Merkel and Sarkozy try to hold the euro together

Cynic

"Right about now, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are having George Papandreou for dinner." Fried or boiled?

oldtimer

If you are worried about a military coup, you should be more concerned about the colonels and majors than about the generals. They have more to gain.

On the default issue and the status of the Greek budget surplus (excluding interest), such a step does not sound compatible with continued membership of the EZ - the apparent objective of all the EZ leaders including Papandeou.

Verity

Good piece, James.

Re the accompanying photo ... just look at that pair of sly, greedy, conniving faces. All it needs, to be a marketable emetic, is David Cameron posed in the centre.

an ex-tory voter

The irony that of all countries it may Greece which finally stops the statist steamroller in it's tracks, is mind blowing and oh so totally appropriate.

Mirtha Tidville

``One thing is clear, though: the euro is now destroying the whole European project``........oh I do hope you are right something good needs to come out of this mess.

Jez

"The wholesale sacking of senior Greek military officers shows that there are real fears in Athens of a military coup."

This is the first time i've seen this written- and i did feel that this could be the case, which ties perfectly into the reasoning why there should be such a dramatic referendum statement from Papandreou.

The Med EU states are teetering on the brink.

Iain

Could we redesign an EU which requires the elite to consult its electorates and follow their wishes?

Heartless P.

... are having George Papandreou for dinner ...

I bet they are!

fergus pickering

Consult it how often? In the UK politicians consult the electorate every four or five years but in between times they give no heed to the silly, ignorant ratbags, and probably a good thing too.

Robert Christopher

Cynic
November 2nd, 2011 9:21pm
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"Right about now, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are having George Papandreou for dinner." Fried or boiled?

You beat me to it, but the answer is: poaching him was out of the question, so he was grilled.

Fex Urbis

Watching the Sarkozy/Merkal press conference, it was quite a pleasure to watch Sarkozy shit himself on live tv. They don't look quite so smug this week do they.

Benton Marder

There is another possibility here. Whenever the dust settles, the monarchy might well be restored. Modern Greek history tells us that Greece has shifted back and forth between constitutional monarchy and parliamentary republic. This kind of restoration might be well if only to clear the air and permit a fresh start.

William Jay

The military leaders in Greece have been swapped for men more inclined toward Mr. Papandreou. Papandreou expects the Greek people to vote to stay in the EU. Like most other populations the majority will decide to cling to nanny's hand. After that has been decided, should the Communists, trades unions, students and other rabble decide to resume rioting and burning, he can send in the armed forces to restore order claiming he has the backing of the populace as shown in the referendum result. He will be supported by his Euro masters.

"Never play poker with a Greek"

TomTom

It was always a French Project and we see just how far the Euro-Colonies have to enslave their populations to pay tribute to SocGen, BNP, Credit Agricole to sustain the empire

HampsteadOwl

@Fergus Pickering

If what you said were true then, logically, every general election would see a change of party in power as the electorate punished the previous incumbents for ignoring them.

In fact, in Britain since the war there has only been one one-term government: Heath's between 1970 and 1974. Even if you added in Labour between 1974 and 1979, which lasted the length of only one term, but won two elections to do it, the pattern of modern British political history is still of parties holding on in office across periods of 10-15 years.

No doubt it is just a coincidence, but Heath's was also the only government since 1945 where one party gained a clear Parliamentary majority when the other party that had previously had a majority of its own. Interesting, if anoraky, fact, though no doubt posters here will be quicker to comment that it was Heath's diabolical act of European union that explains his unique failure to get re-elected.

fergus pickering

Hampstead Owl, not at all. The electorate vote for the status quo if they feel that is better than what the other lot are offering. Whether they have been ignored or not doesn't come into it. Their opinions over the last five years don't come into it much.
Some of the things they wished for will have already proved to be the wrong things. Like journalists they can afford to be ever so viewy because their views will remain just that. And of course they have instant amnesia about what they thought last year if it proves that thought was wrong. Politicians in power cannot claim this sort of amnesia, though those out of powercan. The Libdems are finding they can't tack with every wind that blows as they have in the past, and they don't like it at all.

Dimoto

Tom Tom:

It may have started as a French project to tie the hands of Prometheum Germany, but that futile effort ended years ago.

This crisis has revealed for all to see, that the Germans have taken over lock, stock and barrel.

Sarkozy is now just a window-dressing, greeter at conferences, and he looks as though he knows it.