HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Human Wrongs Watch

The new set of severe conditions that the “Troika” imposed on Greece in return for a new $173 billion (130 billion euro) bailout it needs to avoid a bankruptcy, has led to the collapse of Athens coalition government, as the far-right populist Laos Party rejected the loan agreement and several ministers and socialist senior officials resigned on Friday 10 February.

**Credit: Ggia | Wikimedia Commons

By Peter Schwarz – World Socialist Web Site* – The attacks on the Greek population have assumed monstrous proportions. The “Troika” of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank is demanding no less than the complete ruination of the Greek working class.

The austerity measures already introduced have led to an unparalleled social decline. One in five adults and one in two young people in Greece are unemployed.

Human Wrongs Watch

By Chris Marsden – WSWS* – The defining event of this [last] week’s European Union summit was not what was finally discussed, but the proposal that was sidelined.

**Image: User:Mattes | Wikimedia Commons

Prior to the summit, Germany leaked news that it was demanding an EU-appointed “budget commissioner” for Greece with the power to override Greek budget policy as a precondition for any further loans.

Greece would have to make payments to the banks on its debt—which stands at 350 billion euros even before the 145 billion euros it is likely to seek—its “first and foremost” priority. It could not threaten its creditors with default and would have to accept whatever cuts financial authorities demanded of it, even if the banks withheld agreed-upon bailout payments.

A German government source said that the proposal was also aimed at other struggling euro zone members that receive aid, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland.

The proposal caused outrage in Greece. It was accompanied by proposals from the EU and the IMF demanding the elimination of an additional 150,000 government jobs, cuts and closures across the public sector, and a reduction in the paltry 750-euro monthly minimum wage.