Weary Greeks share feeling of hopelessness
New austerity measures are on their way
ATHENS — After the capitulation of Greece this week to its creditor nations in Europe, Panagiotis Katsis, a retired accountant, did what he does best. The math.
Under the harsh conditions of Greece’s $124-billion Cdn bailout, social security will be cut. The 65-year-old calculates that will shave 45 euros — about $65 — off his 950-euro-amonth cheque.
Property taxes are also set to rise, so he’s budgeting for a hit of about 700 euros a year. Add creditors’ demands to raise national revenue through price hikes on a host of foods — pasta, canned tuna, cereal, you name it — and he’s guessing 35 euros more on his monthly grocery bill.
“Europe thinks of Greece only as numbers,” said Katsis, who now supports himself and his wife, a retired housewife, on his pension cheque. “Cut this. Cut that. But we are people, and we’ve had five years of this already. We’ve had enough.”
For 11 million Greeks, lean times are about to get leaner. If Greece passes a rash of reforms, the cost of life on many Greek islands — which enjoyed sales tax discounts about to be slashed — is set to go up.
Many foods will be more expensive. Coffee bars will pay higher taxes. Retirees will shell out more for their medicines.
The Greeks are used to austerity by now. They’ve lived it since 2010, when budget-slashing measures led to across-theboard cuts, including the firing of public servants and the introduction of new taxes.
The pain piled on in 2012, when a second bailout brought the bitter pill of more austerity. Now, in the midst of a neverending economic plunge more painful than the Great Depression, another dose of austerity is around the corner.
Yet many Greeks are not so much outraged as disillusioned.
Disillusioned that Greece’s creditors — led by Germany — would drive such a hard bargain. Disillusioned with Tsipras, who vowed to just say no to European demands, but ended up just saying yes.
Yet without the $124-billion bailout, it would have been worse. Greek banks faced imminent collapse and a messy exit from the euro currency union that could have sparked a brutal currency devaluation. So maybe it’s not as bad as it could have been. But in a longsuffering nation, that’s cold comfort for many Greeks.
Last Sunday night, Fratzeska Sklavou, 45, and her husband, Kosmas Thanasias, 52, were glued to the television set in their three-bedroom apartment with a peekaboo view of the Aegean Sea. European leaders led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel were wearing Tsipras down, threatening to let his country go bankrupt if he didn’t sign a harsh cash-forcuts deal.
Tsipras had given his first major interview as head of his party at the couple’s Athens coffee shop in early 2008. They believed in him. They thought he would hold out.
Their interest in the summit was hardly casual. One of the austerity measures on the table was a higher tax for Greek coffee shops that was going to cost their business about $1,300 a month.
By morning, they awoke to discover Tsipras had caved.
“We didn’t blame him,” Sklavou said, sitting in the couple’s half-empty coffee shop. “They squeezed him. They gave him no choice. But right now, it’s hard to know who to blame. We’re just upset. More than upset, we’re feeling hopeless. Depressed.”
Like most Greeks, the couple had voted “No” in a national referendum on July 5. Tsipras asked the people to reject another cash-for-cuts deal. Sklavou voted no, but, she said, part of her knew it was always going to be fruitless.
“So why did I say ‘No’? Because I wanted to make a statement. It was the Greek people shouting to the world. Saying that this is not fair. It was a cry for help. But they are not going to help us.”
For retirees like Katsis, the new round of austerity means another choice. What to cut now?