Agora
Posts in Europe
![Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2014/08/28/ndsupporters_myrto_2808-large.jpg "Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]")
Samaras strays out of line in search for new normal
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has a habit of defending his government by saying that his aim is to make Greece “a normal European country.” Whatever he may mean by this and however genuine he may be in wanting Greece to recover from its long crisis, this is an infuriatingly patronising comment. Intentionally or not, it aligns Greece’s prime minister with all the cranks in Europe and Greece’s misinformed critics beyond who view the country as some kind of basket case.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (281), Politics (385), Society (140), Greece (496)
Where did all the money go?
The total amount of loans the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund supplied to Greece between May 2010 and the most recent disbursements last summer stand at 226.7 billion euros. This is equivalent to almost 125 percent of Greece's economic activity in 2014.
Contributor: Yiannis Mouzakis
Categories: Europe (281), Economy (329), Greece (496)
Voting for brinkmanship while the real economy needs solutions
Athens’ addiction to partisanship and political drama was yet again on full display during the last days of 2014. The election of the country’s president by parliament through an open roll call may appear unusual for observers from outside Greece. But the outdated electoral procedure through the assembly makes for lively political theatre in a climate of ferocious unreasonableness.
Contributor: Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (281), Politics (385), Greece (496)
A little more persuasion, a little less reaction
When European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took sides a few days ago ahead of possible snap elections in Greece, he overstepped the boundary that keeps EU officials from openly expressing an opinion about domestic politics in another country. The gradual scrubbing out of this dividing line can only damage the EU’s interests in the long-term. In the short-term, this type of intervention is detrimental to Greece.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (281), Politics (385), Greece (496)
Waiting for Godot in Greece
According to its Wikipedia article, Waiting for Godot by Irish writer Samuel Beckett is an absurdist play, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. The current situation in Athens has remarkable similarities with this classic piece of European literature.
Contributor: Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (281), Politics (385), Economy (329), Greece (496)