The gauche and unusually insulting personal attack – especially for an experienced politician such as Mr. Schäuble – against the Minister of Finances and the reaction of the Greek government have dangerously charged the already fragile Greek-German relations. It is clear that this tension does not help either side, but rather it further fuels the negative reflexes that have been cultivated in both countries by a section of the press and certain politicians.
The existing problems in the negotiations with our European partners will not be mediated with moves and attitudes that perpetuate past stereotypes about the two people. There is no need for comments and polemics that further exacerbate the personal and general relations of politicians and all sorts of representatives. Greater calm and tolerance to the different existing approaches needed in order to create a new relationship of trust between Greece and Europe.
The negotiations which are set to begin today for the fiscal measures and reforms present an opportunity to finally end this pointless conflict via public comments, which undermines the effort to bring both sides closer. Both the Greek side and our European partners must realize that they need to restore a relationship of mutual trust so that talks between the two can progress.
It is time for Mr. Varoufakis to limit the “creative vagueness” of his comments, which are fertile ground for bitter friends to launch all sorts of attacks. But it is also the duty of his European interlocutors, such as Mr. Schäuble, to realize that by employing a logic of might, they cannot force everyone to comply without a single objection to their choices.
TO VIMA
