GREECE

Greece
Greece This month - February 2015
This month
In this issue:
• Eurozone approves Greek reform proposals.
• The Customs of the Greek Carnival ‘Clean Monday’
• Rebetiko Carnival: The story
behind the scenes
• PoWer Community & Desmos:
The Importance of Volunteering
• Greek food entrepreneurship in
London
• ‘Greek scent’ in the Oscars 2015
Eurozone approves Greek reform proposals
Tax evasion and corruption top governmental priorities
After intensive negotiations in Brussels
last week and following the deal reached
in the last Eurogroup of February 20, the
eurozone’s 19 finance ministers have approved on February 24, a six-page list of
reforms submitted Monday night by the
Greek government, clearing one of the
last hurdles to extending its €172bn bailout for another four months.
The approval, which came in a teleconference between the ministers and representatives of the three institutions that monitor Greece’s rescue programme, shifts
the debate of the Greek programme to
national capitals, where several eurozone
parliaments must approve the extension
before week’s end.
“We call on the Greek authorities to
1
further develop and broaden the list of
reform measure,” the eurozone said in a
statement.
So far, the reform list “is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point,”
EU Financial Affairs Commissioner
Pierre Moscovici stated, adding that :
“We are encouraged by the commitment
to combat tax evasion and corruption ...
as well as to pursue reforms to modernize
the public administration.”
In its list of reforms, the Greek government says it will combat tax evasion and
corruption, reduce bureaucracy, review
public spending, modernize the pension
system, reform the judicial system and
address rising poverty through measures
that have “no fiscal effect.” It says authorities will “turn the fight against corruption
into a national priority.”
According to the British newspaper Financial Times, the most crucial approval will come in the German Bundestag,
where there remains strong scepticism
about the new Greek government’s ability
to meet the programme’s reform requirements.The prospect of the approval had
sent Greek stocks surging earlier on Tuesday, with the ASE Index up 8.4 per cent,
as FT reports.
Meanwhile, good news for the Greek
economy as the European Commission
released its economic forecast Thursday,
ISSUE 162
February 19, stating that Greek economic
growth rate is expected to reach 1.0 pct in
2014, rising to 2.5 pct in 2015 and 3.6 pct
in 2016. The Commission, however, noted that these forecasts were based on the
condition of fully implementing commitments included in an economic adjustment program.
Economic growth in the Eurozone is
projected to reach 0.8 pct in 2014, 1.3 pct
in 2015 and 1.9 pct in 2016, while for the
EU is projected economic growth rates
of 1.3 pct in 2014, 1.7 pct in 2015 and 2.1
pct in 2016.
The unemployment rate is expected to fall
from 26.6 pct in 2014 to 25 pct in 2015
and 22 pct in 2016 in Greece, while in the
Eurozone the unemployment rate is projected to fall from 11.6 pct in 2014 to 11.2
pct this year and 10.6 pct in 2016.
Greece’s fiscal deficit is projected at -2.5
pct of GDP in 2014 and to return to
surplus of 1.1 pct in 2015 and 1.6 pct in
2016. The country’s public debt is expected to fall from 176.3 pct of GDP in 2014
to 170.2 pct this year and to 159.2 pct in
2015, while the inflation rate is projected
to ease from -1.4 pct in 2014 to -0.3 pct
this year and to return to positive ground
(0.7 pct) in 2016.
2
Greece This month - Ferbruary 2015
ISSUE 162
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
“Clean Monday”
&
The Customs of the Greek Carnival
Carnival is one of the most enjoyable periods of the year taking place in February(this year on 22nd). There are plenty of
traditions that differ from region to region
all around Greece. Among them, the wellknown Carnivals of Patras and Xanthis are
those that traditionally make the difference, where the preparations start one year
earlier.
But which are the origins of the word ‘carnival’? Many versions exist, but the dominant
one is that the word owes its roots from the
Latin name “carne vale” which means “end
of the meat”, as according to the Greek Or-
thodox tradition and religion, the day
of the Carnival is the day that the clergy
stops eating meat and the 40 days Lent
,till the Easter, begins.
In Greece, these events are closely connected to the ancient pagan rituals, honoring the Greek God of wine, Dionysus.
According to the Greek mythology and
tradition, the celebrations were dedicated to the return and the regeneration of
spring also known as “Dionysia”. During
these festivities Dionysus’ followers were
dressed up as satyrs (the goat-like companion of Dionysus) and run screaming
through the city were other celebrations
were happening, a custom that exists till
today.
The next day of the Sunday Carnival is
called ‘Kathara Deutera’, translated in English as ‘Clean Monday’, as it is regarded
as the day for the “cleaning” of the body
and soul (celebrated this year on February 23).
Concisely, Lent has a strong religious
character for the Christian calendar and
the Christians all over the world. This first day of the Lent is famous for the nutritional vegan (non-dairy) habits.
It is also a bank holiday for Greece, where people organize excursions and open-door
picnics with the mainly meat-free Greek deli ingredients like Olives, ‘tarama’, halvah,
fruit and salads, shellfish and a special bread, called “lagana”, which is produced specially for this time of the year, something like the Italian focaccia in size but without
adding oil.
The flying kites complete this traditional open- door landscape, highlighting the
coming of spring. “Every year it’s better because last year we celebrated with sleet.
So I’m certain next year we’ll have sunshine,” the mayor of Athens, Giorgos Kaminis
stated, who visited the Philopappos Hill for the Clean Monday celebrations.
“There’s a message of optimism in every neighbourhood of Athens where celebrations were organised. This is a great message of hope, optimism and love for the
people,” he added.
For all those reasons, Greeks, all over the world, are trying to keep alive all these
habits and customs that form the Greek tradition and culture. In London, the Hellenic Centre organizes special events and festivities for that day of the year, such as
masquerade dance parties and traditional vegetarian lunches for the celebration of
‘Clean Monday’.
3
4
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
Greece This month - February 2015
Rebetiko Carnival
The story behind the scenes
Last summer in London was more special
than usual not only because of the unprecedented high temperatures but also
for an unprecedented music festival. For
the first time in London, a group of Greek
musicians organized a festival dedicated
to the Rebetiko music, Rebetiko Carnival
was on the map.
In a small music stage at Camden Town
the Greek music band Plastikes Karekles
after their usual monthly gig made a big
thought. Pavlos Carvalho, the leader of
the group suggested: “ What if we organize not only a gig per month dedicated
to Rebetiko, but a whole month ?” . The
idea at that point was pretty much crazy
and unrealizable. But day by day this idea
grew bigger and bigger with more inputs
and bigger expectations and finally, last
June 2014 the whole month was dedicated
to Rebetiko music and modern composers
5
as well as all those influenced by Rebetiko music such as Mikis Theodorakis. The
band performed the ‘Epitaph’, one of Mikis
Theodorakis’ biggest opus, in Royal Academy of Music!
Pavlos Carvalho a half Greek and half
Brazilian classical cellist and bouzouki player, Sarah Dubost-Hautefeuille a
French classical cellist, and guitar player
as well, Manolis Taouxis a bouzouki player who moved to London to work as a
Food Scientist, Marina Deligianni an also
Greek vocalist who continued her career
in London from Athens the last 2 years,
Maria Tsirodimitri the main guitarist of
the group and a graphic designer and
Stelios Katsatsidis (!) the accordionist of
the group who left back his music career
in Athens for studying “Alexander Technique” in London.
This is the core of the Plastikes Karekles
with occasional changes in the band, depending on the needs. One of the group’s
bouzouki players Manolis Taouxis mentions “We are so different people and
musicians with different backgrounds and
origins, but with one common destination:
we share the same passion and love for
good music and our belief that Greek music is something deeper than the touristic
versions that we will easily come across
when we live abroad. We believe that Rebetiko music is a small sample of our tradition and culture which is coming from far
in years and will travel even further”.
The inaugural concert was dedicated
of course to the ‘patriarch’ of Rebetiko,
Markos Vambakaris, with a lecture for
ISSUE 162
the history of the Rebetiko by the luthier
Christos Spourdalakis the first guest of the
Carnival who also offered his instruments
for a proper traditional Greek musical
instruments exhibition before the concert.
The following days passed with music
from Smyrna with London based violinist
Michalis Kouloumis and his band Meltem Trio. Asia Minor singing workshops,
violin master classes with one of the best
in his kind and second guest coming from
Greece the violinist Kyriakos Gouventas
in SOAS University, theater of shadows
(Karagiozis) with one of the last muppet
maker of the traditional Greek Shadow
theater, Athos Danelis.
A performance which was escorted by live
music with Kyriakos Kouventas leading
the violin. The last two concerts of the
festival were the most breath taking, the
Epitaph of Mikis Theodorakis at the Royal
Academy of Music, in a classical arrangement with Plastikes Karekles and soprano
Marina Theodoropoulou and the baritone
Anastasios Michalis. The closing concert
of the festival was a huge party within the
small venue in Camden, full of people and
the touching performance of Marina Deligianni in Rebetiko by Stavros Ksarchakos
making a unique and rare atmosphere
6
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
with all the spectators being in one big
fellowship singing all together.
Rebetiko Festival was not only concerts
and gigs but also had an offering and a
charity aspect. In the framework of the
Rebetiko Carnival Pavlos Carvalho and
Plastikes Karekles lead a series of workshops with small students from English
Schools from ages 6-17 teaching them
Greek Traditional rhythms and creating
a huge child choir singing Greek traditional tunes along with professional
musicians.
According to Pavlos Carvalho new concerts have been already booked for 2015, in
several venues among them the famous ‘King Place’. The prospects of the Carnival is to
expand and share the important pieces of Greek culture and music tradition in a festival that will be established as London event.
For more info please visit rebetikocarnival.co.uk.
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
PoWer Community and the NGO Desmos
The Importance of Volunteering
PoWEr is a volunteering community,
run by Greek and Cypriot students of the
University of Leeds. Their actions have
included so far fun activities such as pillow fights for good cause or charity football tournaments and music events. Each
event provides a hand up to support charity institutions mainly across Greece and
Cyprus, but also at the local community of
Yorkshire. The team of Greece This Month
organization Desmos, which is based in
Greece.
What are the aims of PoWEr?
The aims of PoWEr is to organize fun and
unique charity and volunteering events, so
as people, and especially young people understand that “giving” is a very easy thing
and fun doing! We have to include “volunteering” and “giving” in our everyday lives.
How many volunteers are in the PoWEr
community?
At the moment we are 38 members and
more than 180 volunteers from all over the
world.
What does their decision to participate in
humanitarian actions mean in practical
terms?
had the pleasure to meet Kyriakos KyriaThis is the third year that we are orgakopoulos, member of the non- profit orga- nizing charity events. In the past we have
nization Desmos and one of the members organized a charity football tournament, a
of the volunteering community PoWEr,
live music night, a large pillow fight for a
and to discuss about their achievements
good cause, theme parties and this year a
and their future ambitions as well as the
mini festival of Greek music and a PoWEr
social importance of volunteering in order Charity Challenge, which is going to be a
to helps to em-poWEr our personalities.
multi-activity event based on football.
Up to now we have provided heating fuel,
What inspired Greek and Cypriot students food, pillows, clothes, basic every day
in Leeds to run “PoWEr” volunteering
products and this year medicine and medcommunity?
ical equipment, all in cooperation with the
The financial and social situation at our
non profit organization Desmos.
home country started creating discussions between us with ideas and ways of
How do you handle difficult situations and
changing things and help people in need. how easy is to get support for your projPoWEr is just the implementation of these ects?
ideas in order to offer as much help as we At the first projects it was hard to percan, in cooperation with the non profit
suade big companies and corporations
7
8
Greece This month - February 2015
to support some young students that are
planning very big events. The success of
the past years has brought more and more
supporters and now things are relatively easier, although we would like more
companies to support and donate some of
their goods.
What has being the highlight of your volunteering action?
To be honest each event was very important for us. It’s like a chain, one brings the
other, so all of them are important. There
are plenty of people working for those
events and plenty of organizations and
individuals supporting us. If we had to
choose our highlights would be when we
received 3 awards for our first event in
2013 and it was something very rewarding
for all volunteers and participants. Another highlight is when companies and
individuals call us when they want to help,
volunteer and generally support but they
don’t know how so they get our advice.
That means a lot to us as they appreciate
our efforts.
9
ISSUE 162
What are poWEr’s future plans and actions?
This year we have two big events. The first
one is on February 25, which is a mini
Greek music festival with 5 music groups.
The second one is on March 8, and it’s
a huge football tournament of men and
women, the “PoWEr Charity Challenge”.
In parallel there will be lots of events,
competitions, games and activities for
young and older people.All the money will
be used in order to provide medicine and
medical equipment to welfare institutions
in Greece, in cooperation with the non
profit organization Desmos. In addition,
companies will donate 1kg or 1 package
of their products to charities for each goal
that is going to be scored in the tournament. Finally we are going to help and
support the local community of Leeds and
Yorkshire.
How can someone get involved?
They could simply send us an email
at [email protected] or visit our
facebook page https://www.facebook.
com/poWEr.Official.Page and our facebook event https://www.facebook.com/
events/1547928402146524
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
Greek Food Entrepreneurship
in London
Recently, there has been a renewed interest in Greek cuisine all around London;
partly not only thanks to the importance
of the Greek tourist sector, regarding the
incredible figures of international tourist arrivals in Greece during the two past
years (confirming that the country remains a world class destination on the international tourism map) but also thanks
to the rising scientific research about the
Mediterranean diet and its connection to
Greek cuisine.
Another reason is that all the Greek
restaurants and tavernas in London have
evolved from the dish-smashing customs
of the past and in Hollywood films, and
now offer a dining experience that combines the traditional values of Greek hospitality with some modern twists in food
styling. For all those reasons, and many
more, Greek cuisine is now the talk of the
town in the British capital.
Specifically in 2014, four new restaurants
have opened in London, two in Soho and
the other two at King’s Cross and Marylebone, a fact that has resulted in declaring
the Greek as an eating trend of 2014 by the
British magazine Time Out London. With
these new additions, the total number of
Greek and Greek-Cypriot restaurants exceeds 100.
The majority of the Greek businessmen
are young people, who have studied in
the UK, in other scientific fields, but with
a great passion about Greek cuisine, who
have managed to develop a cuisine that is
both traditional and gourmet, underlying,
at the same time, that the Greek spirit of
entrepreneurship is present and alive in
London.
The above Greek initiates are one part of
the dynamic aspect that lies beneath the
Greek entrepreneurship and spirit in the
UK. In many supermarkets in London
one can find several Greek labels, regard10
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
ing not only the famous ‘feta cheese’ and Greek
yogurt, but also the Greek olive oil, pasta and
pastries and even soft drinks. These Greek delis
have raised the country’s exports, making them
available to the wider public, an inconceivable
fact five years ago.
Greece This month - February 2015
ISSUE 162
‘A scent’ of Greece in the Oscars 2015
Either by the plentiful restaurants and tavernas
or by the supply of Greek products, it seems that
Greek cuisine is not a passing fancy, but rather a
durable trend. It has passed successfully the test
of time, and it continues its bright future, applying to the needs not only of the large,
vibrant Greek community in London, but to any British or other foreign national who
want to taste authentic Greek cuisine away from its motherland. Without a doubt, the
Greek food entrepreneurship in London has still a lot to offer to everyone interested.
According to reviews posted in TripAdvisor, Exodus is the best Greek restaurant in
London, while Mazi in Notting Hill is considered the best by TimeOut London. Other
Greek restaurants in London are Andy’s Taverna in Camden, Carob Tree in Highgate
Road, and Opso in Marylebone. The list includes also Lemonia in Primrose Hill, and
Greek Affair in Notting Hill Gate. Three of the best delis in London are The Life Goddess in Bloomsbury and Soho, Ergon in Marylebone, and Carpo near Piccadilly Circus.
The 87th Academy Awards held on February 22, are traditionally the biggest night of
the year in Hollywood, boasting a guestlist that reads like a who’s who in the entertainment business - and the 2015 ceremony did not disappoint. This time, the ceremony
had a ‘Greek scent’ as two of the Oscar winners are somehow related to Greece.
The Greek-French composer of the
soundtrack for the film ‘The Grand
Budapest Hotel’, Alexandre Desplat
won the Oscar for the Best Original
Score, who during his speech, he
thanked. amongst others, his Greek
mother for introducing him to Greek
music.
Last but not least, the American actor and this year’s Oscar winner for
Best Supporting Actor for the film
‘Birdman’ is playing one of the key
roles in the forthcoming film “Worlds Apart”, which is now under filming process in
Greece, directed by the well- known director and actor, Christophoros Papakaliatis.
Follow us :
A Pint of Greece
Greek Embassy in UK
@GreeceinUK
11
12