The recent revelations regarding the meeting in Cannes, particularly what then US Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner documents about his meeting with Mr. Schäuble in his book, prove beyond a shadow of a doubt just how close Greece was to exiting the euro. Of course this is not the first time that all this pressure is being revealed. To Vima documented in a series of reports the negative climate for our country and the unbearable pressure the government executives were under in their meetings with our partners.
Many, including almost the entire opposition, believed that this pressure was a ruse and that Europe would not dare force us to leave the Eurozone because the cost would be immense. Now, on the safe side, they accuse the government of turning out to be the puppets of European for accepting their terms and not leaving the euro. Reality was ruthless though and that is why the uncertainty of those days led to a huge hemorrhage of deposits, which subverted the operation of banks, for which the European Central Bank had carried out massive money transfers.
It is obvious that our European partners and the Germans in particular, were undecided between an exit from the Euro or supporting Greece. Ultimately the later prevailed, but it was accompanied by serious commitments for a fiscal reform, which in turn caused a deep recession in the Greek economy. Despite the problem, despite the delays, Greece fulfilled its commitments and can now hope that the worst is over.
The Greek crisis though was a lesson for Europe as a whole, as it had to adapt its policy in many sectors, often with painful negotiations. Let us hope that this lesson will not go to waste and that after the upcoming elections, Europe will seek out safe and more social paths to follow. Because it is time that the European leaders realized that before they save the banks, they must save their people.
TO VIMA
