Why the Failure of Greece Is a European Problem

On Sunday European leaders will convene to decide not just the fate of the Greek people for years to come, but that of the European project itself. The way the EU has handled this six-year crisis has damaged its unity and thrown into question its very founding principles.

The last couple of weeks have exposed two trends that Europe shouldn’t take lightly. First, a growing number of Greeks are questioning their European identity. This was unthinkable prior to the crisis. Greeks are now looking away from their European allies for salvation, disenfranchised by the rigidity and demands of Greece’s partners and creditors. Second, Greece is not only becoming poorer, but also more divided. This makes the task of rebuilding the state and enhancing its democracy to address the many structural problems it faces almost impossible.

What’s worse, the crisis has turned European citizens against each other. Latvians, for example, argue that they suffered through similar adjustments back in 2008 and made it through. They have limited patience for the Greek problem. There is a real danger in having European peoples turn against each other. Instead of promoting the benefits of a united Europe, we have become victims of its shortcomings.

The EU—born from the ashes of the Second World War—set out to be the most progressive political experiment of the last 60 years and to make another war within EU borders unthinkable. The EU’s founding fathers agreed to “lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe.” They believed that giving up some of their own countries’ sovereignty to be united in diversity would make this continent a real world power for the benefit of all European peoples.

Today we see a two-speed Europe, split between good and bad players, villains and victims. For more than five years running, the Greece saga is nowhere near ending. EU heads of state have held innumerable meetings only to find themselves back where they started. Billions were spent by European taxpayers only to see Greeks suffer in deepening unemployment and poverty.

Governments and technocrats have chosen short-term fixes with their minds set on domestic audiences and lawmakers, rather than the long-term sustainability of the euro—one of the tangible symbols of integration. Surely something is wrong with Europe.

Letting Greece default would be a historic mistake that would signal the beginning of the end for European integration. While markets may well be prepared to handle a “Grexit,” the political and social implications for Europe will be grave.

Public disaffection with the European project is well documented, and recent election results have seen Eurosceptic and nationalist parties soar. Europe desperately needs to convince its people of the merits of integration, the value of solidarity, and the importance of staying united. The lack of leadership from many high-profile politicians across the continent has allowed extreme voices to flourish as Europeans blame one another for the crisis.

Greek governments of past decades also share the blame for this situation. Consecutive cabinets have shied away from implementing important structural reforms, fearing the political consequences. They have failed to address the impunity of corrupt officials and business interests that have been taking advantage of the country’s weak institutional framework for years.

Our recent report on journalism found that the lack of independent voices in the media has made it harder for citizens to hold the elite accountable in Greece. Making Greece a modern, functional state with well-governed institutions should have been Greece’s own objective, not an ultimatum dictated from the outside.

Throughout the crisis, European citizens have had little say about the austerity imposed upon them, muddying the democratic legitimacy of those making the decisions. Massive protest movements in Spain, Greece, and elsewhere have called for direct democracy through referenda, an option that Greek citizens had last Sunday.

However, the nature of the referendum’s question and the extreme polarization of the debate surrounding the vote makes the voters’ choice less clear: not everyone that voted yes is in favor of the recessionary measures spelled out in the proposal put to the vote, and not everyone that voted no is in favor of breaking Greece’s ties with the Eurozone and the European Union.

The Greek debt crisis isn’t the only example of Europe’s failure to address issues based on compromise and solidarity. A few hundred kilometers north of Athens, thousands of asylum seekers from Syria and elsewhere risk their lives trying to cross the country’s northern border without documents. The EU's current asylum rules force them to seek their right to international protection in the first EU country they enter, even if that country cannot provide them safety and dignity, as Greece currently cannot. Europe’s commitment to human rights and civil liberties is fading in the face of domestic political considerations once again.

A united Europe is built on concessions and compromise for the sake of the stability and prosperity of its people. This is the true expression of European democracy. Either everyone is a loser, or everyone is a winner. Let’s hope that even at the eleventh hour it’s not too late for Europe to change its course.