Politics
Greek coalition left with bailout exit conditions it wanted to avoid
Eurozone finance ministers have agreed that Greece should be given a precautionary credit line when the European part of its bailout is completed at the end of the year but the new agreement will entail new conditionality, a role for the International Monetary Fund and debt relief talks being put at the back burner – all factors that the coalition wanted to avoid for domestic reasons.
No prospect of compromise for entrenched Greek parties
There will be no meeting of political leaders in Greece to discuss bailout exit plans, debt relief or anything else despite a spate of meetings between party chiefs and President Karolos Papoulias, the only figure that has the authority to convene such talks.
Samaras and Tsipras prepared to go toe to toe all the way to February
In true pre-election mode, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and SYRIZA’s Alexis Tsipras attempted to outdo each other on Monday after they each held separate talks with President Karolos Papoulias, the figure who has found himself at the centre of political developments in Greece.
![Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2013/11/14/syntagma_1000_myrto_1411-medium.jpg "Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]")
With troika review pending, Greek bailout exit plan faces time challenge
With the clock ticking on Greece's plan to exit its troika bailout at the end of the year, the status of the current review of the Greek programme remains unclear.
After ECB tests, it's back to troika review for Greek coalition
After Greek banks passed the European Central Bank’s comprehensive assessment, which alleviated previous concerns about the Hellenic Financial Stability Facility (HFSF) capital buffer of 11.4 billion euros remaining intact, the next key challenge for the government is the ongoing negotiations with the troika.
ECB results light up path for Greek coalition's bailout exit plan
After a series of knock-backs in recent weeks, the coalition received its first boost for some time on Sunday when the European Central Bank’s stress tests revealed that Greeks lenders could need as little as 18 million euros in new capital.
SYRIZA's weak foreign, defence policy credentials a vulnerability
With all the focus falling on its economic policies, little attention has been paid to where SYRIZA stands on defence and foreign policy. With Greece potentially just a few months away from early elections and a change of government, there are few questions being asked about the leftist party’s ability to handle such sensitive policy areas.
In survival bid, coalition seeks to ease taxpayer burden, secure early bailout exit
The government submitted legislation to Parliament on Thursday that aims to tie up several loose ends before the troika’s returns but also to live up to the pledge Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Premier Evangelos Venizelos have made to lighten the burden on Greek taxpayers.
Mixed messages continue to dog SYRIZA
The prospect of power often has magical powers in terms of uniting a party but in SYRIZA’s case an ever more solid lead in opinion polls and the possibility that Greece will hold national elections in just a few months’ time is doing little to unite the party behind a single message.
SYRIZA builds clear but not conclusive lead in polls as PASOK and GD fade
Another weekend has passed and another set of polls have given SYRIZA a clear but not decisive lead over New Democracy.