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Anastasia Balezdrova

The marathon of Greece’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister in European capitals is in full swing. After the meeting of Alexis Tsipras with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and of Yanis Varoufakis with Governor of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, all eyes are fixed on Berlin and the upcoming talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

So far, there is no clarity about the likelihood of a new agreement with Greece’s lenders while it has limited resources to cover its needs. Moer than a few analysts fear that Athens could face the threat of suspension of payments.

What can be expected from the actions of the new Greek cabinet? Are the lenders ready to yield to them and to what extent? These were the issues that GRReporter discussed with associate professor of political science at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Athens University and a researcher at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy Dimitris Sotiropoulos.

The new Greek government has preferred a harder line in terms of European partners. Are the lenders ready to yield and to what extent?

The player who is in an unfavourable position cannot maintain a hard line for a long period of time. In late March, the Greek government will have to pay interest on loans, salaries, pensions, bills for the functioning of state institutions and other expenses. The amount required is three times higher than the tax revenues collected. Accordingly, the same government is unable to borrow from international capital markets.
 
In your opinion, is Grexit possible?

No, because in addition to the economic catastrophe of Greece that it will cause, at the level of symbolism, Grexit in essence will mean a withdrawal, if not the beginning of the collapse of the euro zone.

Does Greece's economic problem justify the attempts to change its geopolitical orientation and to what extent?

It does not justify them. On the other hand, except for the several distraction moves (the visit of the Ambassador of Russia to the government residence and the meeting with the Prime Minister, plus the public expression of dissatisfaction about how the EU had taken its latest decision against Russia), there is no significant shift in Greece in geopolitical terms. Anyway, the equipment and ammunition of the Greek military forces depend, and will continue to depend, on NATO.

The government coalition consists of two parties with different positions as regards almost all issues. How long will their Euro scepticism continue to connect them in your opinion?

The common thing is the pursuit of concluding a new financial agreement with the lenders. This drive will materialise at some point. Then there will probably be disagreement among the government partners.

The election results showed that the majority of voters supported the Euro sceptic parties. How can public opinion in Greece return to the pro-European position?

It can return to it after a very long period of time and after the conclusion of a new financial arrangement with Greece’s lenders under which the apparently urgent structural reforms in Greece will be linked to easing the very strict austerity programme, which was implemented in the period 2010-2014.