Greece DEFIES Merkel and EU and PASSES Christmas bonus for pensioners in face of austerity
GREECE defied the EU and its international creditors today and chose to back the Greek people by giving pensioners a one-off Christmas bonus.
Express.co.uk
Fri, Dec 16, 2016
Despite increased tensions with Greece’s creditors and pressure from Germany, Alexis Tsipras chose to stand up for his people and help his ailing population who are struggling under the country’s mountain of debt.
Lenders earlier this week said they were suspending a deal clinched earlier this month to offer Greece short-term debt relief after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras unexpectedly said he would grant low-income pensioners a pre-Christmas payoff.
Tsipras’ action infuriated officials in Germany and several other member states, but French President Francois Hollande and his finance minister came to Tsipras’ defence in a sign of European divisions over how to handle Greece.
Tsipras, a leftist firebrand who swept to power in early 2015, promising to do away with austerity only to sign up to another bailout months later, insisted the one-off fiscal break would not derail the economic targets outlined in Greece’s bailout plan.
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