Papandreou Is Right to Let the Greeks Decide

by Sven Böll

Spiegel
November 1, 2011

Europe is stunned. The Greek prime minister wants to allow the people to vote on the euro rescue plan for their country. Georgios Papandreou is putting all his eggs in one basket -- but he has made the right decision.

It must be said right at the beginning: The Greeks will, for a change, decide for themselves how they and their country will move forward.

They have had no real opportunity to do so for quite some time. For about a year and a half, this once proud country has been under foreign administration; it is de facto no longer a sovereign state. The government's most important task has been dragging the austerity programs and structural reforms though parliament and implementing them. These are dictated by the strict troika of the EU Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund. Otherwise there will be no more bailout money, and the country would go bankrupt.

To no longer be the master of their own finances, to be begging for money and ready to do almost anything for it -- this is as humiliating for penniless states as it is for poor people. It injures the soul, stirs up anger and creates desperation. Knowing that the situation is also largely self-inflicted only makes things worse.

That the Greek Premier Georgios Papandreou wants to consult his people on the financial restructuring of the country seems like an act of desperation appropriate to the dramatic principle of 'committing suicide in fear of death.' The voters will decide whether to endorse the decisions made in Brussels or not.

The latest in the seemingly endless series of euro-rescue summits last week concluded that private investors will relinquish half of what they are owed by Greece. Because around €200 billion of the €300 billion or more in government debt lies with banks, insurance companies and funds, the country would be rid of a considerable part of its crushing credit burden.

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