Greece needs democratic leaders to help, not a bureaucratic bashing

The ordinary people of Greece face the prospect of deep and sustained hardship, of a kind that is unprecedented in a European context, writes Fergus Finlay

SEVEN years after the ending of a military dictatorship, Greece applied to join the EU (ironically, in a letter to Garret Fitzgerald, who was then head of the Council of Foreign Ministers). Part of the reason was Greece’s belief that membership would help them to ensure stability in their democratic political system and institutions, and “as a powerful factor that would contribute to the development and modernisation of the Greek economy and Greek society”.

Right now, that aspiration appears to be dead. Greece may be taking the first steps towards leaving the European Union, and is certainly on the brink of deep economic uncertainty. It is clear that whatever else might be said, the ordinary people of Greece face the prospect of deep and sustained hardship, of a kind that is unprecedented in a European context.