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That's not quite what she said. She said that EU must help Greece and reinstate Schengen. Those refugees won't be staying in Greece. http://www.euronews.com/2016/03/01/eu-must-help-greece-over-refugees-and-reinstate-schengen-says-merkel/

This is a very interesting read which answers to several questions about why the people coming from Syria, Afghanistan etc. choose to cross through Greece and not through the land border between Turkey and Bulgaria. http://www.politico.eu/article/bulgaria-threat-to-refugees-migrants-human-rights-dangerous/

I've lived in Greece, UK and Canada. I've visited (other than Greece, UK and Canada ) Italy, France, Germany, the US...that's all. I'd like to visit Egypt to see the pyramids, and also visit Palmyra in Syria and Petra in Jordan to see the amazing antiquities there but I don't see this happening in my lifetime as those areas are inhabited by assholes and are very dangerous to visit. I'd also like to visit Japan and Australia/New Zealand at some point even though my most likely next destinations are Mexico, Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean islands (due to proximity to where I live...).

As long as the rest of Europe doesn't see this as a "European" issue where all EU countries need to work together to resolve then we'll continue seeing people suffering all over Europe, Europeans and immigrants alike.

For some reason (strange reason to me...) Varoufakis has been sanctified by the foreign media (other than German media ) and has been elevated to some kind of a genius (which he's not). I got fooled as well early on, mainly by reports from the US and British media, and thought that the guy was some kind of an anti-establishment hero, an original thinker and someone who could possibly find a viable solution to get Greece out of its financial troubles. It didn't take long for me though to understand what kind of a tool the guy really is. It only took to read some of his writings (in Greek) and some of his interviews to the Greek media. The guys is a complete tool and a narcissist. It took Greeks a few months but most of them eventually figured him out and denounced him. Incredibly enough many Europeans and Americans still think the guy is the cat's meow. They'll eventually figure out what a fraud he is. It's just going to take a bit more time...

Varoufakis should be characterized as a criminal. He single-handedly completely destroyed the already failing Greek banking system and destroyed any chance of recovery for the Greek economy. Instead of spending the rest of his life in jail for his criminal activities and neglect he's instead idolized by many Greeks and Europeans to this day (despite all he's done!) and he's off to "save" Europe now with the creation of a European political party. The guy is a joke, but I can't possibly put all the blame on him. It's the morons who idolize him that I blame the most. We're a nation who loves idolizing narcissists like Varoufakis.

The point is that it doesn't matter who the people are going to vote. It also doesn't matter how many people will vote and how many people will choose not to vote. There's no Greek politician and no political party able to turn things around. No matter who's going to come to power will continue messing things up. So the only way out is to allow the EE to take over and guide us out of this mess. It may take years (it will certainly take years), but at least we'll have in "government" people who will not worry about hiring their friends and relatives in government. I don't see any other viable solution for Greece. If you remember last January I was hoping that Syriza coming to power would be a good thing as they'd hopefully show something different than their predecessors. I couldn't be more wrong. They fucked up royally. Within a year they proved to be way worse that all governments before them. An amazing feat.

I think that's what I mentioned too in a previous post. It's obvious that continue giving money to the Syriza government is a recipe for disaster. Since they came into power they've destroyed whatever was left standing from the previous administrations. If they previous administrations were petty thieves, the Syriza-ANEL mafia is organized crime. If they stay in power for a couple more years then this is definitely going to be the end of Greece. There are people who claim that the Syriza-ANEL ascend to power was orchestrated by powers outside Greece to further weaken Greece and throw her into irreversible troubles. I think this is bullshit. It's the stupidity of Greek voters who continue living in Shangri-La not realizing that the end is really nigh this time around. In the meantime, the Syriza government continues hiring people in the public sector as if nothing happens and nobody (seriously) complains! It must be the "deer in front of the headlights" situation. We see our "death" as a nation coming yet we're completely stunned and do nothing to avoid our demise. If Europe really wants to salvage Greece and (and possibly keep her or bring her back in the EU at some point) they should completely stop all financial help as soon as possible and let the Syriza-ANEL government sink. We've already given up our sea borders to be watched by the Europeans, we might as well let them take over the government as well and help clean up the mess. Our politicians are proven to be incapable of doing anything right.

This is not idiocy. It's called "personal interests". If I were given free money for 30 years in the row why would I accept to give it up and work for it instead? I'd fight tooth and nail to keep this beneficial arrangement going for me for as long as I can. Nothing wrong with this, it's human nature. Ajax is right in this sense, that if the Europeans (Germans...) wanted to stop this from happening they should just stop bailing out Greece at some point and let them deal with reality. If you keep filling Tsipras' wallet with European loans then you'll keep him in power forever and undermine any chance of getting Greece out of this hole. All this assuming that the Europeans want Greece out of this situation. Seeing that they keep pumping money into Greece and supporting the Tsipras government I'm starting to think that they may have a different plan and reasons for supporting Tsipras and maintaining the status quo in Greece.

Nothing of what you said is true. FYROM is irrelevant and out of the equation. Greece has received financial support, and also support from NATO to control the flow of refugees from Turkey through Aegean.

Αυτοι που πριν λιγους μηνες ψηφιζαν το Συριζα και πιστευαν τα παραμυθια τους ειναι οι ιδιοι που σημερα σπανε και καινε γιατι τα παραμυθια δεν εγιναν πραγματικοτητα. Κλασσικοι Ελληνες. Ας βγαλουν το κεφαλι τους απο τον κολο τους (οπως λεμε στ'Αγγλικα) κι ας αρχισουν να χρησιμοποιουν λιγακι και το μυαλο τους. Εχουμε φτασει εδω που φτασαμε γιατι ο μαλακας ο περηφανος λαος ψηφιζει λαμογια κι απατεωνες στην εξουσια.

Germany doesn't have a left wing government.

Interesting article arguing that we're coming to the end of the Merkel era: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/opinion/the-end-of-the-merkel-era.html?ref=international&_r=1 What's next? It's pretty worrisome seeing many far right-wing parties gaining ground all over Europe. Germany is no different.

Ionians, Aeolians, Macedonians etc. did not only live in what is today known as the Greek mainland. In that respect all those people who came from Asia Minor, Pontos, former Soviet Union etc. had (at least some...) Greek blood in them. If anything, I'd argue that these people coming from areas where they were surrounded by non-Greeks most likely kept their heritage and gene pool "more Greek" than the Greeks in mainland Greece where they were overcome by several invaders over the centuries. To my knowledge, and from what I've read and heard, up until 1922 when there was the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey most Greek communities in Asia Minor (along the coast but also deep in Anatolia too) kept their Greek language and traditions going for centuries. Also 99% of the time Greeks used to marry other Greeks and they'd very rarely mix with other cultures living in their areas (Turks, Syrians, Armenians, other). Based on this I'd assume that most Greeks who came from Anatolia were most likely more "Greek" in terms of their bloodline, as compared to the Greeks in mainland Greece.

Not in the sense we understand it today. It was still fragmented. Athenians, Spartans, Thebans, Macedonians etc. always saw themselves as Greeks and as "related" to each other, but they also saw themselves first as Athenians, Spartans etc. and then as anything else. They clearly thought that all outsiders were "barbarians" or "different" than them, but this didn't stop them from killing or hating each other too in a typical Greek fashion

If you already have a tablet, why don't you use your tablet for reading? I don't see any real difference between those readers and a tablet.

I'll let ajaxmonkey reply about the Greek priests and their role during the Ottoman rule of Greece. His reply is probably going to be more candid and entertaining than mine .

Do you mean when modern Greece became a "country" as we know it today? That would be 1830 I believe. The first Greek republic (and then Kingdom of Greece...) only included Peloponnese, part of central Greece excluding Thessaly, and some of the Aegean islands.

It's not a fact. This is one man's opinion.

Most modern Egyptians are Arabs, but this doesn't mean that there's no connection between the ancient Egyptians and modern Egyptians. This connection can be a "cultural" one on the most part, but it can also be a connection through DNA. In Europe there has been migrations, wars, rape etc. etc. for millennia. There's no "pure" Greek or Italian or German, or English or whatever race. We're all a mix of races, people, cultures. Most European nations, as we know them today, were mostly developed recently, in the past 200-300 years. Most borders as we know them today are even more recent, maybe 100 years old or less in most cases. Modern Greeks are the cultural descendants of ancient Greeks. Are all modern Greeks 100% pure blooded "Greeks"? Problaby not. On the other hand, what do we mean when we say "pure-blooded" Greeks"? Are we talking about the Achaeans? The Dorians? The Ionians? The Minoans? The Byzantines? The Pontians? The Thracians? The Macedonians?...the list goes on and on. Obviously most modern Greeks will have traces of some of these people, plus more. Greece has been a crossroads for millennia. There have been countless wars and migrations of several different races of people during this time. What connects today's Greeks with the ancient Greeks is the land, the language and the culture.

We're talking about the refugee crisis in this post guys. Please keep it that way.

I agree that religion is one of the key problems here. But there are other issues, cultural differences and expectations from either side which need to be addressed. I think the education of all new comers and their immersion into the "European" culture is key. All new comers should be made aware of what is acceptable behaviour in the western socieities and what isn't. In their countries it may be acceptable to mutilate female genitals, rape or sexually harass women, girls and boys, beat their wives or whatever else. Coming to Europe or North America these people need to understand that these actions are not acceptable and are punishable by law. I don't care if these people choose to eat halal meats or fast during ramadan or whatever. Christians have many weird traditions they follow too. As long as they don't harm other people they can do whatever they please. I do care though if they harm their kids, women or other people with their actions and "traditions". They need to understand that some of their "traditions" are unnacceptable in western societes and punishable by law. If they want to continue following these "traditions" they should then move to countries and societes which allow them to do all these things. The issue here of course is that since western societies are much more progressive are always trying to accomodate every crazy thing and "tradition" those immigrants want to bring in their new home with them. This is not possible, and that's what has put many western societies in a tough spot today.

I've lived in the UK for a couple of years. London was a truly multicultural society with all the good and bad things that come with it. As I said in a previous post, the current influx of refugees and immigrants in Europe is a complex issue. It goes without saying that the people fleeing Syria because of the war need help. If they are to permanently move and live in Europe they'll need help to adjust to the European lifestyle. The way France and England (mainly) are treating non-European immigrants and refugees is deplorable. If you marginalize these people and congregate them in "special" areas within your cities then you're creating a problem. You're not helping them and you're not helping the local societies. All newcomers need to be integrated into the societies they choose to live in. If the choose to live in England then they should be educated about the English norms and way of life and slowly adjust to this new reality. They can't move into the UK thinking that they'll continue doing the same things they did in Syria.

Well Xenophon seems to be from Britain, so he definitely counts as a European who can be worried about the European culture and heritage.