by system
failure
US President
Barack Obama congratulated the new Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, stating
that he agrees with the termination of austerity. From enikos.gr:
“Greek
media report that US President Barack Obama and new Greek prime
minister Alexis Tsipras had a phone conversation Wednesday evening.”
“According
to TV channel STAR, Obama told Tsipras that Europe must steer away
from austerity and pursue growth; Obama said he would help with this
policy change, adding that the two countries' finance ministers
should be in touch.”
“The TV
channel reported that Obama told Tsipras to take a rest after such a
tough election campaign, adding jokingly that he also started young
and now hair had turned gray. Tsipras reportedly replied that it
would be difficult to rest, because he had great challenges ahead.”
The
"style" of conversation and the statements by Obama show
that the US will seek to cooperate with the new government despite
that already showed signs of fast approach with Russia.
(http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2015/01/greece-and-russia-to-restore-relations.html)
On
the other hand, Putin sees rather a good opportunity to take
advantage of the new Greek government and the traditional relations
between Greece and Russia, in order to upgrade significantly the role
of his country in the critical geopolitical area of East
Mediterranean.
The
developments are fast and the latest move by the Russians is the
invitation to the new Greek minister of foreign affairs, Nikos
Kotzias, by Sergey Lavrov to visit Moscow. Kotzias is well-known for
his positions concerning a stronger approach between Greece and
Russia and Lavrov also spoke warmly about Alexis Tsipras who met him
in Moscow when he was the leader in opposition.
(http://www.koutipandoras.gr/article/132220/lavrof-kalei-kotzia-na-episkeftei-ti-mosha)
Under
such circumstances, the US leadership usually makes clear that any
NATO government should fully align with NATO decisions without
questions, by imposing tremendous pressure. This time, Obama started
rather softly and friendly with Tsipras for a number of reasons.
The
first reason, is that the US truly and strongly disagree with the
German line of cruel austerity: “This explains the recent
statement by the U.S. Secretary of Treasury, speaking about growth
through consumption, criticizing indirectly the austerity policies in
Europe, and the expected reaction of Schaeuble, ...”, when at
the same time the relations with Germany are not in the best shape.
(http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/07/who-is-considered-ostensible-ally-by-us.html)
The
second reason, is that the US have to deal with a new Leftist
government, an unknown X. All previous US leaderships were dealing
with easy manageable corrupt governments in Greece of the
Right-center and the Socialist-center of the political spectrum. The
various US think tanks probably were unable to find the necessary
time to examine deeply the new political landscape due to the rapid
enlargement of the radical Left inside the crisis. For this reason,
and because the US already changed their approach, even against
"hostile" countries (Iran, Cuba), Obama may not risk, at
least for the moment, to lose Greece in the geopolitical battle,
especially when he has to deal with tough open fronts in Ukraine and
Middle East.
Meanwhile,
the American (IMF) side made further steps to re-approach Greece, as
Reza Moghadam has requested that 50% of the Greek debt be written
off:
“Mr.
Moghadam was the IMF’s European Department Director until 2014 and
supervisor of Poul Thomsen.”
“In a
letter he sent to the Financial Times on the 26th of January, Mr.
Moghadam admits that both Greek bailout programs (of 2010 and 2012)
were based on overly optimistic assumptions on growth, inflation,
fiscal efforts and social cohesion. The former IMF officer also
assumed his share of responsibility, as he was involved in the troika
talks between 2010 and 2014.”
“Despite
the major fiscal reform and greatest restructuring of the private
debt in history, the debt remains excessive compared to projections
on fiscal surpluses, which directly affect social cohesion and thus
any prospects of a financial recovery. Mr. Moghadam believes that on
a political level the recovery is impossible, as the excessive debts
block investments and create mistrust. As such, Mr. Moghadam argues
that a significant haircut is necessary, in exchange for reforms.
Should the debt be less than 110% GDP, as agreed in 2012, then it
will became sustainable. The Morgan Stanley officer then underlined
the importance of Europe overcoming its taboos on debt relief.”
http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=671543
Read also:
Greece and Russia to restore relations under the new government
Read also:
Greece and Russia to restore relations under the new government
I think, Obama will not complete it.
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