Hard Talk: Syriza's First Weeks in Power in Greece
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- Published on Tuesday, 17 February 2015 23:22
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1082 .... February 18, 2015
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Hard Talk:
Syriza's First Weeks in Power in Greece
Sakis Gekas
On January 25th, Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) formed a government in Greece with the help of the ANEL (Independent Greeks). Within 24 hours direct attacks, threats and provocations aimed at the Greek government, about to begin negotiations with EU and Eurozone leaders, began. The attacks were pre-emptive strikes against efforts to find a quick, viable and productive solution to the Greek debt problem that continues to strangle the Greek economy and society; time is very short and everyone is aware that it is working against the efforts of the Greek government that needs to reach an agreement by February 16 or February 28 at the latest.
First came the German Defense... Minister, Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, who warned that when you request solidarity you are expected to show solidarity. The warning referring to the objections that Athens raised on the first day of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the job, that the new government was not even asked in the EU's decision to extend sanctions on Russia. The German minister also took the unprecedented step to warn that the place of Greece in NATO might be at stake if it continues to ‘support’ Russia. Greece however did no more than protest for not being consulted before such a serious decision was taken.
But the main battlefront is in Germany. On February 4th the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt stated that as of February 11th, 2016 it would stop accepting Greek bonds as collateral for granting liquidity. While Greek banks would still receive emergency funding from the Greek Central Bank through the Emergency Liquidity Assistance, the Greek government and the Greek finance minister tried to keep their cool and not raise the temperature higher than it already was. Regardless of the composed response the warning -- if not blackmail -- is very clear. The ECB decision gives to the Greek government six days to comply and ‘capitulate’ even though negotiations have barely started. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and officials know that time works against them in one respect; leaders in Europe and beyond (see Obama's interview on the need to end austerity in Europe) may soon realize the value of the Greek proposal to pay the debt when the country's economy begins to grow and not spend tens of billions of euros in the next two years that could be invested in the real economy.