Η Ευρωπαϊκή Αριστερά και η Ελληνική τραγωδία

The European Left and the Greek Tragedy 

by Dimitris Konstantakopoulos (*)

The day Greek workers and employees went on general strike, protesting against a new barrage of so-called “reforms” imposed by the “creditors” in the context of a program that is destroying Greeks and their country, a statement on Greece was issued by the Presidents of the Social Democratic, Green and the “Radical Leftist” Groups in the European Parliament Gianni Pitella, Ska Keller and Gabi Zimmer.  

We still hope the Eurodeputies of those three groups will repudiate this unbelievable and shameful statement. For the time being they have not done so. (1) [Note: As we were posting this article, we were informed of the courageous statement by the MEP Fabio de Masi of Linke on the Eurogroup meeting of today. We hope other MEP’s do also disagree with the positions adopted by the three Presidents on Greece. For de Masi statement look here…].

Those three “Leftist” leaders have not found, in their statement, one word of solidarity for the families of tens of thousands of Greeks who have been driven to end lives they could not tolerate any more, as a result of the “reforms” imposed on Greece by the German and other European governments, the EU and the IMF.

They did not find a word of solidarity for the 1.5 million Greeks living in conditions of extreme poverty as a result of the policy endorsed and applied by Frau Merkel, M. Juncker and Mme. Lagarde.

They did not find a word of solidarity for pensioners who now see their pensions  being cut by another 30% in the 17th successive pension reduction in seven years, imposed by the creditors and voted by the Greek Parliament in a context of threat and blackmail. On the contrary, they supported the legislation cutting these pensions.

They did not find a word of sympathy for poor Greek cancer patients who will die because they don’t have the money to pay for treatment in a private hospital, at a time when the Greek health system is crumbling under the cuts imposed as a consequence of the reforms imposed by Germany, the EU and the IMF.

But these allegedly Leftist Eurodeputies did find words to urge the Greek government to proceed with continuation of the so- called reforms, imposed through an alliance of German and other European elites with international finance, reforms which have already caused – and keep causing – one of the greatest economic and social catastrophes in the whole history of international capitalism.

One wonders if anybody in Europe needs such a Left and if yes what for.

EU-IMF Reforms in Greece – how to destroy an economy!

It is enough to remember that Greece, as a result of a program supposedly designed to help it, has seen a fall of 27% in its economic output, its GDP. This is more, in relative terms, than the material losses of France or Germany during the First World War. It is more than what we witnessed during the depression of 1929-33 in the USA or the crisis of the Weimar Republic in Germany. Greece is approaching ten years of continuous recession, which is probably an absolute record in history.

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