Greek elections will not mean the end of hardship, whatever the result

by Jon Henley

Guardian
June 17, 2012

Whatever happens in Sunday's election re-run, Monday – as Stavros Messinis of coLab, the Athens co-working space for tech start-ups, puts it – will turn out to be either "a restart, or a continuation. But by no means will it be the end".

Of the many ordinary Greek people I've met this week, none believe this country is in for anything but a long, hard, bruising struggle. Two of the most common reflections I've heard could be summed up in the phrases: "It'll get worse before it can better," and "I can't see a way out."

For some, the struggle has been under way for many months. The journalists of Eleftherotypia, who brought out one last special edition on Saturday, have been without pay since last August. They have survived through "personal Marshall plans" from friends and family or, in the case of Yannis Bogiopoulos, his wife's unemployment benefit of €600 a month, which runs out in December.

More