...the clash has taken the shape of this confrontation between the Germans and the Greeks. But in addition to this ideological and political debate, the Greeks have more immediate concerns because they're worried about the health of their financial sector...
...February 28th is a very important date for these negotiations because that's the day when the Greek bailout expires. And that's why the Greek government was very fast to send delegations to Italy and France. And this was a clever move because they were expecting to meet with friendly center-left governments that would be sympathetic with the Greek cause and would support Athens in its negotiations with Brussels and the IMF. The thing is, Italy and France have their own requests to make to Germany, are negotiating because of their own problems related to public spending and debts with the Germans. And they don't want to irritate Berlin because of the situation in Greece. So all the Greeks got out of their meetings in Rome and in Paris was some sympathy and some superficial support, but they did not get the significant support they were expecting. So this leaves Greece relatively isolated...
....Germany needs on the one hand to protect the eurozone because Germany is an export-driven economy that needs the currency union to export. But at the same time, Germany needs to protect its own national wealth. The German government has been very successful with its rhetoric of protecting taxpayers' money from countries in Southern Europe, so Germany cannot achieve both goals at the same time. And it has a menu of bad options. It could accept some debt relief for Greece, which would open the door for other countries making similar requests in the future, but it could accept Greece leaving the eurozone, which could open the door for other countries leaving the currency union as well, which would generate a very serious political crisis in Europe. So Germany has limited options and most of them are negative for Germany's interests. As a result of that, a short-term agreement is likely. The Europeans will probably buy some time. This will not solve any of Europe's problems, but it's the most they can hope for in the current situation.
Όλα αυτά έχουν αρχίσει φυσικά να ...μυρίζουν λιγάκι. Αυτό που δεν λέει είναι ότι το taxpayers' money των Γερμανών είναι ...λάφυρα εμπορικού πολέμου με συνεργό, λέμε τώρα, τον Χριστοφοράκο, τον Φον Σημίτη, τον καλό κ. Παπαδήμο, το Εργολαβιστάν... Τα λάφυρα δεν επιστρέφονται.
Θα είναι δύσκολα, έτσι ή αλλιώς, δυσάρεστο να βγούμε από το ευρώ, δυσάρεστο που είμαστε εδώ που είμαστε, πιστεύω ενστικτωδώς ότι θα τα ...βρούμε στην "διαπραγμάτευση", και ένα κομμάτι μου λέει "ίσως καλύτερα να μην τα βρούμε εάν οι όροι είναι ...σκατά". Σαφώς και φταίμε που λαδωνόμαστε από τους Γερμανούς για να ψωνίζουμε Made in Germany με δανεικά.
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