University professor Vrasidas Karalis is convinced former PASOK PM George Papandreou is responsible for Greece’s current predicament, and wants everyone to know.
Last weekend, on the eve of the referendum vote, more than 100 members of Sydney’s Hellenic community gathered at the Greek Bilingual Bookshop at inner western Dulwich Hill for a discussion featuring Karalis and hosted by former SBS news anchor Mary Kostakidis.
Karalis believes problems within Europe should be solved within Europe, and the fatal mistake of Greece was to reach outside the EU for assistance.
“From the beginning, there have been many tactical errors and the process of negotiation has lasted far too long. This should have been resolved a few months ago,” he told the meeting.
“The European Union depends on solidarity, mutual aid and most importantly, in these cases of default, intervention of the European Central Bank to solve the problem.
“The problem in this case is that Mr George Papandreou had brought in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is the serious problem in this case.”
Karalis said that if Greece had appealed to the European Central Bank only – and excluded the IMF – then liquidity and recapitalisation of the banks would have been secured.
The Q&A covered topics ranging from whether preconditions had been met for military intervention, to why Greece was balking at the troika’s latest proposal in the face of chaos, and also whether the IMF had a duty to wear Greece’s debt in lieu of proper due diligence.
Despite a range of views among the audience, there seemed to be unanimity that Germany was the common enemy and questioners were generally greeted with jeers if they appeared supportive of the austerity stance, and cheers if supportive of the alternative.
“The answer for the Greeks is in the word ‘dialogue’ – we do parallel monologue,” Karalis said.
“The Greeks fight about the things they agree on, not about the things they disagree on, because when two Greeks disagree they don’t talk to each other.
“What happens is that they all agree, but start fighting over different levels of emphasis.”
Perhaps the most humorous moment came when the meeting was interrupted with news a BMW was blocking a neighbour’s driveway.
A “German vehicle probably being driven by a Greek with debts?” was the cry. “Varoufakis!” was Karalis’ reflex response.
Mary Kostakidis described the mood in the room as “heated, complex and concerned”.
“There was an understanding that regardless of the referendum result, it will take decades for the Greek people to come out of the crisis and to evolve and develop the systems that need to be in place for the country to function properly,” she told Neos Kosmos.