Greece (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

Jon,

The WW2 motto 'Keep Calm and Carry On' appears to fit the situation in Greece, as regards this story and this sentence from the original story posted helps and with my emphasis:

the sudden, sweeping changes, which were scheduled to be considered on November 7 as part of a regular annual review of military leadership retirements and promotions. Usually the annual changes do not affect the entire leadership.

There are different ways of interpreting these moves, notably that Greece is in a bad predicament and if emergency civilian rule is required a new set of fresh, younger military leaders could be a wise move.

Looking back at recent history, when Greece had military rulers so did for far longer Portugal and Spain. Europe I hope has moved a long way from that.

From my limited viewing of events in Greece the violence is very limited, with the focal point being the national parliament and this week I've seen footage of the Greek PM arriving at the parliament in an unescorted car (unlike David Cameron in the UK, even when driving the half mile or less to parliament).

[jcustis]

I suppose I should clarify that I see the sweeping replacement of all the heads of the service branches as an unwise move. Admittedly, I am neither Greek nor in Greece at the moment.

I'm mostly stumped that a sitting government would even have "some of their own" to be able to install when they are on the cusp of leaving. Then again, I've never even paid attention enough to American politics in terms of heads of service branches and the JCS, and their tours of duty, to ascertain if they are shifted around in a cycle similar to what is going on in Greece.

Still seems odd to change military leadership like that. Doing it during trying times like this seems bizarre.

[davidbfpo]

Greece has a long history of what many regard as extremist political activity and in recent years a new political party, New Dawn, has emerged on the right, gaining electoral support - with MPs elected - and street-level activity.

Now it appears under judicial direction New Dawn is being investigated and maybe banned:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...eece-neo-nazis

Last week one Golden Dawn MP resigned, citing ignorance of the party's activities. Another was expelled after indicating that he, too, was about to leave.....The loss of its deputies reduces to 16 the number of seats the neo-Nazis control in the 300-member house – although nine MPs already face charges and six have been jailed pending trial. In February (the judicial figures) Klapa and Dimitropoulou proposed that politicians lift the immunity of another nine MPs who have so far escaped prosecution. A parliamentary vote is expected in the coming weeks.

[davidbfpo]

An article in The Guardian, the author is unknown to me and her mini bio says:

She was previously executive editor and managing editor of Le Monde.

This article could sit in the more active thread on Russian flirting if not subversive activities with the extreme right and nationalists in democratic Europe. See Posts 64 onwards:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...t=20681&page=4

Since it is about Greece it is here:http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...-useful-idiot?

[davidbfpo]

Hurrah:

On Friday, the anarchist leader, Panagiota Roupa, was charged with theft, forgery and participating in a terrorist organization.

Greek officials called Ms. Roupa, 47 — known by her nickname, Pola — the country’s “No. 1 most-wanted” terrorist. With her partner, Nikos Maziotis, she was a leader of Revolutionary Struggle, which carried out a string of bombings and shootings targeting the police and others starting in 2003, and fired an antitank grenade at the United States Embassy in Athens in 2007. The attacks caused several injuries, but no deaths.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/world/europe/panagiota-roupa-arrested-athens.html?

[davidbfpo]

The wheels of justice move slowly and I'd nearly forgotten members of the party were arrested; the account is not impartial and opens with:

The Golden Dawn trial, held in Athens, started in April 2015: a unique penal trial of 69 defendants, among them 18 members of the Greek Parliament, all elected on the Golden Dawn ticket. The major accusation is based on Article 187 par. 1 of the Greek Criminal Code that defines the nature of a criminal organisation. Besides this, three more serious criminal offenses are also bought before the court: the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, an anti-fascist rapper; an assassination attempt on Abuzid Embarac, an Egyptian worker; and assassination attempts on members of the Greek Communist Party.

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/dimitr...ce-and-beyond?

The party had 7% support in the 2015 elections and remain the third largest political party in parliament. For background see:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden...litical_party)

[davidbfpo]

A swift CT police response:

Greece's counter-terrorism squad on Tuesday announced that its investigations have led to the discovery of a criminal organisation allegedly linked to the extreme right that may be involved in explosions, raids and arsonist attacks. It announced that coordinated operations were launched on Tuesday morning in Attica and other areas of Greece.

According to the police, quoted by the Ana-Mpa agency, six persons were detained and will later be placed under arrest as suspected members of the organisation, as well as for their suspected participation in a series of attacks involving explosions, firebombs and raids on locations frequented by migrants and members of anti-establishment groups.

Link:http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/n...2e70f81e4.html

If law enforcement is the route taken, the test will be if they are charged with offences and later convicted.