Main focus of Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Doubts about Greeks' willingness to reform

Olli Rehn wants guarantees that the Greek parties will economise on the long term. (© AP/dapd)

Greece must fulfil additional conditions to receive the second rescue package before the meeting of euro finance ministers on Wednesday. That was made clear by EU Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn on Monday. Athens must implement the austerity requirements quickly and independently to avoid state bankruptcy, some correspondents write, while others doubt the Greeks are at all capable of doing so.

Ta Nea - Greece

The hard-fought approval for the austerity package in the Greek parliament saw the markets rally on Monday morning. But unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler (Free Democratic Party) and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (Christian Democratic Party) are still discussing the possibility of Greece going bankrupt or exiting the Eurozone. For this reason the adopted reforms must be quickly implemented to avoid bankruptcy, the left-liberal daily Ta Nea demands: "Nothing has been conclusively settled yet. We still have a long way to go, with new and even more painful sacrifices than those already made. But we still have hope of success. We must look forward. But we must also learn from the mistakes of the past two years: there must be an end to the relapses we saw with the first austerity package. The major reforms must be implemented so that the international community receives the message it needs. And most importantly, drastic measures must finally be taken against tax evasion. … The people don't object to making sacrifices, but they want justice." (13/02/2012)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland

The Greek MP's vote in favour of the austerity package was forced and in most cases goes against their convictions, the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung comments, doubting that the reforms can be enacted in their current form: "Notwithstanding the approval of the package, in the two main parties, Pasok and Nea Dimokratia, there wasn't even a consensus on what should be done to save the country. For this reason alone, the measures stipulated by the creditors can't really make an impact. And neither deploying an EU budget commissioner nor setting up a blocked account will help when it comes to servicing the debts. Then there's the fact that the package is widely regarded as a dictate from abroad, and this will allow the politicians to place the blame for mistakes and omissions elsewhere. The initiative for fundamental change must come from within and be backed by the Greek people. Greece, however, is a long way from such a national act of unity." (14/02/2012)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Sme - Slovakia

The main threat to democracy in Greece isn't the violent protests against Athens' austerity policies but the people's unwillingness to accept lower incomes, writes the liberal daily Sme: "Traditionally Greek politics has always had strong extreme-right and extreme-left currents that make no bones about resorting to violence to further their goals. But even more worrying is that the interests of today's extremists overlap with those of the strong public-sector unions. The protesters are the very people who have profited most from the abuse of European subsidies, a distorted market and an ineffectual economy. One can understand these people's disgruntlement at the idea that their incomes could by cut by half, or even more if they're forced to pay taxes. But it's only then that their incomes will correspond to the country's actual economic performance. The real danger comes from the people's unreadiness to make do with less money." (14/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Social affairs, » Unrest / Riots, » Greece
All available articles from » Peter Morvay
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Le Figaro - France

Europe clearly bears partial responsibility for Greece's plight, writes political scientist Giorgos Prevelakis in the conservative daily Le Figaro: "Is it not unwise to pit Europe and Greece against each other as if they were two clearly separate entities? That would be to forget that thirty years of mutual cooperation in the European Union and sixty in Nato have weaved close bonds between the Greeks and the entire European-Atlantic region. Greece's shortcomings are only too aparant today, ranging from an oversized state to clientelism, corruption, administrative incompetence and lacking competitiveness. But are the Greeks the only ones to blame? Have we not tolerated, not to say encouraged, the cronyism and the distribution of European subsidies to avoid political excesses that would have jeopardised Greece's role in the Western military structure?" (14/02/2012)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Svenska Dagbladet - Sweden

Even if the scenes of burning streets are enough to make you shake your head in wonder, to adopt a superior attitude towards Greece is inappropriate, the conservative daily Svenska Dagbladet writes: "Can't they understand anything? The money is gone. The state revenues are too low, the spending too high. Without emergency loans they face a chaotic national bankruptcy. … At the same time we shouldn't get on our moral high horses. Sweden is different, but that doesn't rule out mismanagement or protests against austerity measures. Nevertheless the sacrifices made during the Swedish crisis of the 1990s were a mild breeze in comparison to the storm facing the Greeks for many years to come. Salaries, pensions, taxes: nothing is being left untouched. No wonder people are looking to the future in despair (however it's unfortunately typical that the incendiary Left is exploiting the situation). But the Greeks also deserve our sympathy." (14/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Unrest / Riots, » Greece
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Blog Coulisses de Bruxelles - France

Former Greek prime minister Giorgos Papandreou apologised for the rampant corruption in his country in an address to parliament on Sunday night. Jean Quatremer finds such self-criticism commendable in his blog Coulisses de Bruxelles: "'Our political system is collectively responsible for all the bureaucrats we hired through favouritism, for the privileges we accorded by law, the scandalous requests we granted, the unionists and businessmen we favoured and the thieves we failed to put behind bars.' These excerpts from his address were brought to our attention by Greek Internet users. No doubt there are more, but curiously there is no trace of them in the dispatches of the news agencies, which is unfortunate. Because it's not every day that a former head of government solemnly recognises the collective responsibility of the political elite for the turmoil in his country and the widespread corruption of public morals. ... Poor Greece!" (14/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Politics, » Greece, » Europe
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

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