Word: papaconstantinou
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...measures," said Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, perhaps airing a not illogical belief that Greece may try to avoid all the pain necessary to resolve the crisis it created. "We're trying to change the course of the Titanic," shot back Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou. "Anyone else doing this would get applause. But they tell us, 'You're not doing enough. You won't be able to do it anyway...
...raise $75 billion to close its gaping fiscal shortfall, announced an ambitious three-year austerity plan to reduce the deficit to 2% of output by 2013. "Greece is playing by the euro zone's rules and it will put its house in order," Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou tells TIME. "To borrow words from an ad: Watch this space...
...that Greece was on the brink of a default and would need a bailout from Brussels or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - or even get booted out of the E.U. altogether. "If any other country was making the kinds of adjustments that we are, it would be applauded," says Papaconstantinou. "In our case, they are not sure we are actually doing it." (Read: "Why Greece Could Be the Next Dubai...
...Getting out of it won't be easy. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the euro zone's 16 countries, urged the country on Monday, Dec. 7, to take "courageous" steps to tackle the crisis. Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, part of the socialist government that won power in the country last October, duly pledged to do "whatever is required" to shore up the country's finances. Key to the recovery plan: slashing Greece's budget deficit next year from 12.7% - more than four times the level allowed under E.U. rules...
...Papaconstantinou denies this charge "categorically: I have never seen any document or heard anything of this sort. We want them ((the Macedonians)) to exist ((as a separate state)); we want them as a buffer zone" between Greece and Serbia. "The authorities in Skopje ((the Macedonian capital)) can change their name to anything except Macedonia," and that will remove "a point of friction in the Balkans...