Greece Votes Communist

[Airborne Rifles]

I imagine Greece doesn't bring a whole lot to the alliance table militarily.

[Gusington]

Greece pulls out of NATO, Turkey moves on Cyrpus, Greek calls for help from...Russia??

[LongBlade]

I imagine Greece doesn't bring a whole lot to the alliance table militarily.

It has the merit of being the geographical backstop to the Dardanelles.

[GDS_Starfury]

I imagine Greece doesn't bring a whole lot to the alliance table militarily.

actually they have a fair amount and they've been exercising it pretty heavily for the last year.

IIRC they either just finished or are in the middle of an air force exercise with Israel.

[Airborne Rifles]

I imagine Greece doesn't bring a whole lot to the alliance table militarily.

actually they have a fair amount and they've been exercising it pretty heavily for the last year.

IIRC they either just finished or are in the middle of an air force exercise with Israel.

Hmm, didn't know that. Are they willing to deploy anywhere to honor their treaty commitments? Haven't seen or heard anything about them ever having troops in Afghanistan.

[GDS_Starfury]

I have no idea but I dont like the idea of shedding NATO members these days.

[bayonetbrant]

Haven't seen or heard anything about them ever having troops in Afghanistan.

As of November 2014, they had 8 guys with ISAF
http://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2014_11/20141111_141107-ISAF-Placemat-final.pdf


that's down 1 from the month before

[Airborne Rifles]

I have no idea but I dont like the idea of shedding NATO members these days.

Agreed, I iust think Greece is one member that gets far more out of the alliance than they put in. Their talk of leaving seems pretty ridiculous just from a self-interest perspective.

[jejo68]

I have no idea but I dont like the idea of shedding NATO members these days.

Agreed, I iust think Greece is one member that gets far more out of the alliance than they put in. Their talk of leaving seems pretty ridiculous just from a self-interest perspective.

Never underestimate the stupidity from that country

[Gusington]

Isn't that exactly the Greek attitude with the EU and the center of all their issues to begin with??

[pawelj]

I think Greece pulling out of NATO is pretty funny actually.  Let them.  And then let Turkey attack the southern half of Cyprus and the islands in the Aegean they don't already have.  Europe chuckles while the Greek flounder about.

Actually Turkey does not have any islands in the Aegean apart of the part of Cyprus and maybe some tiny islets very close to its shore.
Funny that Greece with all its financial problems was spending on military higher proportion of its GDP than any other European country.

[endfire79]

I think Greece pulling out of NATO is pretty funny actually.  Let them.  And then let Turkey attack the southern half of Cyprus and the islands in the Aegean they don't already have.  Europe chuckles while the Greek flounder about.

Actually Turkey does not have any islands in the Aegean apart of the part of Cyprus and maybe some tiny islets very close to its shore.
Funny that Greece with all its financial problems was spending on military higher proportion of its GDP than any other European country.

Greece has the majority of the islands, but apart from the piece of Cyprus, Tenedos (Bozcaada)  & Imbros (Gokceada) belong to Turkey.  Imbros is the largest one.
Both countries continuously contest the border lines in the Aegean, leading to air and sea encounters over the years.  Greece has a much smaller population than Turkey, and the military usually pulled good weight on arguing for a large budget in the past.  Mandatory conscription is also in place.

[jejo68]

Meanwhile here is a german view on the Whole mess.
They compare greece with estonia, which both joined the Euro in 2009, and which both had finansial problems.
One is now doing very well and the other is well..... Greece.

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/eurokrise/griechenland/kommentar-die-freude-am-grexit-13439839.html

[LongBlade]

Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble, the "immovable object" in the words of one economist, stopped Greece's charismatic new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis in his tracks, forcing Athens to extend a bailout program on Friday on terms its government was just elected to get out of.

It was not just German opposition. The new Greek found itself without a single firm ally among 18 euro zone peers in its drive to reverse austerity and renegotiate its debt pile.

The 10 days it took to strike a deal featured a shambolic round of U-turns, leaked drafts and personal slights while panicked savers withdrew money and pushed Greek banks close to failure, forcing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to step in over Varoufakis's head.

...

The principal actors played down personal animosities during the talks; Varoufakis took pains to apologize to Schaeuble for a Greek newspaper cartoon that depicted the 72-year-old former tax lawyer as a Nazi demanding to boil Greeks down for soap.

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/22/us-eurozone-greece-tendays-insight-idUSKBN0LQ0R020150222

[endfire79]

Meanwhile here is a german view on the Whole mess.
They compare greece with estonia, which both joined the Euro in 2009, and which both had finansial problems.
One is now doing very well and the other is well..... Greece.

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/eurokrise/griechenland/kommentar-die-freude-am-grexit-13439839.html

Good luck to Estonia, especially with Putin around the corner.  Comparing a Baltic or Nordic country with Greece is like comparing mars to venus.  Not all the world will read from the same page - I'm not surprised the Germans still don't get it.