Greek ex-PM slams his successor’s handling of debt crisisNovember 10, 2012 - 19:05 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The man who led Greece into the euro has attacked former Prime Minister George Papandreou's handling of the debt crisis, adding to infighting threatening the Socialist Party's position in the ruling coalition, Reuters reported. Costas Simitis, who was Prime Minister from 1996 to 2004 and ushered the country into the single currency in 2001, said in a new book that the government of his former ally and fellow Socialist was naive and incompetent when the crisis erupted in late 2009. "It was not up to the task," Simitis wrote in his book called "Derailment". "It reacted late, without due preparation... It held utopian positions, such as the limitless and unchecked issuing of (joint) euro bonds." Papandreou's staff was not experienced enough to cope with the crisis, said Simitis. "His advisors, more numerous than those by any other prime minister, formed different teams which did not coordinate and were antagonistic to each other," he said. Papandreou's finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, wrongly rejected a debt restructuring, Simitis said. "The government was insisting that the debt was viable and that developments were favorable," he wrote. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |