Close your eyes, but it won’t go away
For the umpteenth time in the past six years, Greek citizens have been witness to a repeat performance of the same drama – vulgar in its conception and clumsy in its execution. One cannot but admire the fortitude of the people, who are facing yet another set of reforms that will further downgrade their quality of life with indifference. And this, of course, is assuming that all goes well.
As the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers prepares to meet on Monday, statements by its most influential members no longer contain the same threatening tone toward the Greek government. A deal between Athens and the creditors should be concluded by the end of the month, after which every member of the monetary union will come together to await the outcome of the British referendum on whether or not to remain in the European Union – more thrills and anxiety for the bloc.
In the meantime, however, if everything goes as planned, Greece’s Parliament will vote on the measures of the new memorandum. The pro-Europe parties in the opposition have already said they will not back the deal agreed by the government under Alexis Tsipras. Meanwhile, the winds of rebellion are already blowing through the halls of ruling SYRIZA and the new agreement may be overturned by the coalition itself, as it only has a slim majority in Parliament.
Given these conditions, chaos is certainly on the horizon and, this time, the pro-European forces will also be to blame. We can only wonder whether this mess can be described as the Greek political order or whether it is simply games by cheeky children.
Even if it all goes well and the deal is backed by both coalition partners and the opposition parties can argue convincingly enough – in their opinion at least – that they are not to blame for the new tragic consequences, we still face a greater risk that exists on the European level. Discord is starting to threaten the entire European Union. Germany’s infallibility is being questioned on every front, foremost with regard to the refugee crisis. The European Central Bank is ignoring Berlin’s resistance to policy, while France and Austria recently expressed complete opposition to a transatlantic trade and investment deal with the United States.
Beyond all the misfortunes on a political level, we must also remember the people. Sure, we may all be children of the Enlightenment, optimistic, creative and committed to individual development, but logic cannot always ensure peace of mind. Some are rebelling against the situation while others are gradually embracing the concept of kismet and refuse to take any part in all the incomprehensible things that are going on.
Taken together, things definitely do not look good.
