Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou resigned on Sunday. His successor will be named tonight if Greece's rival parties can agree on a national unity government.
As it was announced on Sunday night, early parliamentary elections will be held in Greece on February 19. The most obvious goal is to confirm the mandate of the government that will be formed in winter.
This deal accepted by practically all of the country's political forces has many implications. The scenario presented to the outside world is as follows: the Greeks will unite to weather this financial storm and will not allow any party squabble over money.
However, other scenarios are possible as well, including a reinterpretation of the notions of democracy and European identity, to name a few.
Greece's mixed European past
What stands behind European fears? Why was Europe so scared by the idea of a Greek referendum (which was later called off) on the EU's bailout deal to save Greece from its crippling debt? The answer is simple - the Greeks would vote against it because they consider this deal unfair even if they don't fully understand it. Their attitude is based on Greece's complicated relations with European neighbors. The EU did not bother much with Greece in the past.
George Zarkadakis, an ethnic Greek, has written a lengthy article in The Washington Post. He calls modern Greece "a failed German project": "The year was 1832, and Greece had just won its independence from the Ottoman Empire. The 'Big Powers' of the time - Britain, France and Russia - duly appointed a Bavarian prince as Greece's first king. His name was Otto. He arrived in his new kingdom with an entourage of German architects, engineers, doctors and soldiers - and set out to reconfigure the country to the romantic ideal of the times."
With the backing of his European patrons, King Otto started spending huge sums of money to transform Greece into Germany with the sluggish backing of the Greek elites. The Germans built major government offices among other things, but King Otto was eventually overthrown.
There was also World War II and the German occupation. To sum up, many Greeks sometimes see Germany as Europe's bad side, whereas Britain, which liberated the Balkans, is the good side. But the trouble is that Germany played the largest role in shaping the bailout deal.
Now the German media are up in arms and portray the Greeks as a nation of swindlers trying to cheat Europe. But anger is a bad advisor, and it is better to impassively seek answers. So, how much do the Greeks dislike their neighbors? Which neighbors? And how many nations that dislike Europeans have been recently admitted to the EU? Let's note that Serbia, the most problematic country in this sense, has not yet been accepted and probably won't be after the Greek saga.
Italy's deep historical memory
What is Europe all about? Obviously, it started with Greece. In theory, establishing the European Union was a great idea, but the current crisis has instantly reminded everyone that European unity and equality is a rather fantastical dream.
Here's an example. In 1935 European countries had a serious quarrel over Libya and Ethiopia. At first many Europeans more or less accepted the fascist Mussolini regime just like the Franco regime in Spain later on. Incidentally, even Hitler would have been tolerable if he had not been so active abroad.
Britain and France imposed sanctions in the League of Nations against Mussolini, who was fighting in Africa. In protest, Italian women began throwing out foreign outfits and dressing in Italian clothes. Hatred of most of Europe was running high without the authorities stoking the flames.
The explanation is simple - Mussolini did not do in Libya or Ethiopia anything that Britain and France had not done in their colonies before. Quod licet lovi, non licet bovi?
This remains a major question, especially considering that Italy may follow Greece and become a second country that the EU will probably save and for free.
Teachers and pupils
Olli Rehn, the newly appointed deputy head of the European Commission, said on Sunday that Greece has lost Europe's trust and is on its way out of the Eurozone. Why are Greeks staging endless demonstrations against the EU's October 26 rescue plan? Why don't they accept the obvious - that they have to return the money they borrowed?
The most typical answer for now is that nations are like kids trying to avoid taking their bitter medicine. Democracy is out of place in the current conditions, even if it was the Greeks who gave Europe democracy. Many immediately recall that in ancient Greece only a man with property and, even better, with a couple of slaves had the right to vote - all others were not considered capable of responsible voting. So democracy existed only for the elite and the middle class.
Greek trade unions, left-wing and youth organizations noticed an interesting detail in the current events. Greece owes 360 billion euros. The EU plan provides for writing off up to 100 billion and easing the terms for the payment of 130 billion. But the latter condition implies budget austerity, which will make life for the Greeks pretty grim for the next ten years or so.
Is this a good plan? It's not that the Greeks are not to blame for the irresponsible behavior of past governments, which borrowed money without restraint and "embellished" financial reports. But why not clear Greece of all debts?
The deal will cost the EU a trillion dollars that it doesn't have anyway. What does an extra hundred billion matter? Why not treat it in the same way as Russia in 1991? Russia was allowed to pay its debt 10 years later since it couldn't pay it anyway. Other countries have also been through default.
So why not forgive Greece's debt? Greeks see one simple motive behind the austerity program that is being imposed on them - "they" want to punish the country and teach it to live within its means.
This is perhaps the fatal mistake that will eventually lead to the collapse of the EU. It is absolutely wrong to try to teach or change whole nations for the better. Neither the world's first nor latest democracies want to be lectured, even if they are wrong.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
