The Greece Blame Game Revisited

Greeks have seen this film of  “Greece Blame Game” a thousand times since 2010. At first, it was the Euro crisis, now it is the Refugees. For the European “partners” economically weak Greece is the easy target that can be blamed everything, for all problems of the European Union.  EU’s conservatives have found a old new scapegoat.

Calliope is Greek. And she is angry. Read her post exclusively for KTG.

The Greece Blame Game revisited

First, it was the outrageous “lazy & corrupt Greeks” narrative. Greece, the problematic EU member, was saved by its generous partners. Of course, memoranda containing harsh economic reforms & violent adjustments had to be immediately adopted. After all, it was the Greeks fault for “living beyond their means” and consequently they had to pay the price. As it later became widely known, it was actually the German, French, & other banks which were bailed out, leaving the tab mainly for the Greek citizens.

It was to no one’s surprise that Greece soon started facing a humanitarian crisis. Continuous austerity orchestrated by the Troika killed off the ailing economy. Unemployment skyrocketed and so did the debt to GDP ratio. When SYRIZA party promised an alternative approach to the problem, the masters of EU dystopia came up with a new narrative. This time it was the “ungrateful Greeks” rising against their benefactors. With Grexit threats looming, Eurogroup even claimed that no economic proposals were presented by the Greek negotiators!  Soon, following the Greek referendum, it became apparent that the proposals were actually deemed useless as Europe is simply not a democracy.

Undoubtedly the refugee influx is the current “hot potato” in Europe. Greek citizens with the help of international NGO’s are arguably displaying their solidarity to the seemingly endless flow of displaced people. Frontex, which has been present in Greece since 2010, is also participating in the management of this horrific crisis by assisting the Greek state which in turn has actively been seeking for more logistic support from its partners. One would expect that the EU would go to great lengths to assist Greece in this situation – after all these are the EU borders! Alas, once again Greece is being portrayed as the black sheep of Europe being accused of “refusing to fulfill its obligations to guard Schengen borders” and threatened with expulsion.

At the same time our esteemed EU partners reward a non-EU member, Turkey (an openly hostile country which is obviously allowing the refugee flow & is suspected of aiding terrorism) with 3 Bio € and visa-free passage for its citizens. In comparison, cash-starved Greece has allocated 1 Bio€ from its budget in an attempt to handle the refugee flow and has so far received a mere 30 Mio € of EU assistance due to “bureaucratic obstacles”.

We shall certainly find out sooner or later what is hidden behind this absurd and questionable policy. In the meantime the joke is on us, people.

By Calliope