Socialism

Faced with dissent within coalition partners New Democracy and PASOK ahead of a crucial parliament vote on a multi-bill expected to take place this weekend, Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias on Thursday warned that failure to approve the legislation could lead to “disaster.”

Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis has warned deputies who have threatened to vote against a government multi-bill containing reforms agreed with the troika that failure to back the measures could force Greece to leave the euro area.

The multi-bill of reforms agreed with the troika last week is due to be tabled in Parliament on Friday, with the government still scrambling to find a compromise with MPs and dairy farmers who oppose the proposed lengthening of fresh milk’s shelf life from five to around 10 days because it is seen as helping cheaper imports at the expense of local producers.

Government officials were working over the weekend on the wording of a new law governing the sale of fresh milk, which is proving to be the key obstacle to coalition MPs’ full support for the multi-bill of reforms Parliament will have to pass for Greece to receive its next bailout tranche.

The government's general secretary Panayiotis Baltakos, a close aide to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, on Friday met with Alternate Agricultural Development Minister Maximos Harakopoulos in a bid to overcome the latter's opposition to a provision in a multi-bill of reforms agreed with the troika that extends the shelf life of fresh milk.

The government on Thursday removed from a draft immigration law a provision foreseeing the expulsion of immigrants found to have made false claims of racially motived violence after the proposed measure nearly caused a rift in the fragile coalition.

A cross-party parliamentary panel on Wednesday approved the appointment of Michalis Katrinis, a former PASOK MP and a member of the Council of Europe’s social, health and family affairs committee, as the new head of the state-run Organization Against Drugs (OKANA), which runs Greece’s biggest rehabilitation program for drug users.

Deputy Culture Minister Pantelis Kapsis, a former journalist who is responsible for the creation of a new public broadcaster, said on Wednesday that he would run in the coming European Parliament elections on the ticket of Olive Tree, which is PASOK’s alliance with center-left groupings.

The trial against Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader and former Prime Minister, Sergey Stanishev, in the "lost files" case begins on Tuesday.

The legal investigation against Stanishev stemmed from the case where he was charged with losing 7 classified documents containing information constituting a state secret, while in office as Prime Minister (2005-2009).

From Euractiv

The Bulgarian foreign minister, Kristian Vigenin, has been instructed by his ruling Socialist party “not to haste with harsh measures” against Russia following the Crimea referendum, as EU ministers gather in Brussels in an attempt to impose sanctions on Moscow.