Corinthian column

Read this and then think again if you still want to leave the country.

Articles are numerous and everywhere in the media, so as the discussions between young Greeks who think seriously about leaving the country, as recession strangles a job market already crippled and so on..

Well, think again.

The first time I met Markus Stolz was at a meeting about Greek tourism. German-born and residing Athens for the last seven years, he talked about his Greek wine business, Elloinos.com and entrepreneurship. Back then, one of his comments skipped my mind like a stone across water. “I do not get it”, he said, “why you leave the country in order to become employees for someone else abroad, while when I get out in the street, I see plenty of opportunities to start something of your own”.

Let’s stick to that for a while.

Markus is an entrepreneur based in Greece. As such, he acknowledges the hard situation in Greece.

“The situation within Greece is complex, on the other hand I believe is now more than ever the opportunity to build something up because lots of people are leaving the country. Young educated people, with good ideas but they go abroad because they see no future here, so there is more empty space and the people who will be able to build something up, will become big players”.

Practically, Markus backs his idea on the fact that internet has changed everything. “The timing is perfect now. From your room you can start something; you do not need advertizing, telephone costs, renting rooms”.

The problem for Mr Elloinos, is that the attitude is far too heavily concentrated on facing and thinking about the obstacles. “Unfortunately, people spend too much time on thinking the problems they will face. I know it’s hard in Greece, probably harder than in other places with all the laws and regulations but is doable. Look, people have ideas and then, when they face the obstacles, they say, “oh no! You can’t do this in Greece, that’s not right”. But after a while you just need to start executing things and that goes for every business”.

“''People come from Albania, they do not speak greek but they manage to build businesses. What I have witnessed often in Greece; people, have good ideas, they start to implement them and then, after few months, it ‘s like the enthusiasm is gone and the idea is never brought to life. They are great about discussing ideas but they hesitate and suddenly the whole thing falls apart.'' ” I am Greek devil’s advocate, so I ask to learn, is his experience talking or a wishful thinking.

- What if a young man comes right now and asks you?

-“My actual wine business, Elloinos, I started it two and a half years ago when I saw how many little of Greek wine was exported. I had no idea about and my knowledge was just wine. For the business side I had zero knowledge or connections, none at all. But I said this is something I want to do!

It took more than two years to earn income from it. And still trying to keep costs down, as low as possible, which is doable, a lot of energy, working 7 days, 18 hours per day and then you see, the first year was a bit frustrating because nothing was happening or very little but then it gets amplified. You see interest coming and the whole potential is still there. Now I am enjoying!”

“This is what I love about entrepreneurship; you sit down and write a business plan, one year, three years to five years. Totally not needed anymore, the business world is changing so quickly, if you had written a business plan five years ago, five years ago Twitter didn’t t even exist, Facebook was there just for students, the social network wasn’t there and now is changing so quickly so you can not plan any more, you can have a guideline sure and then you have to react. When I started, I did business with Germany and UK and this has evolved now. My largest market is America. Is currently my biggest importer and we are talking about good names in the best places. And of course at the beginning when I saw there was interest in the US, I was skeptical, my old business skill said, “US? I do not know anything about the US, is going to be hard” and then I said, listen to yourself, you just do it. You will find a way”.

“''At first, it’s hard because you spend a lot of time. You do not have income and you just do it but that‘s entrepreneurship, that’s how you build up a business, that’s the same for every country''”.

-Do you have any success story, an entrepreneur that you admire?

- “There are a lot of success stories especially in US and things have changed completely with the internet, just take for example the last three years, is just amazing. One thing I am debating, is the education system, I am not sure how useful it will be, because you do not need anymore the skills that you are taught at school or at university. You need different skills; you need to be able to tell a convincing story, to brand yourself. Traditionally, my father in law, he used to say, the safest work in the whole world is to work for banks and financial institutions. And this was true for many decades. But look now, the banks are bankrupt and let’s take Greece, do you want to work for a Greek bank now? Is the most unsafe job there is".

"Looking at it, the business world is just turning the turmoil, and it becomes the safest opportunity. So, the crisis is in Greece, yes, is very ugly and very hard but still amazing if you look in the skin of things that you are able being no one, to build something up within two or three years that brings you a steady income that leaves you all the potential and opportunity with little money and work. The opportunity is there for everyone and everyone can do it, you start a blog if you continue to do it and is quality work you put your name on it and a newspaper will come to you, the word starts spreading''.

Markus on Gary Vaynerchuk Wine & Web live radio show, in New York to talk about Greek wines and his passion about them (Gary Vaynerchuk might currently be the most influential wine person on a global basis).

-What do you see that we, young Greeks, do not see?

"''What you do not see is that the opportunity is there. In times of crisis, when you decide to start something up, you have low competition because other people are sleeping and other didn’t do it. So you start covering your part of the market, you put your name out to the product or the service you offer and people take your name and put it in your service or product, so you start building brand equity which is very, very important. Brand equity, can’ t be taken away cause I continue building on it so if someone else comes now to do the same as me is going to have much harder time because I am there''”.

"But people are afraid still of all the obstacles they will face; the entrepreneurship culture in Greece is very young and is not based within Greece. Many Greek entrepreneurs and I am talking about entrepreneurs and not businessmen who get their fathers business and build it up, but people who start something new, Greek entrepreneurs who start something go abroad, like easyJet (founded by Greek Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou). Within the country there is no much noise about it, but what I am saying is exactly this: this is where the opportunity is, because even now the competition to start something whatever it is, is not very strong. If you start something “tech” in California, you have hundreds of people who start something similar; you have competition. In Greece, the people still hold back, it starts to change''.

-And what about the inevitable fundraising chase; it feels like speaking a foreign language here.

-“Yes ok, that is certainly true but you need to focus on the product. Scale your idea to something that maybe is not perfect but it’s basic and easy and if the idea is implemented correctly and go out and put this on the market. You know “taxi beat”?”

Taxi beat is an application, made by a Greek company. Once you tap into the application and you can trace -according to your location-, all available cab drivers.

“A brilliant thing! How this came in the market? They could have looked for finance in order to get a product that would have been perfect from day one. Instead, they focused a lot on bringing the product on the street, to get the taxi drivers and their needs; they talked, listened to them. And they have a basic product ready and now they start to improve it. What I am saying is, do not get out with an idea where you need lots of finance in order to perfect it, rather keep it easy and simple and start something to work”.

Markus has a finance background. He has served in several financial institutions, including Commerzbank and as an Executive Director for Goldman Sachs in London.

I ask him as a German person how he see the Greek case-crisis.

“Listen, what has been very, very wrong, I am sad and annoyed. All that has been done is to charge the average person on the street, to charge the people of Greece. Text fights (referring to foreign publications) and now we are in a situation that people are depressed. Unemployment is rocked into roof, with all this measurement, what the Government do with all these taxes, is killing the whole economy. What should have been done first of all is to bring investments, you need somehow to give liquidity and keep the engines going. IMF and EU, now are coming up with the idea, “oh! We need investments in order to broad the economy”, but this should have happened a year ago”.

“The system in Greece has to change and it will change but it will take time. I have no doubt about that. People’s perception will change as well. But this again has nothing to do with building up a business in Greece because then again you can theoretically focus on all the problems; sure there are problems, so? Do something despite the problems. “I can’t do it because this might happen, this has happened to my 35 year old friend”, yes there are many tough stories, still, do your work, get something to go on, try it!”

“Now, romantically, let’s just dream for a second that you had young people start businesses on their own, many will not succeed, that’s always happening and has nothing to do with Greece, that’s in every business, but many will. Can you imagine how this will look like in five years, when you have 5-10% of them making the breakthrough, imagine what will do to the psychology in the country when you have success stories of people that are not afraid to do something, to runaway to work for someone else!”

“I know it is hard time, very hard, but there is something. Start small, work hard, build your name, brand your name and see what this can do for you. You build up your name in a way that people start trusting you, that people like your work and talk about it. That is the most important thing and powerful message in existence, that people recommend you and your work. Likely enough this has changed with the internet, 5-10 years ago, when the internet was very different. Now you can spread your message out to the world. You can concentrate people and business, you can go public, you can do it with your friends or completely strangers, people will listen and engage and this is the amazing thing. The engagement doesn’t t cost anything but work. In Greece is very doable”.

Now you! Get yourselves in gear

by Georgios Kokkolis, political scientist

Whether or not George Papandreou’s decision over a Greek referendum was correct or not, is certainly a matter that will torture the historian of the future. Is Papandreou an exceptional mind or a dangerous idiot?

Whatever the answer to the question is, fear not that one thing is certain: that Papandreou touched such a sensitive string that by no means was to be touched. This risky decision over the referendum, however, reshaped both the Greek and the European political environment.

By Elina Makri

On 1998, Depeche Mode were singing, ''it’s only when I lose myself in someone else that I find myself”

This is what happened last week when I had to pass an entire week with 13 Europeans exploring backpack journalism and creative writing in Unesco City of Design, Graz, Austria.

Not only did I had to spend seven entire days with these guys, share ideas and techniques but foremost, pass my free time, hung out with them and share with monastic discipline three daily meals in the auspices of European Grundtvig Workshop.

And the song goes There is a thousand reasons why I shouldn‘t spend my time with you, For every reason not to be here, I can think of two…

One can read at the page of the European Commission, “Launched in 2000, the Grundtvig programme focuses on the teaching and study needs of learners taking adult education and ‘alternative’ education courses.

Yes, but there is more to that. Much more.

A good start.

Taking the train from Vienna to Graz, I had to traverse northeast Austria, passing almost a breath distance from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Travelling abeam Europe with the train, time to think, contemplate, away from home. I am already in a good mood.

Walking along Mur, the Grazian river, I took some deep breaths of cold air and remembered my student life in the north of Europe, the carefree moments of being in a place where I am not supposed to be. Back to the hotel, meeting point at 19:50 for our first get together dinner. Miss Denmark, Miss Slovenia, two Czechs “demoiselles”, Mr England and Mr Latvia were there. Self discovery just begun. First tales from home. I had my honors; Greece is in the world agenda.

Next morning, working sessions begun at Karina’s floor, at the premises of the association, a typical Austrian house in the woods that gives the impression it has just escaped from a fairy tale. Brainstorming and writing, 13:00 sharp time to lunch. It is undisputable that eating with someone is supposed to be a sort of intimate and highly social moment of sharing and behaving. Cultures unfold, perplexity mechanisms put into practice, savoir vivre in all its splendid, at least for the first day. Then, I was among friends.

Something beautiful is happening inside of me

Long walks, chats, a visit to the local free Radio, drinks at the local Irish pub after the work, the hot red wine, all moments that created more intimacy and contributed to get to know each other. The stories from home, personal narratives. Now, I get what Czechs feel about Russians when they expect them still to speak Russian, refusing to communicate in english, “a thing left from the days of the Occupation”, or what is the situation with the Austrian youth, the difficulties that one can meet several resemblances with the naughty European south (shhhh, we do not talk about it). Thank you Juris for reminding that Latvia’s capital, Riga, is also situated by the sea and that his home town is struggling to find its way between religion and ethnography all by “Preserving Centuries” of history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZG4a83rSkQ

My mind is already back in Athens, at the demonstrations, the riots, the uncertain future, the yet to come. Taking my distances from home, made me realize where I belong, my priorities and what I want from life, and all that, just by having the chance to share, expose and explain what I do back, home.

A mosaic of idiosyncrasies

And the time of the intercultural dinner, all the laughs, introduction to new flavors, tastes and drinks, the story behind the traditional dishes and the question that freezes the atmosphere, “do you think we will ever become the United States of Europe?” “Not, unless we get to know each other”!

IN VINO VERITAS

Last talks

And the I-hate-goodbyes-last night, a promise project for Japan and the last moment, outside the hotel room, share the dominant thoughts of this week’s, or was it of the previous?

Letting get deep into methexis

Beyond any romance, I believe the essence of Europe is hidden somewhere here, European Union, offers a wonderful chance to spend useful time, to live with other nationalities that we will probably face the same destiny and have the chance to work, project and live together. Journalists operate through distance. I am glad to indulge into methexis.

And what if distance passes through methexis?

And so the end begins.

We say that real trip starts with landing at home, when you have the chance to see your own home with a fresh look.

The song of this trip.

Shut the gates and sunset

After that you can't get out

You can see the bigger picture

Find out what it’s all about

You're open to the skyline

You won't want to go back home

In a garden full of angels

You will never be alone

But oh! the road is long

The stones that you are walking on

Have gone

This is for Karina, thank you for letting this happen, charming Helena, airy Ida, funky Sara, mild Nikola, timid Galya, smiley Katarina, fast moving Joao, easygoing Alin, our oh-so-Brittish Thomas, traditional Juris and last but not least, Jorge, my Spanish comrade-in-arms!

''Do not cry for Romiosyne or... maybe you should?

Cafebabel Greece, the greek team of cafebabel.com, organises three meetings regarding the Greek national identity.

Are we Greeks, Romioi, or Hellenes?

Athens or Constantinople?

West or East?

From the debt crisis to the identity crisis.

With a glass of wine and good friends, we climb to the loft of the Black Duck cafe to examine the identity of modern Greeks and we try to understand the psychology of a people that old that refuses to grow up.

Tuesday, October 18: Greek aesthetic proposal and politics - dialogue with the West

Tuesday, October 25: The psychology of modern Greeks

Tuesday, November 1: Solving the Gordian Knot - our national ''suspenses''

by Natali Lekka, freelance translator, writer and a member of the Association of European Journalists. She tweets @natalilekka

Poet, writer, artist, editor, publisher, activist, internet pioneer and a Member of the Parliament of Althing – the Icelandic Parliament, Birgitta Jónsdóttir’s multifaceted personality and uncurbed enthusiasm often makes headlines for her commitment to international projects that keep on beating the drum for political transformation and freedom of information. I met her in Athens, this year, at a workshop on ‘Media Policies and Regulation for Media Freedom and Independence” that had been co-organized by the Greek section of the Association of European Journalists and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.

Poet, artist and publisher

By Sebastian Kontovounisios,

Has the title baffled you?

Well, let me introduce you to Kastelorizo or Cat Island as I like to call it due to its abundance of feline dwellers. Another flattering op-ed on the superior beauty of Greek islands, you say? No, on the contrary, our subject is quite inane and one that I will try to dress up with as much literary flair and illustrative adjectives as possible.

So, going back to our title, how about those hydrates? Well, here is a word that hounded me for almost the entirety of my military service (which I spent on Kastelorizo). I first heard it on the boat-ride to Cat Island and the word went on to inhabit my mind ever since. It wasn’t the word itself that kept popping up but rather incidents that inadvertently pointed to it; talk about a mythical treasure found deep in the island’s turquoise waters, debates on TV about the Exclusive Economic Zone of Kastelorizo, my commander’s musings on the International Law of the Sea.

Do I still have your attention? Good because Cat Island seems to be sitting on a massive reserve of hydrates that, according to scientists, possibly constitute the solution to mankind’s energy problem.

Wikimedia Commons

Of course, no one on Cat Island really knows what hydrates are and

I haven’t been on the streets for about twenty years, but I can’t stand this anymore. I decided to protest after many years because I cannot bare our politicians’ apathy for people’s problems. They just keep on slamming the taxes on us - and that’s all. If politicians really wanted to find solutions for the country they would. One indignant protestor speaks

The Aganaktismenoi (αγανακτισμένοι) indignant movement started on 25 May with the first call for a public gathering at Syntagma Square in the centre of Athens. The message of the movement varies with the participants you meet. Yet people from all ages (especially twenty- and thirty-somethings) and walks of life (you’ll spot many suits and ties in the crowd) share one thing in common: we do not want any political coloration -correlation within the Aganaktismenoi movement.

Syntagma Square | Aganaktismenoi movement

One of the main dangers is for trade unions and left political parties to take advantafe of these gatherings and present the situation as they want. This cannot be more further from the truth, because we do not want any syndicalist or political party invasion. We’ve had enough with all political parties in power and within parliament – right, left, centre, socialist, conservative, communist, no matter!

The classical greek ‘moutza’, or the five open fingers sign | Ancient gesture symbolising aversion and abhorrence of a person towards a situation

This is all about French history in the end - during their revolutions, whoever sat left was branded communist, whoever sat right became a conservative. It has never suited the Greek reality (for example, the communist leader Aleka Papariga enrolled her child at the prestigious, private American College in Athens, Deree). The Greek people want politicians to leave, since all the austerity measures they have taken have failed. They have put the social cohesion of the country in great danger. Cutting pensions, wages, creating an instable fiscal system and executing blindfold economic theories have nothing to do with the reality of the country. They are just an execution from the government of what the international monetary fund (IMF) and European creditors (especially Germany) say with no adaptation to the country’s specificities.

The maid reacted…what are we going to do?’ | T-shirts refer to the sex scandal surrounding the former IMF chief and creditor of Greece, Strauss Kahn

In history, revolutions started because people could not stand any more taxes. My generation’s future is decided by the people and the same political class that created the problems in the first place. The least I can do is to hit the streets. Whoever remains silent, consents (ο σιωπών, συναινεί). Over the last years youngsters have been so appalled that they have turned their backs on everything that had to do with politics. I hope to see new leaders coming from this situation and not from the same political families.

The Greek premier George Papandreou or opposition leader Antonis Samaras have never worked in their lives. How do we expect them to understand where can youngsters find money to pay the taxes? Politicians do not allow innovation or create a positive environment for young entrepreneurship or growth. They push us to leave abroad. A very good friend of mine who works in green energy was told by a representative in Silicon Valley: ‘the problem is not that you are Greek, but that you are a Greek company.’ What else is there to say?

All in all, this is just a description of a symptom of deeper-rooted reasons. We Greeks have never believed in the notion and idea of a central state.

Main image is an ‘Art Bank’ opening in Athens, a performance about the ‘non-value of money’ (cc) SpirosK/ Flickr/ SpirosK official blog

THE ISSUE OF DISUNITING EUROPE APPEARED ON FEW OCCASIONS IN OUR EU STORY. WE SEE A UNION WANTING TO REFORM AND IMPROVE, NOT ONLY THE ECONOMIC SECTOR, BUT ALSO THE DECISION, MAKING PROCESS. AS WE ALREADY KNOW, THE UNION IS TRYING FOR YEARS NOW TO BUILD SOMETHING VERY UNIQUE AND SPECIAL, SUCH AS CONFERENCES, SUMMITS, TREATIES... IN UNIFICATION. THEY ARE FAR FROM BUILDING A FEDERATION, BUT THEY ARE HEADING THAT DIRECTION. BECAUSE OF THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED, THERE ARE DISCREPANCIES. THE LAST ECONOMIC CRISIS WAS THE FIRST SUBSTANTIAL PROOF OF “DISORGANIZATION”. THERE ARE SIGNS FOR CHANGES TOWARD A MORE MATURE ECONOMY, BUT WE SEE THE PARTIES ARE STILL UNDECIDED. THERE ARE DEBATES ABOUT WHAT DECISIONS TO MAKE, SUCH AS IT WAS WITH THE MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA. WE ARE NOT CRITICIZING THE EU INTERVENTION, BUT RATHER THE DECISION PROCESS REGARDING THE INTERVENTION IN THIS CASE EUROPE IS SPLIT WITH SOME COUNTRIES ENGAGED IN SENDING HELP AND OTHER COUNTRIES REFRAINING FROM THAT . WE ARE LEFT TO WONDER IF THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS FOR SOME OF THESE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES? IS EUROPE IS REALLY UNITED? THE PROMINENT GOOD THING ABOUT EUROPE, IS THAT IT IS A DEMOCRATIC UNIFICATION OF COUNTRIES. ON THIS BASIS, IT BRINGS SECURITY FOR SOME OF THE MEMBERS. DESPITE THE FLAWS IT REMAINS A DEMOCRATIC ECONOMIC UNION. IN THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR, EUROPE OVERCAME MANY CHALLENGES. THE MEMBER STATES COOPERATE TOGETHER IN OTHER SECTORS SUCH AS JUSTICE AND RESEARCH. THEY CREATED STRUCTURES AND INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE DEMOCRATIC STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT. DURING THE MAASTRICHT TREATY IN 1992, THEY TALKED ABOUT MULTIPLE SUBJECTS OF COOPERATION, SUCH AS A SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, BORDER CONTROL, SECURITY POLICY, UNION CITIZENSHIP, AND IMPORTANTLY A DEFENSE POLICY. HOWEVER, A UNIFIED DEFENSE POLICY FAILED IN THE PAST DURING THE IRAQ WAR, SO WHY WOULD IT WORK AGAIN? IT APPEARS THAT THERE ARE SEPARATE INTERESTS FOR EACH COUNTRY OF EUROPE. MILITARY INTERVENTION MAY NOT ONLY BE ABOUT THE ABOLITION OF EXISTING DICTATORSHIPS AND TO PROVIDE PROTECTION TO ALL COUNTRIES, BUT ALSO MAYBE ALSO ABOUT SELF-SERVING INTERESTS THAT DO NOT NECESSARILY HELP THE CAUSE OF EUROPE. DURING THE SPRING EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF 24 - 25 MARCH 2011, ONE OF THEIR TOPICS ON THE AGENDA WAS THE LIBYAN CRISIS. IT WAS STATED THAT THE UNION’S POLITICAL OBJECTIVES WERE THAT GADDAFI MUST GO AND THERE MUST BE A POLITICAL TRANSITION. IT WAS A UNITED AGREEMENT HOWEVER, THE WAY THE INTERVENTION HAPPENED SHOWED SELF-SERVING MOTIVES. IT IS CLAIMED THAT THE INTERVENTION HAS FOR PURPOSE TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO SUPPORT THE COMMON PEOPLE, BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS: WHY THEY DID NOT INTERVENE IN OTHER NON-DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES TO SUPPORT REBELLION SUCH AS CHINA OR THE IVORY COAST? THESE ARE INCONSISTENT DECISIONS. THE DISORGANIZATION OF EUROPE BECAME EVIDENT WITH THE LIBYAN CONFLICT BY THE ATTITUDE OF EACH OF THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES. THE BEHAVIOR WAS DISCORDANT. FOR EXAMPLE. GERMANY, WAS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING AGAINST THE INTERVENTION EVEN AFTER THE APPROBATION OF NATO. ON THE OTHER HAND, ITALY WAS AT FIRST UNWILLING TO INTERVENE, BECAUSE OF THEIR PAST COLONIALISM ASSOCIATION WITH LYBIA AND THE INDEPENDENCE WAR THEY HAD CAUSED. BUT FOLLOWING THE US INTERVENTION, ITALY WAS THEN READY TO PROVIDE MILITARY AIRPORTS TO ATTACK LIBYA. THIS GESTURE WENT AGAINST WHAT THEY INITIALLY SAID. THE INTEREST IN EXPELLING THE EXISTING LYBIAN LEADERSHIP MAY HAVE LIED IN THE OPPORTUNITY TO CEASE PAYING COMPENSATIONS FOR THE WAR THEY HAD CAUSED, AS THEY ARE CONTRACTED TO DO. OTHER EXAMPLES, ARE FRANCE AND THE UK WHO WERE THE FIRST TO ATTACK LIBYA. MEDIA REPORTS STATED THE INTERESTS OF FRANCE IN THE CONFLICT AND THE HYPOTHESIS OF GAINS FROM OIL RESOURCES, ASSERTION OF POWER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA (MEDITERRANEAN UNION) OR SHOWCASING THE EFFICACY OF THEIR NEW MILITARY AIRPLANES. THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION MAY HAVE BEEN A FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR AS WELL. IN FACT, THE ATTACK COULDN’T HAVE OCCURRED IF THE COUNTRIES NEIGHBORING LYBIA WOULDN’T HAVE OFFERED SUPPORT SUCH AS, GREECE, WHO WAS AGAINST THE INTERVENTION IN THE BEGINNING. MOREOVER, WHY HAVEN’T OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES PARTICIPATE? IF IT IS A UNITED EUROPE ALL COUNTRIES NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN ALL DECISIONS TOGETHER AS THEY ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT. THE SITUATION SEEMS MORE CLEAR NOW: THERE ARE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE UNION. REGARDING AGAIN THE LYBIAN CRISIS, THERE SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION ABOUT THE WEAPONS REARMAMENT FOR REVOLUTIONARY LIBYANS, ONCE AGAIN, THEY WERE AGAINST THE INTERVENTION AT FIRST, BUT THEN FROM ONE DAY TO THE NEXT, A DECISION WAS MADE TO ATTACK. THERE WERE THOUGHTS THAT IT WOULD BE AN ‘AMERICAN’ MILITARY INTERVENTION, BUT IT WAS NOT THE CASE LIKE IN THE PAST. IT SEEMS THAT THE DISORGANIZED EUROPE DOES NOT WANT TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR. FOR SUCH REASON THE MEDIA ADDRESSES EACH COUNTRY’S PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFLICT SEPARATELY. INITIALLY,  THE SINGLE COUNTRIES ACT SEPARATELY AND ONLY LATER, THEY ARE PORTRAYED AS A ‘UNIFIED ’ POWER. THIS IS WHY THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL ADOPTED A DECISION ON 1 APRIL 2011 CONCERNING A EUROPEAN UNION MILITARY OPERATION IN SUPPORT OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN LIBYA. TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE, WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE RESULTS OF THE WAR; NOT ONLY IN LIBYA BUT ALSO FOR EACH OF THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED. EACH COUNTRY HAS DIFFERENT OPTIONS. EUROPE AS A UNION MAY NOT ASSUME THE CONSEQUENCES AND THE RESPONSIBILITY. MOREOVER, THERE IS A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT KIND OF LIBYA THEY WANT TO CREATE. IF THERE THE CONCERN  IS ONLY TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE COUNTRY, THEN ALL IS FINE; BUT USUALLY THE COUNTRIES WHO INTERVENED WANTS TO CONTROL THE COUNTRY IN QUESTION. IT IS NOT A SIMPLE TASK TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO ANOTHER COUNTRY FROM ONE DAY TO ANOTHER; THE MENTALITY OF THE PEOPLE HAS TO BE RIPE. HOWEVER, TO PERFORM SUCH TASK REQUIRES HARD WORK FROM DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES. IF THEY WERE UNITED, COUNTRIES FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION COULD PERHAPS HELP AT FIRST BY ESTABLISHING INSTITUTIONS. THE EU STANDS READY TO HELP A NEW LIBYA ECONOMICALLY, BY BUILDING ITS NEW INSTITUTIONS. MUST CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE ARAB LEAGUE, THE AFRICAN UNION, AND THE UNITED NATIONS. AS WE KNOW EUROPE IS AGAINST WAR BUT THEY ARE HIDING BEHIND WORDS SUCH AS: ‘RESOLUTION’, ‘ACTION’... COULD THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, INCLUDING THOSE WHO DID NOT INTERVENE, BRING SECURITY TO LIBYA? COULD THIS EPISODE TRULY ASSURE FUTURE SECURITY IN EUROPE? WILL ALL THE PARTIES INVOLVED WORK AS A UNION TO MAKE DECISIONS ECONOMICALLY AS WELL AS FUNCTIONALLY? WILL THEY LEARN A LESSON FROM THIS DISUNITED ACTION? THE WHOLE SITUATION OF LIBYA PROVED THAT EUROPE IS NOT REALLY UNITED, BUT RATHER THAT IT IS CONFUSED ABOUT ITS COURSE OF ACTION. WE HOPE THAT IS NOT GO TO BE LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE AND, EVEN NOW, THEY WILL TAKE SOME COMMON DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO. HOW THEY ARE GO TO SAVE THEMSELVES AND THE OTHERS. ONCE THEY ARE IN, THEY HAVE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE POINT, BUT WITH THE LESS POSSIBLE DAMAGE. LET’S REALIZE THAT EUROPE AS A UNION CAN BRING PEACE AND SECURITY BUT IT SHOULD BE MORE UNITED. EACH COUNTRY HAS TO LET GO OF ITS NATIONALISM, AND FOSTER MORE COOPERATION BETWEEN ALL PARTIES. THERE NEEDS TO BE A STRONGEST AND UNIFIED DEFENSE POLICY ALONG WITH A CONSTITUTION TO CREATE AN INCISIVE AND PERTINENT POLITICAL FIELD IN EUROPE.

by Constantinos Giannoulis

I haven’t written anything in this blog in several months, but here it is; a thought bugging my head for the past few months.

The topic? Trust!

The scope? The Greek crisis, tragedy, issue or whatever you call it!

People have been talking, writing, blogging, complaining, demonstrating, etc. about it. People have been making money over it, people have been losing their jobs and have been suffering the consequences of it, etc. People have been proposing solutions, everybody has a take on the problem, aseverybody suffers the consequences or will shortly do.

There seems to be a common understanding on the fact that there is a problem in Greece, with particular focus in the economy. Though it’s an ill-defined problem; is it the state? is it societal norms? is it all of the above? is it an organized plan against Greeks? Everybody defines the problem as they understand it. My intention is neither to talk about who caused it and how nor to provide a solution. After all, not being an economist, that would only address my definition of the problem similarly to every other non-expert’s.

by Jesus Soberon Gomez

photos courtesy of Antonio Julia Lozano