- Anne Applebaum
- Opinion Writer
Greece’s political crisis persists
That relief may have been premature. Eleven days ago, the apocalypse did not happen — but since then, the apocalypse has continued to unfold in slow motion. The new government has pledged to maintain “austerity” even as crises of various kinds erupt all around it. The newly appointed finance minister resigned after being hospitalized on the day he was supposed to be sworn in. The newly appointed deputy minister for the merchant marines resigned after being accused of conflicts of interest. The newly appointed prime minister is recovering from an emergency eye operation and couldn’t attend a crucial European Union summit this week. Early Wednesday morning, three armed men drove a bus containing gasoline canisters through the entrance to Microsoft’s Athens headquarters and then set it alight. No one was hurt, and the building didn’t blow up, but the ground floor was heavily damaged.
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Anne Applebaum
Applebaum writes a monthly foreign affairs column and contributes to the PostPartisan blog.
In truth, a good solution to Greece’s problems can’t be found in left, right, conservative, liberal or any other kind of politics, because Greece’s problems don’t have an ideological solution. Greece’s problems are about simple math: The Greek government is bankrupt. If it wants to spend more, it needs to borrow money. Nobody wants to lend Greece money unconditionally, however, because Greece is unlikely to pay it back. Whether Greece is in or out of the euro, and whether the rest of Europe does or doesn’t offer to help, Greece will face this problem for a very long time.
Although there aren’t any other good options, Syriza continues to speak for those who think that there are. Syriza continues to promise an alternative: No austerity, more spending, more government jobs. Reject the conditions that Europe demands in exchange for sending good money after bad. Reject what many Greeks perceive as a foreign, German-led attempt to undermine their nation. Wave a magic wand, and let money pour into the economy. Never mind that it can’t be done: If Greece breaks its budgetary promises, Europe will stop lending, Greek banks will fail and the country will be forced into a rapid exit from the euro. In the long term, this outcome might well be better for Greece. In the short term, there would be massive chaos.
Syriza doesn’t put it quite like this, of course, because the party doesn’t have to. Its politicians are still out of government and do not have to choose between the hardships of austerity and the chaos of exiting the euro. But until they are forced to confront that challenge — until Greeks are persuaded that there are no good alternatives, no magic wands — Greek politics will be chronically unstable. Expect more emergencies, more resignations, maybe even more attacks on corporate headquarters. Until the Greeks are convinced that austerity is the right policy — or until they are determined to take the consequences of leaving the euro — the crisis has not been averted but merely postponed.
Anne Applebaum is director of political studies at the London-based Legatum Institute and writes a bi-weekly column for The Post. Her e-mail address is applebaumletters@washpost.com.
