Should the Greeks stand by their national motto, then there can only be one outcome from this weekend’s referendum. “Eleftheria i thanatos”, they say, meaning “freedom or death”. The bailout package currently on offer from Europe’s financial institutions, expected to leave the country mired in unsustainable debt well beyond 2030, certainly seems a long way from freedom. Fear, however, may well persuade Greek citizens to vote yes.
According to Dimitris Daftsios of Access Greece, a subsidiary of reefer logistics provider Easyfresh, there is a feeling in the country of being caught between a rock and a hard place.
“On the one hand, we have creditors demanding more austerity measures that are not helping the Greek economy; on the other, we have a government that is not willing to cut public sector expenses,” he said. “So we are stuck in the middle of this turbulence, asked to vote under unclear conditions. What will happen after we vote yes or no? Nobody is explaining anything to us in any detail.”
Daftsios expressed grave doubts about the future growth of the country whichever way the people vote. “If we vote yes to the austerity programme, we will remain in the eurozone,” he said, “but how will economic growth come? By increasing VAT? By increasing taxes on private companies? If we say no, we will be out of the eurozone. Then what? Will we create a Dubai-style or a Singapore-style economy? Or will we create a North Korea-style economy? Nobody knows.”
Daftsios also questioned Germany’s unwillingness to invest in the country. “Why is Germany not investing in Greece?” he asked. “We don’t want their money, we want them to open a factory in each Greek province. Why do they not invest in just one factory in Greece?”
He also questioned the logic of blaming exclusively Greek governments, both past and present, for the country’s woes. “The Greek governments of the last 15 years have made terrible mistakes, but so have the European lenders,” he said. “Who lent Greece €400bn and under what conditions? With what guarantees? Those that approved these so-called loans bear some responsibility.”
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