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Europe cracks in the heat of Greece's flames
AN explosion of violence in Greece against austerity measures to save it from bankruptcy gave the country an almost revolutionary air last week, as if the people, with their rocks and political slogans, had risen up to overthrow corrupt and incompetent leaders. The burnt-out shell of Marfin Egnatia bank in central Athens became a shrine to the dead -- three employees, including a pregnant woman, killed when the building was set alight by protesters on Wednesday. "The people who did this should be hung upside down in the square," said a middle-aged woman placing a bunch of flowers at the marble threshold. By the weekend, however, when the tear gas had lifted, Europe was left to confront a reality even more momentous than the mayhem convulsing its southern frontier. Financial experts concur that Greece's woes may push the world back into recession just when people thought the worst of the crisis was over. Political leaders, meanwhile, are facing the possibility that their vision of Europe will come under threat, dooming to failure any future efforts to promote further integration. The level of concern became apparent on Friday when an official from the European Central Bank went on the record to deny that Europe was "breaking apart" as leaders met in Brussels for an emergency summit. They agreed a package of measures to defend the beleaguered single currency, but this may not be enough to end the turmoil. The survival of the European Union's present structure could be at stake, according to Lüder Gerken, director of the Centre for European Policy, a German think tank, who said "the struggle will be to preserve the EU as it exists". Today, on the 60th anniversary of the conception of the European community, the gloom will be intensified by the release of a report by Felipe Gonzalez Marquez, the former Spanish prime minister. He predicts that Europe could end up as "an insignificant peninsula on the Asian continent". Part of the problem is the sputtering demise of the "Franco-German motor", the impetus behind Europe's grandest schemes. Another is public disgruntlement with Europe's governing elite. Germany, once the EU's most enthusiastic champion, has emerged at the forefront of the backlash against European ideals, preferring to focus on national interests. After paying for reunification with the east, fiscally prudent Germans are horrified at being told they must bail out the profligate Greeks. Thomas Klau, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, spoke of a "fundamental change" in the way Germans think. "The almost instinctively Europhile discourse looks a thing of the past," he said. "Any argument for further integration will have to be fought for very hard." Posted by: lotp 2010-05-10 |
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