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Greece's silent coup – not with tanks, with the banks

weekend themes

by Stelios Kouloglou*

A few days ago, I was asked by Belgian journalists to participate in an act of solidarity with redundant workers in the Greek public broadcaster ERT.

I explained them that the closure of ERT in 2013 by an illegal act of force where, in one night, 2,500 people lost their jobs and found themselves on the street without any compensation, is the first anti-democratic act the country has recently experienced.

The story does not stop there.

After the national elections in January and the rise of SYRIZA to power, Greece has entered a new period of undemocratic deviation. Almost on a daily basis, the Government is exposed to threats, blackmails and ultimatums from lenders, Brussels and Berlin in order to disrespect the vote of the Greek citizens.

Greece is confronted by events that are unprecedented in the history of the European Union.

For instance, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble publicly mocked his Greek counterpart, Yanis Varoufakis. Unelected technocrats from Brussels put pressure on the government not to pass Bills that aim to face the humanitarian crisis. Credit rating agencies, the European Central Bank and loans are the weapons that are used for strangling the Greek economy.

The goal is to make the Greek Government either to bow down and fall because it failed to fulfill its promises to its voters or to fall due to economic suffocation.

The country is experiencing a silent, modern coup that is carried out by modern weapons.

Private media in Greece (controlled by local oligarchs) seeks to overthrow the new government of SYRIZA because it is stressing efforts to put an end to lawlessness and uncontrolled power. The closure of ERT was not a coincidence. Without a public service broadcaster, the government of SYRIZA has no effective means to explain its policy. Instead, Greek and international media also sabotage the Government by using misinformation and deliberate disputes, which are also weapons for the success of the modern coup.

The government thus has a double battle to wage – one against the harsh austerity measures imposed on the peoples of Europe, and another in favor of democracy in Greece and Europe.

What is feared is the fact that if the Government succeeds in Greece, then the Podemos Left in Spain and Sinn Féin in Ireland will follow. This is what they are trying to prevent by using this time not the tanks but the banks.

Source:


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*Stelios Kouloglou is a Greek journalist writer and documentaries director.

In 1996 Kouloglou created and introduced for the Greek national television Reportage Without Frontiers. His documentaries have won awards in Greece and abroad (2000 and 2001 "Euro-Comenius" historical documentary Award).[citation needed]

On November 1, 2008 he began an internet channel named "TV Without Frontiers", a news and political analysis website.

On May 12, 2008 the administration of ERT decided not to renew the cooperation with the journalist. As justification, they said that the emission had run its course. According to Kouloglou, the ERT administration had requested the cancellation of the broadcasting of his documentary show titled “Young Workers for 700 €”, while they also refused to cooperate in the organization of a documentary on human rights in China from Mao to the Olympic Games. The termination of his cooperation with ERT as a result of censorship has raised a solidarity movement in social media and many queries have been made from various deputies to the minister in charge.

In 2009, his documentary film Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, based on the book of the same name by John Perkins, was shown at film festivals in the U.S. and received awards in South Korea and Spain.

On January 28, 2010, as compensation for the previous censorship, Stelios Kouloglou returned to ERT was appointed member of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation's (ERT) board.

He is producer and director of numerous grand reportages and documentaries for ARTE, ERT, including «Whistleblowers»(2004). Among his documentaries stands out "Oligarchy" (2012) a documentary on the world financial crisis filmed in the US, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Ecuador and Greece. «Holocaust of Memory»(2013), is a breathtaking documentary about personal testimonies on unreported nazi crimes in Greece. His documentary titled "The godmother" (2014) focuses on Angela Merkel and her strategy to impose German hegemony in Europe. His latest documentary "Escape from Amorgos" (2015) is a sensational story about the exiled politician Giorgos Mylonas and true face of the military dictatorship in Greece.

Early 2015, Stelios Koulogou was designated member of the European Parliament on behalf of Syriza

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