστημα;

Αυτοί που δεν έχουν καν αντιληφθεί ότι έχουν ρημάξει τα οικονομικά των πολιτών αυτού του τόπου για να πληρώσουν τα δάνεια του κράτους στις ξένες δυνάμεις;

Αυτοί που εκλιπαρούσαν για μείωση των επιτοκίων δανεισμού τους ξένους (σωστά κ. Παπανδρέου;) και κάνουν τους… τυφλούς στη συνεχιζόμενη αποικιοκρατική διαδικασία των επιτοκίων που κινούνται σε διψήφια νούμερα στα δάνεια του κόσμου;

Αυτοί που σήμερα μιλούν για επιμήκυνση της αποπληρωμής των δανειακών υποχρεώσεων της Ελλάδας, αλλά κωφεύουν και δεν τολμούν να πράξουν κάτι αντίστοιχο για τα δάνεια που οι Έλληνες έχουν πάρει από τις τράπεζες;

Εκείνοι που πανηγύριζαν για το «κούρεμα» του δημοσίου χρέους, αλλά ξέχασαν και ξεχνούν ακόμα να πουν τη λέξη αυτή για να πάρουν ανάσα εκατομμύρια δανειολήπτες;

Μόνο σε μια χώρα που δεν σέβεται το λαό της μπορούν να συμβούν αυτά τα πράγματα. Ένα υπερ-χρεωμένο κράτος να καταστρέφει τους πολίτες του για να επιβιώσει, αλλά ταυτόχρονα να απαξιεί και να μην φροντίζει να τους κρατήσει στη ζωή -οικονομικά- παγώνοντας τις δανειακές τους υποχρεώσεις.

Όλα για πάρτη τους και τίποτα, μα τίποτα για το λαό.

Ακόμα και εκείνες οι ευνοϊκές διατάξεις για περαιτέρω βελτιώσεις στο νόμο Κατσέλη, πήγαν… περίπατο, αφού δεν τυγχάνουν της έγκρισης της τρόικα.

Και όλα αυτά την ώρα που τα κόκκινα δάνεια στις τράπεζες δεν έχουν απλά εκτιναχθεί στα ύψη, αλλά απειλούν να βάλουν… φωτιά στα θεμέλια ολόκληρου του οικονομικού και φυσικά του τραπεζικού συστήματος.

Ακόμα και οι τροϊκανοί έχουν πανικοβληθεί. Αλλά οι Έλληνες πολιτικοί, αυτοί τουλάχιστον που σήμερα ισχυρίζονται ότι κυβερνούν τον ευλογημένο αυτό τόπο, αποδεικνύουν καθημερινά ότι έχουν μετατραπεί σε άβουλα όντα, ανίκανα να απαιτήσουν ακόμα και το πλέον αυτονόητο.

Την επιβίωση των Ελλήνων. Το αποδεικνύουν με τη στάση τους στο θέμα των φαρμάκων, το προχωρούν και ακόμα παραπέρα. Για να μη γλιτώσει κανείς… Προφανώς το σκεπτικό τους είναι ένα. Όσο λιγότεροι Έλληνες, τόσο καλύτερα…

Γι’ αυτό και σπεύδουν να προσφέρουν στις δυνάμεις οικονομικής… κατοχής και τα σπίτια του ελληνικού λαού.

Θα τους περάσει;