Katerini Papathanasiou, a young Greek lawyer living in Dublin for the past few months, tells Anna Cinzia Dellagiacoma what life is really like for people in her homeland
On 17 June last, voters decided that Greece would accept new austerity measures to pay back the cost of the bailout. How do people feel about facing yet more cuts?
There’s a misunderstanding here. The majority of the people believe that no more cuts on loans, pensions and social benefits are going to take place. They are afraid to expect the unexpected, to face the reality that could be worse, and that’s the reason why they voted again for the same ‘safe’ party.
Actually, our prime minister elect has said that from now on we are fostering development and that we’ve left the bad austerity times behind. You can easily understand that this is a media play which will bring support for the moment.
Are people suggesting other ways to approach the financial situation, calling for more growth and investment instead of further cuts?
Of course there are alternatives, but it’s most important to have a good and healthy social environment. They believe that we can promote tourism by offering holiday packages and constructing new airports for low-cost companies, that we can support entrepreneurs’ start-ups in high technology services; that we can develop the solidarity economy – trade direct from the producers. However, the first step is to renegotiate our debt terms and to achieve our own Marshall Plan, which can give space for the abovementioned fields and can create more jobs.
How do people feel about Greek politicians?
The majority of the people feel that the politicians of the two main parties Pasok and Nea Dimokratia are corrupt, useless losers with no exceptions. On the other hand, there are some who believe in the fresh left ideas of Alexis Tsipras from the up-and-coming left wing party Synaspismos. I don’t need to mention anything about the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
Has Greece changed in the last three years? Is this change visible in the streets?
You can obviously see the change in the streets of the big city centres. In Athens where I come from, the number of beggars, homeless and drug addicts has increased. We have for too long created ghettos of immigrants, and attacks by neo-Nazis have become part of everyday life. Not to mention the increased number of suicides. But it must be said the environment is different in the countryside. They don’t face the crisis in those ways, but rather with unemployment and loss of income.
Are people positive about the long-term future?
Actually, no. Everybody thinks that the austerity measures are here to stay for more than a decade. The more positive among us hope for a change of political will across Europe in general – which maybe will start after the elections in Germany, and the possible new socialist leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
