Greeks angry at the Germans

ATHENS — Every Oct. 28 Greece celebrates “Oxi Day,” or “ ‘No’ Day,” a national holiday commemorating Greek resistance to the Axis powers during World War II. On Friday, those celebrations took on a greater weight. As Greeks suffer from harsh austerity measures, there is growing popular sentiment here that the country has ceded key parts of its sovereignty, and its pride, to its foreign lenders.
Here in Greece, anger is running so high — especially toward Germany, whose Nazi occupation still leaves deep scars here and which now dominates the European Union’s bailout of debt-ridden Greece — that National Day celebrations were called off on Friday in the northern city of Thessaloniki for the first time ever after a group shouted “traitor” to the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/world/europe/greeks-direct-anger-at-germany-and-european-union.html

“If we weren’t under the E.U., which is the only reason this loss of sovereignty may be justified, I’d have to say that Greece is an occupied country,” said Nikos Alivizatos, a constitutional lawyer in Athens.

Such feelings run so deep that after reaching a deal in Brussels this week for banks to accept a 50 percent loss on the face value of their Greek bonds, Prime Minister George Papandreou took great pains to explain that a new agreement — a troika presence until 2020 — would only offer technical assistance and that it was not tantamount to Greece’s relinquishing control of its fate.

“I was the one fighting the Germans,” Mr. Papoulias, 82, said on national television. “I am sorry for those who cursed at me. They should be ashamed of themselves. We fought for Greece. I was an insurgent from the age of 15. I fought the Nazis and the Germans, and now they call me a traitor?”

Forbes Magazine

In negotiations that ran late into Thursday morning, private banks and insurers agreed to accept a 50% reduction in Greek bonds held by investors. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the agreement will cut Greek debt to 120% of its GDP by 2020. Under the previous conditions, it would have grown to about 160%.

European leaders also agreed to leverage up the euro zone’s bailout fund by four or five times to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion). The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has already been used as a lifeline for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, but may soon be needed for the larger economies of Spain and Italy. The source of capital for the fund hasn’t been decided, although the IMF and China are being discussed as possible options.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to call China’s President Hu Jintao on Thursday to discuss the possibility of China contributing to the EFSF. Premier Wen Jiabao had earlier indicated a willingness to provide support to the euro zone as one of its biggest trade partners. China has the world’s largest foreign currency reserves of more than $3.2 trillion.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2011/10/27/europe-agrees-to-greek-write-down-boosts-bailout-fund/