Galery

1

Do you think it probable?

No, because the government and especially the leaders of SYRIZA and Independent Greeks, Alexis Tsipras and Panos Kammenos, have been in power only for five months and have no reason to think even of their own long term interest. And this is that they should withdraw in this very difficult moment, allow technocrats to deal with it and return to power afterwards. Nor do they think about the national interest that lies in the need for consensus in this hard transitional period for Greece. Such a situation requires someone who can bear the political burden of implementing the reforms.

What would happen if no agreement were reached?

Within a few weeks, there would be capital controls, including on the money that somebody would want to take out of the country and on ATMs, and after a few weeks, a return to the so-called "new drachma".

In such a situation, "the time of the memorandum" would be considered the time of the good life for Greeks.

Is Grexit possible?

Of course it is possible and most likely it would happen because of the Greek government, if it continued to make the wrong moves that I mentioned earlier.

Since the beginning of the crisis, what mistakes have the Greek government and creditors made?

Both have made the same mistake and the Greek governments themselves made another one. The common mistake is the excessive emphasis on the increase of taxes and the dramatic wage cuts in a very short period of time while there is no emphasis on carrying out the structural reforms that should have started long ago.

The mistake of Greek governments is that, between 2010 and 2014, they did not take due account of the need for reforms. They were constantly trying to play what we call "catenaccio" in football. They tried to take piecemeal measures, thinking the problem would disappear in this way. No government seriously considered the option of winning political legitimacy and even of being re-elected if it had taken another path. Certainly, the measures would have been painful because we are talking about how the state intervenes in the economy, but six years later, we would have not been in the current situation.

How would you comment on the discrepancies in the information on negotiations submitted by the Greek government and creditors?

I think the same thing happens in all communist parties: the central committee states one thing before its members and they in turn tell the party members something totally different. The dual language is characteristic of the ruling party.

On the other hand, it is a problem that affects the entire Greek political system because previous governments were telling citizens one thing, stating something else abroad. It is part of the Greek political culture.