Exit Polls Suggest Syriza Has Won Greek Election

[I AM MOBIUS]

I would like to believe that despite this very real aspect of the visit, tsipras also has the peace of the region of ukraine in mind too.

Oh do f*ck off!

[Bereta_Eder]

I can't, at present.

[I AM MOBIUS]

The one who lacks principle is anyone who is opposed to peace.

Yes, Greece, by visiting Russia is essentially opposed to peace in Ukraine.

[Bereta_Eder]

The UK should nuke Russia, to show its commitment to peace

[I AM MOBIUS]

See, you don't even have an answer to that. You lose.

[Bereta_Eder]

I gave my answer goat herder dufus.
It's boring repeating.

[Bereta_Eder]

and now a nice musical interlude from what the radio is playing

carry on

[DinoDoc]

It's actually quite brilliant. Remind the EU that Greece does indeed have other options if kicked out and scare the US ****less as a NATO member may have pro-Russian loyalties. Realpolitik at its finest.

The US didn't already know Greece had pro-Russian loyalties? The Obama Admin is even worse at foreign policy then I thought.

[Bereta_Eder]

It didn't have them.
It was 100% alligned with EU/US line.

[DinoDoc]

It didn't have them.
It was 100% alligned with EU/US line.

Russia's had a high approval rating among the Greek populace quite awhile. The talk with Putin isn't meant to scare foreign audiences so much as it is for domestic consumption. Russia doesn't have the resources atm to throw at a money pit like Greece. The talk with Putin is meant to assuage the Greeks that Syriza tried all the options available to it before accepting EU imposed conditions again.

[Bereta_Eder]

It may have had a rather nice rating but official Greece's stance was perfectly alligned with the EU.
It isn't the first country to have differantiated its stance since then, but it is the most visible.

About the June date, yes I also think that this is where all things culminate with various shades of possible outcomes.

[Bereta_Eder]

As always interesting reading things from all angles.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/vassilis-petsinis/putin%E2%80%99s-%27useless-idiots%27-or-signs-of-deeper-pathology-russophil

Russophilia, as a mass and political phenomenon, can also be observed in other Southeast European societies. Neighbouring Bulgaria and Serbia provide two appropriate examples. However, there exist qualitative differences with the Greek case.

Bulgarian, and to a lesser extent Serbian, Russophiles possess a remarkably more extensive knowledge and experience of Russian politics, society, and culture. Moreover, a good percentage of them speak the Russian language and/or have spent some time in Russia. When it comes to public Russophilia in Greece, the actual knowledge of Russia is rather limited or elementary. Russia is primarily seen as an actor that can regulate Western influence in a multipolar world order, often coupled with feeble justifications on the basis of Orthodoxy, the Soviet heritage, or a combination of both. In short, Russia’s image among the Greek public remains that of a remote, yet not inimical, Eurasian ‘Other’.

[Fake Boris]

Baring some politicians deliberately trying to make the country default (like the tea part Republicans did in 2013) there is no structural reason to default. Certainly not due to an inability to pay. That is why the US has always paid it's bills on time and in full for the last 239 years.

To compare Greece had to strip the cupboards bare including not paying it's domestic bills on time just to make the $642 million payment last week and it has another $22.5 billion yet to pay this year. It can't do it. Either it defaults and gets kicked out of the Euro or it cuts some sort of deal to not repay the money until sometime in the far distant future. Creditor nations don't seem to be politically willing for a fifth bailout so letting Greece go seems the only viable option.

You miss the point.

There are interests on US debt because the probability of default exists.

If you really think the US can't default, lend it your money for free.

[Bereta_Eder]

Greeks are still blocking projects which would create employment and generate new tax money (like new hotels and a planned coal mine that has been blocked by regulators for a decade due the stupid monopoly laws). Why?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexbesant/49-reasons-to-love-greece-jugk#.ntlZ8yY9G

scroll down to reason 26, that's why.

[pchang]

Even if the debt fairy forgave everything Greece owed, the government still does not collect enough taxes to pay for everything that you demand and that Syriza has promised. Effectively, you are asking for a permanent subsidy from the rest of Europe. No one is willing to sign up for that.