Studio guest Andrei Fyodorov, former deputy foreign minister of Russia, director of the Center for political research foundation (studio guest), James Drew, Production Editor at the “EU Reporter”,(Brussels), Sotiris Georganas, associate professor at the Department of Economics, City University (London), Dr. Kyriakos Kouveliotis, Scientific Advisor to the Secretariat General of Mass Media of the Hellenic Republic, Christos Savidis, president of the Artbox company, (Tssalloniki).
What do you think the significance of this Greek election is? Is it being overblown in the mass media?
Andrei Fyodorov: I think that the story of the Greek elections is also kind of a big bluff. Let’s start with the Syriza Party. What is the Syriza Party? It is a mix of everything: from Trotskyites to the left-wing trade union activists etc. It is not a party that has a common ideology. It has only one common issue – the fate of Greece. It is an important issue, but is not an ideological issue. And it will be very easy in the future, believe me, to split Syriza on these issues. The majority of the Syriza members are the so-called anti-system members and they can be very easily disappointed in the governmental activity of Syriza, because, whether we like it or not, it will not play against the EU. There is no future for Greece without the EU. And the problem today is the political economic bargaining.
From this point of view, I would like to say that the Russian issue, yes, it will be one very important bargaining point, because in this situation Syriza and the new Government can really use the Russian ‘cow’. And don’t forget that the Russian Minister of Finance has already said that Russia can assist Greece financially. And they can use the second ‘cow’ – the EU – to cut at least 50% of their terrible debt. And they can even use the third ‘cow’ – the US. It is very simple, because just yesterday Obama said that the US is also ready to assist Greece. So, Greece is the new battlefield.
But we don’t have to think that Greece will play on the Russian side in this game. Yes, there are absolute sympathies of the Greek population towards Russia. And according to the latest poll more than 65% population stand for the friendship and developing relations with Russia. But Greece is a European country.
Do you think that there are certain traditional Greek values which are different from what is described as pan-European values?
Christos Savidis: Greece was in the EU for many years now, but I don’t recognize myself as a European anymore. I don’t like this Europe, I don’t like what Europe is trying to do to us. From the union of citizens and countries it became a union of banks. And this is something that is not leading towards anything. So, the only solution for Europe is to change. This slogan that is popular these days in the mass media that Syriza will change Europe. Is it true? I'm sorry, it is not, and I hope that it is not going to happen vice versa. But I feel like it is a necessity for Europe to change. I don’t know the way how it will happen. Maybe, the traditional Greek values are the solution.
What do the Greek elections mean for the Euro and for the Eurozone? Is this fear over the Greek’s exit unfounded, is it something that could actually happen, or is Syriza just a lot of talk?
Sotiris Georganas: The fear often tends to be irrational. The truth is that there are two parts in the answer. If Greece were to exist, it would be much smaller of a problem for Europe, than it would be, say, 3 years ago. The EU member states have already taken the measures; they have tried to offload the Greek bonds and etc. But I also think that a lot of the behavior of Syriza is posturing, as the Finance Minister himself has actually said in a recent interview. So, I don’t think that the danger of exit is as big, as people think of it.
Do I get it right that Syriza will try to use this alleged threat of leaving the EU as sort of a bargaining chip?
Sotiris Georganas: Greece has a primary surplus, so they could in principle exit. And that is something they could possibly use as a bargaining chip.
What is the view from Brussels? Are they nervous or do they see this as some type of charade?
James Drew: I believe that you are right when you say that there is a certain amount of nervousness being expressed in Brussels. The people have spoken in Greece and it’s been a democratic process, but this means that the Syriza Party is not going to toe the European Commission’s line, it is not going to toe the Germany’s line and I believe that will be a cause for concern. That’s the feeling I'm getting at the moment.
There was a lot of controversy over the so-called Russian issue. How do things stand now?
James Drew: The political classes, I think, are coming to the idea that, quite unusually for Europe at the moment, this has been an expression of support for a party, but it’s come from the left. Frequently, when countries are in trouble, they tend to turn to the right. And that, as I'm sure you are aware of, is what is happening across Europe at the moment. But in Greece they are turning to the left and I believe that there is a chance for some positivity from that path.
The Syriza’s electoral victory, could it be a game changer not only for Greece, but also for the EU as a whole? What is your take on this?
Dr. Kyriakos Kouveliotis: I think that the new Government actually believes that they are going to implement their plans and change the whole situation. They really believe that, although it is quite difficult. We need to keep in mind that the new Government was elected because of the four or five major changes that they promised to do: to renegotiate all the bailout loans, to cut the external debt of Greece, to soften all the budget measures and to tackle and handle the humanitarian crisis that hit the country very hard in the last five years.
These are the key electoral promises that the new Government gave and not only the people, but everybody else are waiting to see what is going to happen. They themselves know that it is going to be very difficult to achieve. The first acts of the Government were to invite some of the key European officials to come and visit Greece. They don’t expect them to change their opinion very easily, but they think that this is the start of the negotiations process now.
What do you expect out of the negotiations? And to what extend do you think this so-called Greece’s rebellion inside the EU can be sorted out?
Dr. Kyriakos Kouveliotis: We need to wait to get an answer for that, because the new Government uses its geopolitical location as a leverage in the negotiations with the EU. Take, for instance, the new approach and the new stance towards Russia. The possibility of imposing the new measures on Russia because of the situation in Ukraine, the new Syriza Government was opposed to that. So, I think that the whole new conversation is opening because of this election of Syriza as the new Government. It remains to be seen if this is going to be successful or not.
Will the Greeks be disillusioned quickly or will they give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a long enough time to at least try?
Dr. Kyriakos Kouveliotis: There is a fixed deadline, which is the end of February 2015 where we have the extension of the current economic assistance program. They need to achieve some kind of agreement with the European officials by that date: either a new extension… But, on the one hand, if they achieve that, then the opposition will accuse them, saying – well, you were elected, because you said that you were going to abolish any of these economic ties and now you ask for an extension. That is one problem they have. And the other is that they need to start fulfilling some of the promises that they were elected for. And this is not going to be easy because of the budgetary problems.
