Political Duel

Ahead of today's first extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on the subject of Greece's re-negotiation attempt of the rescue plan one should not expect much. It is rather a line-up of forces on each side and more of an official "get to know" the adversary meeting. Christine Lagarde and Mario Draghi will apparently join this meeting and this is attributing a formal etiquette beyond normal to the whole event. The actual duel is expected then to take place on the forthcoming ordinary Eurogroup meeting on the 16th of February. Many voices have been already publicly raised about the fact that Greece is playing to lose, as many believe that we have revealed our strong suit very early in the negotiation process. It is beyond any doubt that the team that is representing us in the process is lacking the political experience, just like it is beyond any doubt that we have been occupying the attention of the Troika far too long. Just imagine a Mr. Schauble who after long discussions back and forth must have felt extremely relieved to having put the "Greece" issue to bed, and then suddenly his dream turns into a nightmare on the dawn of January 26, 2015, where a new government is trying to cancel the long and tedious work of the last few years. So, I am not surprised that we are up for a big game, whose outcome may not be the result of prudent planning and thinking. To that already explosive mixture I am adding Yanis Varoufaki's entire attitude including body language, expression and style and I cannot hide my unease and discomfort about the whole situation. I pray that sense will prevail in the end, and we will not compromise our European orientation as a country in favour of a risky game that was initiated by amateurs. The truth of the matter is that back in 2006 I was quick in judging the then Minster of Foreign Affairs Mr. Pangalos, who at the Imia crisis resolved the situation by ordering the removal of the Greek flag from the island, while our special forces had deployed on the same stretch of land ready to give up their lives for that very flag that Pangalos described as a piece of swab not worth getting killed for...and while this clearly reminds us that the composition of a politician is fundamentally different in conception and brain function, I am only saying this because Yanis Varoufaki's business card up until recently has been the one of an academic.