Greece’s president met little enthusiasm from political leaders summoned to a final round of talks yesterday to avert a new election, reinforcing fears the country was firmly on the path to bankruptcy and an exit from the eurozone.
Greece’s political landscape has been in disarray since an inconclusive election on May 6 left parliament divided between supporters and opponents of a 130 billion euro (US$168.3 billion) EU-IMF bailout, with neither side able to form a government.
After Sunday’s effort at cajoling party leaders into a coalition proved fruitless, Greek President Karolos Papoulias summoned four party leaders for a fresh round of talks yesterday evening.
However, the talks appeared doomed long before they began, as the young leader of the radical leftist SYRIZA party said he would not attend and another leftist leader refused to take part in any coalition unless SYRIZA was on board. Papoulias must call a new election if he fails to engineer a compromise.
With Greece set to run out of money as early as next month and no government in place to negotiate the next aid tranche, investors have begun betting that a long-speculated Greek default and eurozone exit will happen sooner rather than later.
The prospect of national bankruptcy and a return to the drachma appeared to be slowly sinking in among Greeks, who must now choose between the pain of spending cuts demanded in return for aid and an even more painful existence outside the euro.
“We have to stay in the euro. I’ve lived the poverty of the drachma and don’t want to go back. Never. God help us,” said Maria Kampitsi, a 70-year-old pensioner, who had to shut down her pharmacy two years ago because of the crisis. “They must cooperate or we’ll be destroyed, it will be chaos. For once, they must care about us and not their chair.”
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a