Author: Alex Mitchell
-
Sweden stalks Julian Assange
As the Australian Government – in the form of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and Foreign Minister Bob Carr – is cooperating in the extradition of Australian citizen Julian Assange to Sweden, I thought it was time to put the spotlight on the plucky Scandinavian kingdom. Most Australians regard Sweden as a shining…
-
Corruption pervades Greek arms contracts
Athenians are currently enthralled by the high-profile corruption case against one of the most senior members of the Pasok, “socialist” government, former Defence Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos. The ex-minister, his daughter Areti and his ex-wife Vicki Stamati are all in custody as evidence of complex money-laundering charges makes front-page news almost every day. As Defence Minister…
-
A tale of two cities
In London, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint is the British Government’s Minister for Trade and Investment. Between 2003 and 2010 he was CEO and chairman of HSBC, the bank that laundered billions of dollars for drug cartels, terrorists and pariah states. He is also an ordained minister of the Church of England who wrote the 1996…
-
Whither Greece?
After a series of despatches on wartime and post-war Greece, it’s time to draw some political conclusions about the ancient nation regarded as “the cradle of democracy”. To all intents and purposes it is broke and living week-to-week on life support from Euro-bank loans. It is ruled by a weak three-party coalition whose partners are…
-
Unholy alliance against bail-out
The Greek bail-out negotiations are so tortuous that they require a knowledge of quantum physics to track their progress. The next “crunch date” is July 24 when the so-called “troika” representing the Euro-banks, the IMF and the European Commission return with their final report on what the Greek people must sacrifice to satisfy the German,…
-
Greece’s wartime history: a reflection
Hitler’s German army invaded Greece in Operation Marita on April 6, 1941. Using overwhelming ground and air forces, including 10 armoured, mechanised and mountain divisions and the SS Adolf Hitler Bodyguard, the campaign was to avenge the humiliating defeat inflicted on Mussolini’s army. The German army blitzed its way to victory in three weeks with…
-
Greece told to flog its assets
The troika supervising Greece’s relegation into poverty, unemployment and a Third World economy based on tourism, olives and cheap wine has been laying down the law to the New Democracy-Pasok-Kavala coalition government. The troika represents the unelected European Commission, the unelected European Central Bank and the unelected International Monetary Fund. Their reps are sleek, cold-blooded…
-
Paddy’s gift to the nation stalled
When Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, the swashbuckling adventurer, travel writer and war hero, died just over a year ago he bequeathed his magnificent residence at Kardamyli on the coast of the Peloponnese to the Greek people. (See previous online despatch “Where Paddy meets Bruce”, 6.7.12, plus photos on Facebook). In his last will and testament…
-
Where Paddy meets Bruce
A 70-minute drive south to Kardamyli on a divine mission to pay tribute to the extraordinary accomplishments of two Englishmen, now departed – Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin. Leigh Fermor lived in the area almost 50 years and was given honorary citizenship of the village as well as greater awards by the Greek Government.…
-
Touchdown in lotus land
There’s something about the soporific atmosphere because I keep forgetting what day it is. I had to ask Judith whether it was Wednesday or Thursday and she seemed uncertain too. It’s very hot during the day with temperatures above 30 degrees, but that doesn’t fully explain our slumberousness (new word). We are staying with friends…