Greece is ‘the Real Madrid of the Balkans’
New EU Commission vice president Margaritis Schinas talks about the challenges of migration and expansion, while stressing ownership of reforms
Margaritis Schinas was the obvious choice for Greece’s commissioner at the European Union. He has been involved in the core of European decision-making for years, without ever losing sight of realities in Greece. And not Greece through the lens of “Kolonaki Square and thereabouts,” he says, referring to the upscale central Athens neighborhood, but that of Greek society as a whole. Indeed, his first public appearance after being appointed European Commission vice president was an open discussion with young people in the port city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.
Schinas has experienced some key moments in Greece’s recent history and played an important role as well. In this interview with Kathimerini, he talks about the negotiations following the controversial 2015 referendum and the near-Grexit, and responds to questions about the critical and sensitive subject of the migration/refugee crisis, which comes under his purview. He also refers to relations with Skopje and notes the need for Greece to assume a starring role in the region, like the “Real Madrid of the Balkans,” he says, referring to the Spanish soccer powerhouse.
The Greek commissioner also believes that the channels of communication with Ankara need to remain open, a subject that he says he discussed in talks last week with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
How do you feel about being the first Greek to be appointed a European Commission vice president.
I feel a mixture of pride and responsibility, because it really is a great and unprecedented honor. I am confident that I can serve the purposes of this position well, but the surprise of being appointed has given me the added responsibility of having to go beyond what I know I can achieve, giving even more than is called for.
In your role as European Commission spokesman, you were close to the front line of many crucial moments in the Greek crisis. What was the one incident that stands out the most, that frightening you the most, as a Greek?
It was the weekend after the announcement of the July 2015 referendum. It was announced late on Friday, at midnight, and that weekend was a complete nightmare. We had the impression that Greece and the eurozone were on the brink of an abyss. We struggled with the message and issued an announcement – I remember it to this day – which gave the Greek people a much-needed explanation and was published on Sunday morning – that press release had the biggest number of readers ever. That was a standout moment, as was the following Monday when [then Commission president JeanClaude] Juncker held a press conference that ended with his dramatic entreaty that “Greece is Europe and Europe is Greece.”
Was there a moment when you thought Grexit was possible?
Yes, on the night of the referendum after the result was announced, and the second time was at the July 13 summit when around 4.30-5 in the morning I saw Juncker come out of the conference room looking quite green and say, “Toujours rien” – Still nothing. That’s when I thought that there was no way to reverse the tide and we were headed for the worst.
Having worked so closely with Juncker, can you tell us how catalytic his role was in the Greek crisis?
Yes, it was catalytic mainly with regard to reversing the opinion that was becoming prevalent in Berlin and Frankfurt that a Greek exit from the euro was inevitable and that it was not just part of the experimentations of [then finance minister Yanis] Varoufakis, but that the new government had a structured exit plan. Juncker dedicated a lot of time to reversing this notion. It started with the famous photograph where he’s seen basically dragging the Greek prime minister [Alexis Tsipras] to Berlaymont [an EU Commission building] on his first visit – showing him that he was ready to invest in him – and peaked with the numerous conversations he had with Tsipras at the same time, against strong reactions from Germany and Frankfurt, where some said, “Don’t bother, you have no role there, you have no money there, it’s not your business.” But he persisted and that’s what made a difference – together with [ex-French president Francois] Hollande and, of course, [former European Central Bank chief Mario] Draghi in the last stretch – when Draghi was convinced that there was a change of mood in Greece.
That incident came at a great cost for Greece, where there is now an impression that primary surplus targets will be relaxed. This is also one of the primary objectives of the government – a national goal we could even say. How likely is it that this will be accomplished?
The opinion in Europe right now is that Greece, with the help of its partners of course, managed to stand on its feet through the crisis. It is even more strongly believed that what kept Greece on its feet was that the Greeks consciously factored in the cost of the adjustment by acknowledging, politically, the value of the country’s participation in the eurozone. This is political capital that has earned interest and will certainly come back to the country. So, there’s a belief that the country needs to be rewarded for its efforts and the Greeks for what they came to terms with. This, of course, will depend on the continued ownership of reforms, mainly in the state, justice and taxation. If – there are so many ifs – these terms are satisfactorily met, then I believe that a review of the targets is possible, so as to allow Greece to focus on growth without the worry of payments, which, as you know, has already been taken away from the country. Greece will be in a greenhouse state for the next 10 years, because it has no payments and no worries and can focus on the reform drive.