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To Friendly Political Parties and Movements Athens, 29 June 2015 Dear Comrades and friends, As you know, following the historic victory of SYRIZA in our national elections on January 25 of this year, a government of social salvation was formed in Greece, headed by our Party President, now Prime Minister Mr Alexis Tsipras. The new government’s clear mandate from the Greek people was to end the policies of extreme austerity, to relieve the socially weaker strata and to resolve the intolerable public debt crisis through negotiations, thereby creating the conditions for economic recovery and growth. Negotiations have been going on since February between the new government and our EU partners, together with the other institutions involved in the Greek program. From the beginning, the government’s position has been that the Greek people’s mandate should be respected and that Greece should be treated as an equal partner in the EU and the Eurozone. The neg...

Based in Athens, The Paragraph offers an informed and humorous perspective on Greek and Global affairs, born of a longstanding relationship with the Russell Foundation (the 'Northern Garrison'). Here we re-blog an abridged version of Theo Iliadis' latest bulletin, published on the 70th anniversary of VE DAY. *** Dear friends, hello! We hope you are all doing as well as possible in the 'interesting times' we are living in, on a global scale. As you know, The Paragraph has been out of circulation for some time, but today we thought that we should not let this joyful and thought-provoking anniversary pass without sending you all a Special Issue, together with our heartfelt wishes for all that is good in life. Hence we congratulate our dear Paragraph friends and readers of all nationalities, on the 70th Anniversary of the Allied Victory against Nazism. The anniversary of what is known the West as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), and in Russia simply as Vict...

Based in Athens, The Paragraph offers an informed and humorous perspective on Greek and Global affairs, born of a longstanding relationship with the Russell Foundation (the 'Northern Garrison'). It suggests some ways in which people outside Greece can help in the long struggle to reverse austerity and all its ills.   *** Hello dear Paragraph readers, We that hope all of you, here and abroad, are doing OK. We apologise for the delay in informing you about the atmosphere here in Athens after the recent election, the resounding SYRIZA victory, and the formation of the new patriotic coalition government in Greece. Why the delay? There were, as you shall see, many events taking place and also we were (as most of the Greeks, regardless of what they voted for) somehow overwhelmed by emotion. What would come out would be (very mediocre) poetry, but not a good report... In order to make our report more useful we decided to ...

The Russell Foundation sent this message to a ceremony in Athens at the graveside of Dr Grigoris Lambrakis. The assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis robbed the world of a man with profound insight into the glorious art of peace. His life and activism continue to inspire new work, such as the timely book by Panos Trigazis, which we are proud to publish in Britain in an English edition on this day, 51 years after he was murdered. Dr Lambrakis had visited Britain three times in the months before his death. He marched to London from the nuclear research establishment at Aldermaston, in the company of Manolis Glezos and other comrades, paying his respects to Lord Byron at the poet’s statue near Hyde Park. In England, Dr Lambrakis had sought international participation in what became the first Marathon Peace March. Strong support was forthcoming, but the march proved a lonely journey for Dr Lambrakis as the event was banned by the Greek authorities and exceptional measures w...

The Bertrand Russell Peace Russell Foundation supports an important initiative from Greece (see below). A nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East would enhance security in the region and the wider world. For decades, Israel's large nuclear arsenal has created instability, with Saudi Arabia now identified as the latest regional power seeking its own nuclear weapon. A nuclear arms race in the Middle East is of direct concern to the European Union, which abuts the region in the Eastern Mediterranean. So, as Greece prepares to assume the rotating Presidency of the EU in January 2014, it is vital that the Greek Government keeps in mind the interests and concerns of the wider Union and ensures these are represented at the proposed conference in Finland, initiated by the UN under the auspices of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whenever it takes place. Greece has a vital role to play in securing Europe's peace and security. This cannot be done in absentia, and...

Following the police raid to remove journalists and others occupying the offices of Greek public broadcaster ERT, SYRIZA called a demonstration in defence of democracy in Greece which gathered in Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament on the evening of Sunday 10 November 2013. Greece takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January 2014. For six months, including the campaign for direct elections to the European Parliament in May, Greece will preside over the affairs of the Union. In foreign affairs, will Greece prioritise peace in the Middle East and advance the creation there of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction? Will it bring to bear its good connections in the region so that the EU reinforces the momentum towards peace in Syria and constructive engagement with Iran? Under the Greek Presidency, what will be the priorities of EU policy towards Israel with respect to its illegal occupation of Palestine, the continuing construction of the illegal ...

Around midnight  in the popular working class district of Amfiali in the region of Piraeus, a young man, age 34, was brutally knifed  to death by a gang of neo - Nazis, members of Golden Dawn.  Pavlos Fissas, deceased, was an active member of the local community in the anti-fascist movement of his neighborhood. The present Greek government is obliged to pursue in every possible way the fulfilment of the law so that the present increasing danger of neo - Nazism is marginalized. The “Greek Troika” government is also trying to pursue a propaganda of total distortion in order to somehow portray SYRIZA as the one “extreme” in the political geography of the country and on the other extreme, "Golden Dawn”. SYRIZA has declared in every possible way that the democratic rights and laws of Greece are constantly being attacked by the brutal effects of the neoliberal policies of the Samaras government with the total support and “know-how” of the Troika. The “theory of the two politi...

In April 1963, Grigoris Lambrakis laid a wreath at the feet of Lord Byron, whose statue is to be found near Hyde Park Corner in London. He had walked about 80 kilometres, all the way from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, carrying his banner marked “ELLAS” (Greece), as part of CND’s annual Easter March. A few weeks later, on 27 May, Lambrakis was murdered in public, in Thessaloniki, in the north of Greece. These dramatic events were captured in Costa-Gavras’s acclaimed film “Z”, which takes its title from the first letter of the Greek word Zi , meaning “he lives”. “Z” appeared in graffiti all over Athens. Dr Lambrakis’s public stand for peace and against oppression continues to resonate in Greece and beyond. He inaugurated the first Marathon March for Peace, carrying the same ELLAS banner he had raised in England. In Greece, he marched alone initially, it seems, defying an official ban on the event. Later, thousands joined him, defying the ban. Bertrand...

Paragraph 6-8-12 Dear friends, hello After weeks of complete absence from your screens, and the cascade of events occuring during this time, this mail might take the charachter of a letter, more than that of a brief Paragraph dispatch. We will deal here with many news, starting with the ... weather here: horendously hot; the hottest summer we remember since we were doing national service in the Navy, way back then, 1988 ... We do not intend to talk about the weather, albeit with all those rapid (and worrisome) developments in Syria one could be easily tempted to do just that ... Incidentally, this ("talking about the weather") is what most political parties do in Greece regarding Syria, and possibly with with good reason. Given the terrible socioeconomic straits Greece is now going through (whose effect is mirrored in the apprehension one discerns in every Greek, of all social strada and persuassions) many a politician know that anything they say on this matter might ...

For Europe’s sake Greece must renege on its bailout commitments – my op-ed in Le Monde by Yannis Varoufakis 25 May 2012   Le Monde commissioned me to write an op-ed explaining my view that it is in Europe’s interest that Greece resists the ‘terms and conditions’ of its bailout package while staying within the eurozone. In effect, to explain why there is no contradiction between (a) the Greek people’s determination to stay in the eurozone, and (b) their tendency to vote overwhelmingly for parties that reject the terms of the ‘bailout’. For the french version, as published in Le Monde, click: Le prochain gouvernement doit refuser les termes de l’accord de “sauvetage” For the english (original) version, read on … For Europe’s sake Greece must renege on its bailout commitments Conventional wisdom has it that, if Greece wants to stay in the Eurozone, it must abide by the terms and conditions of its ‘bailout’ deal. It is my considered opinion that the conventional wisdom is, onc...