cafebabel.com

German, Swiss, Polish and local media on Romania prime minister resignation

('euro topics',) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:08:29 -0000

Emil Boc resigned on 6 February due to massive protests against his centre-right government's austerity programme. Hours later president Traian Băsescu named the independent former head of the foreign intelligence service, Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, as his successor. Romania needs an independent technocrat, but he will have his work cut out for him dealing with the intrigues of the opposition, commentators write

Italian economist Eugenio Benetazzo: 'act now or wait for social unrest'

('Amy Hargreaves',) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:00:00 -0000

In 2006 the Italian economist and independent trader forecasted the collapse of the global economy with his prophetic book Duri e Puri (‘Hard Core’). The financial guru gives us his bleak forecast for Europe

Papademos and Monti, Super Mario Bros vs markets

('euro topics',) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:45:06 -0000

Lucas and Mario, the new independent prime ministers for Greece and Italy, have been delivered in advance for christmas in what has been a historic November for crisis-riddled Europe. The Swiss, Dutch, French, Spanish and local press blow a wind of caution concerning having technocrats in power

Four young Europeans react to Berlusconi's resignation: 'There will be civil war'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:49:24 -0000

Barely a week after the Greek prime minister George Papandreou was forced to step down, Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is gradually following suit. Four young Europeans give us their reactions: something to be expected, or not at all? Where next for Europe: can the 'indignados' step into the limelight or is it all downhill from here? Vox pop from Paris

Greek referendum, ghastly mistake? Britain, Portugal, Germany, France and Latvia react

('eurotopics',) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:21:48 -0000

Despite massive criticism and shares dropping worldwide, Greek prime minister Giorgos Papandreou is going ahead with the planned referendum. His cabinet voted for a referendum on austerity measures on 1 November. Some commentators dismiss the move as irresponsible; others praise the democractic act

Eurozone crisis what crisis? 50% of Greece's debt cut

('euro topics',) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:36:46 -0000

On 26 October the 27 heads of state and government of the European Union reached agreement in Brussels on a debt restructuring and new rescue package for Greece, among other things. Last chance saloon for Athens, say French, Austrian, Spanish and Greek commentators

Frappé, cult official beverage of Greek economic crisis

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:00:00 -0000

Having an obligatory iced coffee in the Greek capital is a heady mix of the crisis, anarchic events and corruption at all levels with the wisest and healthiest farniente (pleasant idleness). Only those much-condemned across Europe could own such a flavoursome melange

Riots: Britain's boring thugs and Europe's burning thread

('Metsa Rahimi',) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:23:02 -0000

Don't synonymise the London rioters with the protesting Greeks or Syrians; it is just plain offensive. Yes, Londoners mobilised for four days, but it can't compare to the months of social, political and economic agitation across Europe and the Arab world

Question of the week: getting through the euro-crisis - united or apart?

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:19:45 -0000

The euro has drifted off course and there is no land in sight. How will we emerge from the crisis: united or everyone out for themselves? We ask who rules Europe: one united superstate, or nations ruled by self-interest? Four young Europeans start the debate: join in at cafebabel.co.uk/europaplus

Liv Holm Andersen: 'Danes like to lose their sense of security'

('Elina Makri',) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:02:04 -0000

She talks and laughs with Mediterranean hand gestures and speaks a bit of Greek, but don't be fooled. The 24-year-old is actually one of Denmark’s youngest politicians, a candidate for the Scandinavian’s country’s second smallest party Radikale Venstre in elections on 15 September. In Athens, we talk Europe, the Balkans and learning from Spain

German, Dutch and Finnish reactions on Greece insolvency

('euro topics',) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:30:13 -0000

After the discussion about allowing Greece to go bankrupt was reignited in Germany, share prices and the the euro exchange rate dropped on 12 September. While some commentators see the discussion as sheer populism that could have catastrophic repercussions, others say insolvency and a euro exit for Greece are well worth considering

German writer Hatto Fischer on Greece 'madness' and 'European debts’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:28:33 -0000

The Bavarian-born philosopher and co-founder of the NGO Poiein Kai Prattein (‘create and do’), which launched in Athens in 2003, explains why Europeans have thought that the Greeks were mad, and how we can learn from their current fiscal tragedy

Forget environment! Cars rule the road in Athens

('Nicola Potter',) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:38:58 -0000

In Athens driving is quite frankly a way of life. Doctors and environmentalists sound the alarm, yet it’s the financial crisis that’s on everyone’s mind, while health and environmental issues take a backseat. Take a walk around the city, but don’t expect a breath of fresh air

Environmental art in Athens: art project for Kifissos river

('hkeet',) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:57:55 -0000

Whoever asks the Athenians about the Kifissos river hears mainly legendary tales, as Yvonne Senouf and Corinne Weber, the creative minds behind the international art platform MELD’s Project Nero, can testify. Their project for a vanished river aims to deal with urbanisation and pollution creatively

Eurozone: Greece’s junk in Europe’s trunk

('Louis',) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:11:19 -0000

Were there no single currency, a resolution may be more tricky for a country like Greece. The European union holds an 'extraordinary summit' on finding a solution to this financial crisis on 21 July; a second bailout package is under negotiation

Artists, freaks, revolutionaries: what remains of protests in Greece

('hkeet',) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:28:44 -0000

'We are not anti-system, the system is anti-us'. This is just one of many slogans that are prominently displayed on the banners around Syntagma Square in the heart of Athens. The word ochi, meaning ‘no’, can be seen everywhere here: no to the government, no to the financial and political system, no to the betrayal of democracy

Modern crisis: more Greeks turn to suicide

('Ursa',) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:00:00 -0000

Many Greeks are opposed to the austerity package which will introduce heavy spending cuts and reforms. As they see no way out of the economic difficulties, an increasing number of people are taking their own lives. The Athens health ministry recently reported a 40 percent rise in suicide rates

Indignant Athens: 'get your tax off my ass'

('Elina Makri',) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:57:42 -0000

I haven't been on the streets for about twenty years, but I can't stand this anymore. I decided to protest after many years because I cannot bare our politicians’ apathy for people’s problems. They just keep on slamming the taxes on us - and that’s all. If politicians really wanted to find solutions for the country they would. One indignant protestor speaks

Five gay friendly neighbourhoods in Europe

('Dimi David Opsimoulis Fernandez',) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:00:31 -0000

As the spectacular gay prides flourish across Europe, cafebabel.com local teams from Paris, Ljubljana, Berlin, Budapest and Athens blog about the scenes across Europe

Football viewing rights: Europe 1, Premier League 0?

('Anj',) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:44:32 -0000

UK LANDLADY USED GREEK SATELLITE FOR GAMES! screamed the headline; a British woman convicted of using a cheap European channel to let her customers watch football. Now the European court of justice is 'on the ball'. Read the story in football expressions

EU-Turkey: Atatürk and Charlemagne on your euro notes

('Hatice Sitki',) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:19:04 -0000

It is simply accepted that any new member will fit into and accept EU symbols as their own. Turkey will have to accept this, just like others member states have done in the past and will do in the future...but here are some ideas for a future European Union and Turkey via branding national myths and symbols

Greece 2010 mayoral poll: first social(ist) media elections

('Georgios Kokkolis',) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:48:39 -0000

New Athens and Thessaloniki mayors George Kaminis and Yiannis Boutaris managed the impossible on 14 November. This socialist victory sends five main messages - including the fact that 'people dont give a monkeys about the politicians'. Extract from the cafebabel.com blog in Athens

Join the family business in Crete

('Monica Mircescu',) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:44:00 -0000

According to a study conducted by Philomila Tsoukala, a lecturer at Georgetown University, 75% of Greek companies are family-owned, and even then, youths start earning a living between the ages of 30-35. What's going on?

Celebrating eid without a mosque in Athens

('Georgios Kokkolis',) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:10:05 -0000

For the first time, group prayer celebrating the end of Ramadan was held this morning in the Kotzia square by Muslims living in Athens, capital of a country which is 96% Greek orthodox - blog excerpt

Arianna Huffington: blogger role model for Greek girls

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:18:47 -0000

With quotes like 'Darlings, make blogs, not war', the Athenian, 60, has become a big name stateside. However, the woman once known as Arianna Stassinopoulos has never seen the same notoriety in Greek circles. Too bad

Tips: dating success the Greek way

('cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:56:46 -0000

Dear friends from the north. You can print this out and give it a try but it’s useless. Flirting in this part of Europe is an art. It’s impossible to learn it, because southern men are born casanovas. Opinion

Esma Redzepova: 'Roma are cosmopolitan'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:30:00 -0000

A mother of 47, a career spanning 20 albums and 40 years and songs in Serbian, Macedonian and Romany. At the Sin Fronteras festival in France, the Macedonian 'gypsy music queen' brings a bit of Roma culture to a country which is planning to export large numbers of its gypsy population 'back' to Romania and Bulgaria by the end of the month

Greece crisis: profiling rich, scot-free yacht-owners

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:45:00 -0000

The economic flavour of the Greek crisis tastes different for those on top - the shipowners, the yachting association bosses - than the diet prescribed for the masses. In Athens though, the latter rage against the state rather than the privileged classes. Lucky richies

Athens in video: German cliches on the Greeks

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:15:00 -0000

A Berlin-based Italian video journalist heads to the Greek capital to film social reality under the stranglehold of the crisis. A series of opinions range from Germano-Greek tensions to the weakness of the Greek state, as well as ideas for future solutions. Watch the ten-minute video in two parts (in English with French subtitles)

Crisis viewed by Albanians in Athens

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:22:59 -0000

Is crisis old news for members of the largest, best-integrated minority in the Greek capital? Some feel the Greeks are experiencing the same woes that they went through six years ago

Can renewable energy save Greece?

('James Friscia',) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:52:16 -0000

99% of private buildings in this Mediterranean country use solar energy for hot water and currently only Cyprus’ utilisation is higher. More uses for this renewable energy are eminently possible, if only policy makers would cooperate

Greece: 'Time to teach civil servants a lesson'

('Darren Thompson',) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:33:26 -0000

No public transport for 24 hours in Athens and flight cancellations at Greek airports

Greece crisis: lowdown on Germany's role, US credit agencies and more

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:45:00 -0000

Interview with French economist Céline Antonin ahead of the eurogroup summit on 7 May, where the attendees should confirm their €110 billion financial aid package to Greece, and the three burning questions arising from the crisis which also apply to the European union

Satirists Clark and Dawe take on eurozone crisis - in 2 minutes 35

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:30:00 -0000

We're always a bit baffled by the ins and outs of the eurozone here at cafebabel.com - so it was nice to catch this little Youtube video circulated by the FT's chief economics commentator. Hilarious, though frightening

(Non-)smoker's summer guide to Europe's bans

('Emilie Prattico',) — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:29:37 -0000

While you’re carefully planning your summer holidays, it might be worth considering what destinations will best suit your needs - be thee a lover of those tobacco-filled thin paper cylinders or not

Greek, Romanian, Albanian: why are these racist terms in Europe?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 -0000

It's a fine line between risky jokes and racist innuendo. Those who manage to be funny while staying on the right side of that line are pretty smart. Nevertheless, at a time when calls to reject that protean scapegoat, the Other, are growing throughout the four corners of the continent, a little self-examination in Europe might not be a bad thing

There's something suspect about the Greek crisis

('Elina Makri',) — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:32:46 -0000

The crisis that started in Greece has gone beyond control. Who is making money on the collapse? Murmours from the official blog of the cafebabel.com in Athens

Enough with the 'hard-working Germans paying for lazy Greeks'

Mon, 10 May 2010 15:26:28 -0000

In a spirit against nationalist agitation and economic ignorance, the presidents of the European movements in Berlin and Athens signed a common German-Greek manifesto for Europe on 5 May 2010. Here's what they have to say on a day that the 750 billion euro rescue package is agreed

Europe and PIIGS: bitchy politics

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:38:23 -0000

The acronym 'PIIGS' seems to have characterised the five eurozone losers as that nasty group of girls that everyone hated in school. Since things turned sour on Europe’s financial front, the EU community has shown its bitchy side - a sentiment which is hardly emblematic of the shared vision that the EU was founded on. Rant

Greece crisis: how your average Greek yacht-owner is clamping down

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:30:00 -0000

Greece’s 'creative accounting' has wreaked havoc. Whilst the EU examines ways in which to help the Greek economy during the European summit of 25 - 26 March, are the Greeks ready to overturn their state of mind in order to exit the crisis?

Monetary union and media stress: young Greeks and Germans debate

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:30:00 -0000

This month, Greece was announced to be suffering a eurozone deficit of 12% - the maximum is 3%. The German media has called them the 'deceivers of the euro-family'. The Greeks respond that they are hypocrites, holding them accountable for debts from 1945. Who wants whose diplomatic blood? We hear immediate reactions from the two sides

Wanna go out in Athens? Try the Gazi neighbourhood

('Aatish Pattni',) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

You could almost call it a phenomenon that has worked its charm on the Athenians over the years. Some of the prostitutes in the area even parade around in the latest fashions, like it’s some kind of catwalk

Europe apprehensive about Athens

('euro topics',) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:36:14 -0000

Ahead of the 11 February summit meeting on Greece in Brussels, several EU members are apparently willing to provide aid to the crisis-riden state. The German, Bulgarian, Belgian and Czech press fear a devaluation of the euro and say any measures to help the country should be attached to strict requirements

In Greece, remembering Alexis Grigoropoulos, 15, with riots

('Mohsin Patel',) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:39:50 -0000

Since 6 December, millions of Greeks have been gathering in the country's streets in memory of the teenager who was killed by a policeman during the student revolts. Collisions between anarchists and 6, 000 police have resumed with renewed vigour. 'When will we listen to what the youngsters have to say?'

Evora, where life bumps to a different rhythm than in Lisbon

('Darren Thompson',) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:00:00 -0000

The economic development of the Alentejo region of the country poses the same problem faced by many Mediterranean countries. How can innovation and tradition survive side-by-side?

Snap elections in Greece snap the conservatives out

('Georgios Kokkolis',) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:46:58 -0000

What led Costas Karamanlis to provoke a snap election when defeat was certain on 4 October? The picture in Zappeion Hall is in complete antithesis with that of the 2007 election, where he was a ‘rock star' prime-minister

South Italy tempts its tourists back

('Miriam Franchina',) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0000

In recent years the South of Italy has witnessed a decline in its tourist industry. Now, tourists are returning to hidden spots such as the awe-inspiring Castelvenere grotto, said to be the birthplace of Cupid. A guided visit into oblivion

Greek islands resist fire and cement

('Darren Thompson',) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:39:19 -0000

The Greek islands, so popular among tourists, appear to be surviving the threat posed by excessive construction, something which distinguishes them from their European neighbours. Yet resistance on the islands is not mirrored elsewhere in the country, as urbanisation eats into land susceptible to wild fires

European theatre tips of the summer

('Helen Swain',) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:56:16 -0000

Sam Mendes subtitled in Greek, Oscar Wilde in the open air in Regent's Park and the British Shakespeare company with Czech director Jiri Menzel in a castle in Prague - the best music, dance and theatre doses in July and August

Eur…οpa! As EU elections comes round, 27 European citizens in Athens speak

('Media Consulta',) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:53:27 -0000

Whether they are from Finland to Cyprus, or Germany and France, the first charter EU member states, as well as from 'newcomer' states Romania and Bulgaria, 27 Athenians talk about their Europe and how they think it should be. The EU elections take place between 4 and 7 June 2009, with 736 seats in the EU parliament open to 9, 000 candidates