Greek Vox Pop on the Referendum and Social Justice

HH with Metropolitan Amvrosios Lenis of Kalavrita and Aigialeia, one of the more-senior Greek hierarchs

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A friend sent me this:

In general, the Church of Greece maintained a low profile during the pre-referendum period. Only very few bishops, clergy, and monastic communities expressed their personal electoral views publicly. Amongst them was Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, who called for unity among the people of Greece against “the poison of division”. He spoke also in favour of the protection of “the hard-earned achievements that our country’s visionaries fought for. This is non-negotiable”; a statement that many interpreted as support for “Yes”. However, others, like the community of the famous Koutloumousi Monastery of Mount Athos, called the faithful to vote without fear, without submitting to the speculators, the moneylenders of Europe, and the global financial oligarchy. Finally, I’d like to note that one could find strong disagreements also in the more progressive parts of the Church. It seems that this referendum exposed our theological views about social and economic justice and our different understandings and priorities.

I need add nothing (for I know little of the Greek Orthodox situation, save where it influences the Russian Orthodox world).

BMD

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Putin and Tsipras Discussed Outcome of Greferendum on Bailout Deal

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On Monday, the Kremlin media office said that President V V Putin discussed the outcome of the Greek referendum with Hellenic Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and expressed his support to the Greek people in overcoming future difficulties in the country. On Sunday, more than 61 percent of Greek voters rejected the lender-proposed bailout plan, which stipulated spending cuts and tax increases in exchange for further financial assistance to the country. Several rounds of fruitless talks between Athens and its major international creditors (the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Eurogroup) preceded the referendum. The Kremlin statement noted, “[The sides] discussed the outcome of the referendum that took place in Greece on the conditions of international creditors providing Athens with financial aid, as well as several issues of further development of Greek-Russian coöperation”.

6 July 2015

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150706/1024267662.html

Hungary Threatens to Leave EU… Rejects Pressure from Brussels

Them Magyars be feisty and independent folk… tough, too, I hear (these guys are in a heated outdoor pool in the middle of winter in Budapest)… the EU had best watch their step.

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EU pressure on the Magyar government engendered anti-European sentiment in the parliament. Euractiv quoted László Kövér, the President of the National Assembly, “Hungary might leave the EU if Brussels tries to dictate to us how to run our country”. Moreover, Kövér said that attempts by Brussels to force specific policies on Hungary looks like what Moscow did prior to 1989. He noted that if the EU continued on such a course, it might force Hungary to make profound changes. However, Kövér said that might only happen in the case of a “nightmare” scenario. This forceful response came after the EU exerted much coercion on Hungary, forcing it to implement problematic policies [in terms of its national interests]. For example, rejecting the “South Stream” gas pipeline put Hungary in a very iffy position if it’s a very cold winter and there’s reduced gas supplies from Russia.

The European Commission used the scenario “Cold Winter” in assessing risk factors and testing the willingness of European countries to cutoff Russian natural gas in winter 2014, for example, a two-week cutoff would cause gas shortages in the range of 10 percent in Central and Western Europe (Austria, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Slovakia), if the European states were to show solidarity in sharing the burden of short supply. If such coöperation doesn’t materialise, Western and Central Europe won’t have any problems, but it’d be much harder on Poland and the Balkans. Balkan countries receive their gas via an older system of pipelines that pass through the Ukraine and Moldova. Therefore, they’re almost 100 percent dependent on Russian gas supplies. In addition, they’re not really part of European gas networks, and the amount of gas in underground storage isn’t enough to last the whole winter.

After Kövér’s statement and the harsh words of Minister-President Viktor Orbán addressed to Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, who previously said that Germany would do everything “to steer Hungary on the right path”, the media reported that Berlin was preparing plans to place political sanctions against Hungary. Most accounts assumed that this meant that Hungary might face suspension of its voting rights in the EU. However, the German Foreign Office stated that such measures aren’t really under consideration, noting, “Such isn’t in German interests”. On should note that, earlier, Magyar Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó criticised EU policy on sanctions against Russia, raising doubts about their effectiveness in influencing Moscow’s behaviour, at the same time warning that European exports suffered from their effects. Szijjártó exposed disputes between EU member-states as to the efficacy of the sanctions in resolving the Ukrainian conflict. His statement also reflected concerns that sanctions in the style of “an eye for an eye” could reduce the already-weak prospects of economic growth in the bloc. A source close to Orbán said, “These sanctions haven’t led to the result that we’d hoped to achieve in the Ukraine… clearly, the conflict hasn’t de-escalated. Meanwhile, the European economy suffers, and Central Europe suffers the most”.

29 October 2014

Novorusinform

http://www.novorosinform.org/news/id/13315

DNR OK for Winter Heat… The Uniate Junta Not So Hot

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At a meeting with Russian journalists, DNR Chairman of the Government A V Zakharchenko stated that there’d be no problems during the winter heating season as the DNR had adequate coal reserves, saying, “We’re in the 15th day of the heating season. Currently, the frost hasn’t hit yet, so, everything’s on standby. We’ve tested all the pipes… the only problems are with those in the combat zone. Obviously, we couldn’t carry out repairs on them. It isn’t that we lack the materials… it’s just impossible to do anything under constant bombardment. I think that people will slowly settle into a winter routine, we’ll get along, it’ll be difficult, but we’ll survive. We have enough coal, so, we can face winter confidently. As long as we have coal, we can heat our homes. That’s really the easiest part”.

On 20 October, junta strongman P A Poroshenko issued instructions to start the heating season throughout the country in all homes “without exception” at the end of the week. At a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of Regional Development, Construction, and Housing V В Groisman, he said, “Every Ukrainian home should be warm by no later than Friday”. Meanwhile, Russia and the Ukraine failed to sign an interim agreement in Brussels on gas supplies. EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said, in comments on the tripartite EU/Russian/Ukrainian negotiations, also involving RF Energy Minister A V Novak and Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yu V Prodan, the main obstacle is that the Ukraine refused to pay its debts for gas already delivered. Novak noted that the European Commission hasn’t yet decided how it’s going to pay the Ukrainian gas bill.

21 October 2014

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/1523271

Editor:

The heating in Ukrainian homes will only be at 16 degrees (61 Fahrenheit) AT BEST, instead of the normal 20 degrees (68 Fahrenheit)… in Kiev, where the foreign media congregates. That means that provincial centres will be at a lower level. The Ukraine REFUSES to pay its back bills. This is how the arrogant Uniate nationalist nutters have been since 1991. Russia put up with them for 23 years. Today… it doesn’t have to. The Crimea has rejoined the Motherland and the main industrial regions either are under patriot control or shut down. To put it bluntly, the junta has to pony up or go cold. That’s the way it is…

BMD