Wildfires have yet to damage the Greek government

Headline GREECE: Wildfires have yet to damage the government

The Propaganda Battle

This chapter continues with an account of the diplomatic and propaganda battle fought from Therisso, with Venizelos as leader, chief planner, speaker and writer. Through Klearchos Markantonakis he contacted the Greek prime minister Deliyiannis, trying without success to persuade the Greek government to view the insurgency more sympathetically. He wrote letters to supporters in Crete conveying a 'line to take'. The insurgency was boosted when the veteran Sfakianakis declared his support. Inconclusive talks near Therisso with the French Colonel Lubanski amounted to a form of diplomatic recognition. The prince's efforts to nip the insurgency in the bud, e.g. by arresting the leaders, failed. Gradually the powers, led by the British consul general Howard, moved towards negotiation, blocking the prince's efforts to persuade them to suppress the insurgency by force. Howard's efforts to find a way to restore normality were helped by information brought from the rebel camp by Times correspondent James Bourchier. Meanwhile visits by sympathetic Athens journalists helped to spread Venizelos's message to Greeks on the mainland.

Death of the King

King George, who had stayed in Salonika as a symbol of Greek sovereignty, was assassinated there in early March 1913. He deserved the eloquent tribute Venizelos gave him in parliament. His son Constantine, who became king, was a more difficult customer. The main persisting difficulty facing the Greek government and military authorities was over Bulgaria, where Venizelos's policy was regarded by colleagues (Streit and Skouloudis) as too conciliatory. However, on the question of sovereignty Venizelos was firm, while continuing to persuade the new Bulgarian prime minister Danev to his point of view, which was that if no agreement was possible there should be recourse to arbitration or mediation by friendly countries. Meanwhile a blockage of the London negotiations was resolved by Grey, ambassador Elliot and Venizelos, and the London treaty was signed in May. The Bulgarian issue threatened war in early summer, prompting Greece to conclude a defensive treaty with Serbia in May/June, following a dispute between Venizelos and the King as to the extent of Greece's commitments under it (specifically, whether in the event of war between Austria and Serbia Greece would be obliged to help the latter). This issue was to return during the Great War.

The bailout of Greece and the instability of the Eurozone

The euro has been sliding against the US dollar for weeks. Concerns about the public finances of eurozone countries Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, the so-called «PIGS,» have emerged in financial markets. Greece is facing the severest crisis, with its 10-year bond yield approaching 7%. The Greek government estimates its budget deficit at 12.7% of GDP in 2009. Gross government debts amount to 113% of its GDP. If the interest rate Greece has to pay for its debts keeps rising, the country may have to default on its obligations. In an attempt to recoup confidence in the future of the country, the Greek government has announced a freeze on public salaries, a reduction in the number of public servants, and an increase in taxes on gas, tobacco, alcohol, and big real-estate properties. This should help to reduce the deficit to 8% in 2010. However, the markets do not trust this solution. While the increase in taxes will cause new problems for the Greeks, other problems remain unaddressed: The huge public sector has not been substantially reduced. Wage rates remain uncompetitive as a result of strong labor unions. Moreover, it is not clear if the government can stick to these small spending cuts, as there will be a general strike in February. In December 2008, Greece experienced riots against comparatively minor political reforms. As the majority of the population seems to be against spending cuts, the government may not be able to prevent the bankruptcy of the country. For years, the Greek government has demonstrated rather thriftless spending behavior. This was exacerbated when Greece started to pay lower interest rates on government bonds by virtue of having entered the European Economic and Monetary Union. Greece’s interest rates were subsidized due to an implicit guarantee from the strong members of the eurozone, who were expected to support weaker members in times of trouble. During the first years of the euro, interest rates on Greek bonds were thus reduced; they approached German bond yields. Greece spent wildly but paid interest rates like a much more conservative country. Meanwhile, the Greek economy and voting public adapted to government spending subsidized by low interest rates.

An Exploratory Study on the Attitudes of the Greek Believers towards the State’s Measures during the First Wave of Coronavirus Pandemic

During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic (16 March–5 May 2020), the Greek government took measures to close churches in order to protect the public health of the population. In this case, the purpose of this paper is to explore the response of Greek believers and Churches to the measures of the state, and whether these attitudes are affected by sociodemographic characteristics. Moreover, there was a collection of data on the attitudes of 353 believers through questionnaires, and the proper examination of these data through descriptive analysis and cross-tabulation analysis. The survey results showed that most believers are convinced that national measures are necessary, and they also revealed that believers’ attitudes vary according to demographic variables.

Image Restoration Strategies for the (mis-) handling of COVID – 19 Pandemic in Greece

During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak all countries around the world used several kinds of response strategies to protect public health and control the outbreak. The main aim was to stop the disease from spreading into the community and put a pressure on the health system of the countries. However, severe measures like lockdown of cities and countries brought side-crises like economic pressure on the individuals, corporations and even the state itself. Although the Greek Government was considered to have managed the first phase of the crisis in March effectively, during the aftermath of the first phase, the complete opening of the economy and tourism, the lowering of measures leaded to the increase of new cases. The increased number of cases together with the late imposition of a new lockdown, leaded to the perception of a governmental failure. This perception mobilized direct or indirect image restoration strategies by officials of the Greek Government to maintain the positive image of their handling despite the general perceptions. This paper explores the image restoration strategies used by the prime minister of Greece for the handlings of the second phase of the pandemic in Greece. The methodology used is discourse analysis with the tools of Image Restoration Strategies by Benoit (1995) from October till December 2020.

Did Securitization Fail to Contain the Covid-19 Pandemic? The Case of Greece

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic many European governments responded by securitizing the pandemic and adopting a series of emergency measures in order to curb the spread of the pandemic. However, in most cases the measures were unsuccessful. Does this constitute a failure of securitization? In order to address this question, we will analyze the case of Greece. The case of Greece is particularly interesting because it was one of the first countries to adopt emergency measures and for a time it was heralded as a success story in countering the effects of the pandemic. According to the findings of this brief, the case of Greece does not constitute a failure of securitization. The Greek government did show a degree of inconsistency in its efforts of securitizing the pandemic but that was consistent with the fluctuation of the number of confirmed cases and COVID-19 related deaths and the impact of the pandemic on the Greek economy and attitude of the general population.

ECONOMIC CRISES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AND THE IMPACT ON STATE SECURITY

The economic crises of the 21st century have severely damaged the world economy. The first big crisis began in 2008 with the bankruptcy of one of the largest banks in the US, the Lehman Brothers Bank. The next crisis mainly affected Europe and was associated with the disclosure by the Greek government in 2009 of the dire state of public finances and huge monetary embezzlement. This crisis had a negative impact on many European countries belonging to the euro zone, as well as on many other countries outside this area, indirectly reducing investment or limiting international trade. Another crisis is related to the coronavirus pandemic announced at the beginning of 2020. At that time, most countries in the world have made a "lockdown" of the economy for many weeks. Various sectors of the economy were restricted or completely shut down almost overnight, seriously affecting societies