Gold mining dispute Halkidiki, police station attacked following arrests

10/04/2013

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Vancouver, Canada-based Eldorado Gold Corp has experienced opposition to its plans to mine on the Halkidiki peninsula of Greece. The area is a tourist hot-spot and vital to the Greek economy. Frequent protests have been held in the area and Wednesday there is news of an attack on a police station, in the village of Ierissos.

Campaigners have been active in the area for some time. In February there was an arson attack at a gold mine. Wednesday members of a special forces unit arrested two people suspected of involvement in the blaze. This apparently led to Wednesday's attack on the police station.

The attack in February involved 50 intruders who raided the mining complex at Skouries. Locals and Greeks in Athens and further afield have protested against the mining venture since 2011. They are furious that the Greek government allowed the Canadian mining company the contract. Hellenic Gold, a subsidiary of Canadian company Eldorado Gold, was granted permission to mine in the area.

Those initially arrested for involvement in the arson attack were later released. Now it seems the authorities want to arrest those suspected of blame.

Halkidiki has a long history of gold mining which has often caused disputes. The mining boss said the work would "generate approximately 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in Greece".

According a BBC report "No-one doubts any longer that northern Greece is a source of mineral wealth, with a total wealth in metals exceeding 20bn euros (£17bn)," Deputy Energy and Environment Minister Asimakis Papageorgiou said in a recent parliamentary debate on mining operations in Halkidiki. "We can no longer accept this being left unexploited or barely exploited."

Critics and environmentalists take a different approach claiming "the mining operation will destroy forests in the area, contaminate groundwater and pollute the air with chemical substances like lead, mercury and arsenic".

A high price to pay for jobs or a necessary evil to help the Greek economy?

Either way, who will get rich out of this mining venture? Probably not the people of Greece. As for the people of Halkidiki they could lose money if tourism wanes.

Sources:
BBC

Related reading:
Halkidiki tourism
The Greek Islands
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Draconian Greek Tragedy

08/11/2012

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Yesterday as Greek politicians debated the latest Draconian austerity measures demanded by the EU violent protests erupted on the streets. Greece is no stranger to swingeing cuts and violent protests. That has been the way of life in Greece for sometime now.

The government passed the further measures which will impact negatively on people's lives, but probably not their own. The latest cuts mean that the retirement age will rise to 67. Many Greeks have no work though as unemployment continues to rise.

The vote was a difficult one which divided the Greek parliament further. The government is already a "wobbly" coalition and it is doubtful that it will be able to remain in office as the austerity measures continue to bite. The latest round of demands will see Greek people facing spending cuts, tax rises and labour reforms.

The Greek Conservative PM Antonios Samaras has promised the Greek people that these will be the last austere measure they will face. He has promised that if further "fiscal adjustment" is needed "it will come from clamping down on tax evasion and cutting public expenditure." Surely though that is where it should have come from in the first place instead of bleeding dry the poorest in society.

Greece is now facing a sixth year of recession. So what has been the point of all these bail outs and this belt tightening. Someone somewhere along the line will be making money out this Greek tragedy.

Today's figures show that "unemployment is up at 25.4 percent in August, increasing from 24.8 percent in July and 18.4 percent the year before. More than 1.2 million people in Greece, a country of barely 10 million, are now unemployed, with 58 percent of all young people aged 15-24 unemployed."

It is obvious then that these bail outs and austerity measures are not working. They are doing nothing to help the lot of the Greek people. More austerity means more unemployment and more economic woes. It is not rocket science.

Even though the latest cuts have been passed the bail out will not be forthcoming immediately. Not yet at least. The EU and in particular Ministers in Germany will not commit to the bail out until the Greek's 2013 budget is passed and approved by the EU. The latest tranche of money is well overdue. There is little wonder that the people of Greece have no faith in their political system and the EU.

The Central Bank of the EU will not foot the bill of these new bailots. Instead the money will come from EU countries. In other words from countries that are already struggling to survive.

When will they admit that the EU is not in need of repair but should be blown to oblivion, not literally of course. It is beyond repair. Time for a re-think, surely?

Related reading: So what of politicans, bankers and big businees in Greece?  Are they feeling the austerity pinch. No. It would seem that they are busily stashing away wealth in Swiss bank accounts out of reach of the taxman.
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Greek debt deal reached, At what price though

21/02/2012

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Finally in the early hours of today, February, 21, 2012, EU ministers thrashed out a new debt deal for Greece. Earlier deals did not go far enough for lenders in the EU, plus lenders wanted firm assurances that Greece would stick to any terms agreed.

Of course the problem is that whilst politicians may agree such a deal, the Greek people may not. With an election on the horizon there are reports that extremist groups are on the rise in Greek politics.

The national election has been delayed but it will be held in April 2012. Who would want to try and head this country during some its darkest financial days? Can a newly elected parliament improve the lot of the Greek people?

Greece and its population rely heavily on tourism for economic growth but sadly tourists are turning their backs on Greece. Wth media reports of a volatile situation some seeking Mediterranean Sunshine are looking elsewhere. Add to this the precarious nature of the European currency, the Euro, and you have a recipe for disaster. Yet without tourism and tourists Greece will be a much poorer place.

Currently opinion polls in Greece suggest that it would be a hung Parliament if an election were held NOW. Coalition governments may work sometimes, as long as the political bedfellows have some common ground, but a Greek coalition of the socialist and new conservatives, for example, would be doomed from the start.

The changing face of Greek politics means that just which political parties will stand in an election is hard to determine. The Socialist party is out of favour with some of its traditional voters, being blamed for the mess that Greece is now in. If only life and politics was that simple or that black or white.

Sky News has a report of the debt deal that was thrashed out. In one fell swoop a debt of 89 billion Euros, owed by Greece, was wiped away as payback for promised cuts. To a lay person such as this blogger this makes no sense. It all smacks of "jiggery pokery" as they say. Of course whilst countries such as France have said they would be happy for Greece to exit the Eurozone there is no easy mechanism to enable them to do so. So Greece is left battered and bruised to say the least. The latest package it is claimed will in the long term improve the economic prospects of Greece. Only time will tell if that is true. 

As Communist and Militant groups grow in numbers in Greece you have to wonder where this will all end  Laura Davidescu, Euronews correspondent in Athens, said: “Pushing for still more austerity, as demanded by the creditors’ Troika, amounts to suicide for Greece’s political parties. Not pushing looks like shirking responsibility, since without an international transfusion, Greece faces social chaos.” Yes a no won situation.
Reuters has reported on the latest deal but is less enthusiastic than some stating that there are still many doubts. Perhaps Reuters quote from a man on the street in Greece is most telling, "Anastasis Chrisopoulos, a 31-year-old Athens taxi driver, saw no reason to cheer the deal."So what?" he asked. "Things will only get worse. We have reached a point where we're trying to figure out how to survive just the next day, let alone the next 10 days, the next month, the next year."  Of course in true style the markets responded positively which is their own form of blackmail. 

The Greek tragedy continues to play out on the World stage. The next huge problem though could be the Greek election and what political course Greece takes.
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