Greece sighs in the parties
Do you know what is the main political problem of Greece? Because the state of democracy began in Ancient Greece, all Greeks take it for granted that the modern Greek democracy operates flawlessly and with great maturity. The quote belongs to a British friend – now a university professor – a lover of Ancient Athens and a persistent observer of modern Greece.
The truth is that the political maturity to be shown by the Greek parties and a large part of the country’s political staff is lagging behind that of other European countries. That is why issues that have existed for decades in the rest of Europe with compromises and broader consensus, in Greece continue to plague their country.
Characteristic is, for example, the partisan way in which some politicians treat our memoranda, resulting in thanking at least seven years more than Spain, Portugal and Cyprus to land in reality and not realize that this is a one-way street. . In other words, we continue to disagree and clash in our country over everything – from the smallest to the largest. From the bill on pets and the letter vote to the agreement on the name of Skopje but also the maximization of the national importance of the Greek-French agreement on frigates and the defense assistance clause.
Unfortunately, once again the partisan expediencies weighed more than the interest of the country.
In fact, the party of the official opposition came – underestimating the intelligence of all of us and brutally injuring its seriousness – to understand one of the most important agreements that Greece signed after the war. An agreement for which Mr Tsipras’s party, as a government, had worked to succeed. In other words, he rejected the supply of French frigates closed by the Mitsotakis government at a very low price – taking advantage of the Australian-American “credit knife” situation – while he knew first hand the much higher prices proposed for the same weapons by the French government in
Unfortunately, once again, partisan expediencies outweighed the interests of the country protected by the defense assistance clause. Because let us not hide behind our finger: no one realistically expects France to send an army to fight with Greece. The defense assistance clause acts as a deterrent. Last summer, when there was no agreement, as soon as the French aircraft carrier occupied the area, the Turks magically “gathered”. Now that the agreement is in force, the Turk will consider doubly and triple it to proceed to extreme challenges – especially if there was a permanent French presence in the waters of the Aegean.
To be fair, of course, this micropolitical perspective does not only concern SYRIZA. It goes back in history and concerns other parties. The important for peace in the region Prespa Treaty for the name of Skopje signed by the Tsipras government (with which Mr. Mitsotakis will deeply agree) has not yet been ratified by the Greek Parliament, while in the past “the tilting submarine »For which N.D. as an opposition made a fierce attack on the PASOK governments proved to be the only weapon feared by the Turks last summer, as it never managed to locate in the depths of the Greek seas.
Indeed, the institutions of the Greek Republic may not be very mature, as my British friend says. However, democracy in Greece managed to stand on its own two feet, despite the bankruptcy, the election of the Golden Dawn and the “sprayed” in the Greek parliament. The electorate showed, despite the bloody sacrifices of the memoranda, great ability to electorally punish those who tried to fool it by promising “money trees” and “proud negotiations” against Europe. In fact, unlike Britain, where the institutions operate, but the people are carried away by the nonsense of Mr. Farage and Mr. Johnson and led to Brexit.
It is time for the big – albeit – political parties of Greece to grow up and look at the interest of the place. Because, as Mr. Dendia rightly said recently in Parliament, there is no room for micropolitical expediencies when Greece is threatened by Turkey’s aggressive stance. And unfortunately it will continue to be threatened – perhaps even more – even after the departure of Mr. Erdogan, as extreme nationalism is rampant in Turkey.