Things I've Learned

Bear of the week is the political bear. (Since this tends to be a political blog, but no, it’s “just a phase I’m going through”)

(via apsies notthatkindagay warrennotg)

This is the question that brought a friend from Canada on this humble tumblr page, and it’s interesting enough to make me want to learn about it and answer it. As I wrote, some time last week,* the big news of Greek PM Papandreou’s visit to the U.S. was the announcement that Greece became a member of the US Visa Waiver program. This means that soon, once this decision gets verified by parliament, Greek citizens won’t need a visa to visit the U.S. Greece is the last one of the first 15 EU-member countries to enter the Visa Waiver program and this has led many to believe that my country was descriminated by the US.

So, after reading a livingingreece.gr post about Google Waiver program it seems that there were two problems. First was terrorism in Greece, partly solved after the capture of members of the terrorist organization 17 November back in 2002. And the second problem was the issuing of modern biometric passports that didn’t take place before September 2006. Of course another issue could be a co-operation between the two countries in counter-terrorism procedures such as access to DNA and fingerprint databases but those, are mostly kept under the table.

MEANWHILE, Australia issued a travel advice on Greece yesterday, calling for attention of Aussie citizens in Greece mainly because of violence. Apparently written by people who have known Greece only through the media. Anyway…. we will survive!  

MORE:

• Secretary Napolitano Announces Greece’s Designation as a Member of the Visa Waiver Program
• Greece enters U.S. Visa Waiver program in 2010. (livingingreece.gr)
• Απ’ ευθείας πρόσβαση σε DNA και αποτυπώματα έχουν οι ΗΠΑ (Ελευθεροτυπία)
• Travel Advice for Greece (smarttraveller.gov.au)

* (I need to find a tumblr theme that includes date and time of posting, help is welcome)

For many people the words Politics and Hypocrisy tend to be synonymous. Honestly, I don’t think they are completely wrong to believe that. For high-ranking politicians it can be very risky to be open and honest on every occasion and to keep standing up for their beliefs. It’s the moment when politics stop being a passion and start being a career. And many times, a lucrative one.

Two news stories from USA that caught my eye recently:

• In one of them, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, and recently tv star, Sarah Palin. Although she appears strong in her belief against the state health care system of her country she admitted that her own family often passed the borders to seek health care in Canada.
• And in another story which appeared in the headlines a few days ago, US state senator Roy Ashburn, announced he is gay. This normally wouldn’t be a big story, unless the Republican senator kept voting against gay right measures for the last 14 years in office. This could open a big discussion about homophobia and sexual orientation but we can discuss it on another day.

More:

• Sarah Palin’s family sought health care in Canada (telegraph.co.uk)
• US anti-gay rights senator Roy Ashburn comes out (bbc.co.uk)

To summarise Greece PM Papandreou’s yesterday meeting with Obama, the US President:

• expressed “political” support for measures aiming to fight the financial crisis and “encouraged Athens’ efforts to boost financial regulation”

“The central task before the Greek government is to continue to move forward on their plans to restore fiscal stability and growth to its economy,” a US official told reporters.

• announced that Greece became a member of the Visa Waiver Program, which means that once this will be ratified by Parliament, Greeks won’t have to issue a visa before travelling to the US.
• expressed the willingness for the US to recognise the country currently known as “Republic of Macedonia” with the name “Republic of Northern Macedonia” which may be one solution to the Macedonia naming dispute.

I’d like to offer some fashion commentary on the First Ladies, but Mrs-O.org can do it better than me ;)

More:

• Support-gathering meeting with Obama a success, Greece says (www.dw-world.de)
• Βόρεια Μακεδονία προτείνουν τώρα για το όνομα οι ΗΠΑ (tovima.gr)
• Obama supportive of measures: Papandreou (Bloomberg)

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou walks out of the West Wing after a meeting at the White House March 9, 2010 in Washington, DC. Papandreou met with President Barack Obama.

Photographers and members of the press weren’t allowed in the meeting but I guess we will see official photos in a few hours. I understand that being together with the president of Socialist International wouldn’t be a very pleasant picture for the American conservative media.

The big news of this meeting though, is that Greece became a member of the US Visa Waiver Program. This means that Greek citizens will be allowed to travel to the US without having to go through the painful procedure of issuing a visa.

“Our efforts to guard against terrorism while enhancing legal travel and trade depend upon close collaboration with our international partners,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I commend our partners in Greece for committing to strong screening and security standards and enhanced information sharing for travel by Greek citizens to the United States as we work together to protect our citizens and strengthen our economies.”

More: Homeland Security announcement

Of course, we shouldn’t expect a rush of Greek travellers to the US, especially during those hard times but it will make travelling procedures a lot easier for those who need to travel there.

I expect many to ask the question “So, what did Greece gave back?”. Access to DNA databases, granted by the previous Greek government may be one answer, while further involvement in Afghanistan is another. Greece agreed to take over the operation of Kabul’s airport adding to today’s peaceful Greek presence in the country.

• Meeting with President Barack Obama: Prime Minister’s statement
• Greece becomes new member of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (wireupdate.com)

Photo from Reuters Pictures

Caption contest anyone?

Not really. Greek Prime Minister [AND Foreign Minister] George Papandreou met U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday in at the State Department in Washington, during Papandreou’s official visit to the U.S. Later today he will meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House. The reason for this visit as he describes it in an op-ed on the New York Times today is to…

[bring] a message from Europe: The challenge we face is not just Greek or European; it is American as well, and together we must find a solution.

In other words, what he is trying to do is to get support from world leaders in order to be able for Greece to borrow more money in order to pay some of the gigantic 300 billion euros debt.

Photo from Reuters Pictures