Semih Idiz regularly writes foreign policy editorials in a Turkish daily.
He feels that ordinary people in Greece are paying the price for the
incompetence of not just their own leaders but the EU in general.
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The EU is struggling to bail out itself, not the Greeks
Semih Idiz
February 22, 2012
If one observes the events in Greece from the point of view of ordinary people, it is no longer possible to portray the EU as a saviour, even though it was once assumed to be the chief vehicle for prosperity and social peace. On the contrary, for the Greeks, the EU has turned into a vehicle for poverty and social unrest. The E130bn 'aid package' which, after a series of rigorous negotiations in Brussels, has been announced for Greece this Monday, will not be of any help to the ordinary people of Greece. The bulk of the money is earmarked for Greece's creditors.
Thanks to this money, Greece will be able to avoid insolvency but the people of Greece will not be able to avoid bankruptcy. On the contrary, the terms of the agreement mean that unemployment will rise and the people will become poorer. According to the most optimistic estimates, it will take Greece no less than a decade to get out of the woods.
In short, the priority of the EU countries that are struggling on the subject of Greece, is not to find a solution to the plight of the ordinary people in Greece but rather to prevent the economic death of the euro. For this reason, they are now trying to turn Greece into a country that observes EU rules, a country with more production, more savings and more tax revenue.
In principle that is a legitimate objective. After all, if you join a club, you must observe its rules. The Greeks didn't follow the rules. They spent their money on dolce vita without any regard for their future.
Therefore, if Greece is to become a normal European country, it has no choice but to follow the path that has been outlined for it by foreigners, the considerable hardships notwithstanding. The question is, how much longer can the people of Greece endure the hardship?
The developments indicate that Greece remains susceptible to grim internal unrest.
For most Greeks, the EU is now an object of hatred. Whereas in countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, the Greeks are increasingly perceived as lazy, the Greeks themselves are see the others, particularly the Germans, as the embodiment of their historic stereotypes.
Clearly that doesn't contribute to the quality of unity in the EU. And that isn't the only blemish on the perception of unity. The idea of unity also implies solidarity in vital humanitarian matters. As indicated above, the conditions that Greece accepted to qualify for the E130bn will bring even more hardship on the people of Greece.
As a mater of fact, Greece has already started to witness scenes that are not appropriate in an EU country. Yet these scenes do not elicit any sensitivity in other parts of the EU. On the contrary, the invective of some Europeans gives the impression that the Greeks are being intentionally punished for being lazy and squandering the money.
Very well. But were the Greeks the only nation that squandered wealth irresponsibly in Europe? Given the current global crisis, it is fair to question even our own behaviour in Turkey. Ultimately, ordinary people cannot be asked to formulate a good economic policy. That is the duty of their governments and the international organisations that they have joined.
It is patently evident that the governments of Greece have failed in their duties. But has the EU, in the last 20 years, done anything to enforce the rules of the union by audition? After all, everybody who remembers past events must know that there were always problems connected with Greece's economy.
To make this point, it should be enough to recall the number of complaints filed against Greece at the ECJ because of economic disagreements. In short, there is some injustice in making the Greeks pick up the bill for the failure of their politicians and the EU authorities to do their job right.
Meanwhile, confronted with a union where some members would rather put the pursuit of national interest before lending a hand to people who are suffering despite generous handouts of the past, even many of the Europeans themselves have started to question what purpose the EU serves.
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