Bienvenue Hollande…Bienvenue Turkey?

Henry Norman

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Could Turkish membership of the EU now be on the horizon given the arrival of Hollande? Mustafa, Ozer/AFP/Getty Images.

Following the election of Francǫis Hollande to the French presidency, Europe will not only see a change to its growth strategy but possibly a fundamental addition to its current membership. Turkey, Europe's would be gateway to the Middle East, can now rest assured of a possible return to talks amongst the power brokers of the EU. If we momentarily cast aside the Armenian question when it comes to Franco-Turkish relations and instead focus upon the pressing issues of the day, it is clear that Hollande believes the issue of Turkey’s membership deserves serious consideration. This in contrast to Sarkozy's point blanked refusal to debate the issue.

Indeed, it is not the case that Turkey's membership rests solely in the hands of the French; Germany too has some way to move on the issue. Angela Merkel, although an opponent of Turkish membership, appointed Guido Westerwelle as foreign minister and who publicly stated that there is a need to 'overcome this frozen situation.' A far cry from just sweeping the issue under the carpet.

Of course, we are currently witnessing incredibly volatile times in the EU. One could be forgiven for thinking that the last thing European leaders want to consider now is expansion of the union. Flippantly one could argue that Europe can not even manage its already existing members! Indeed, it would be erroneous to assert that Turkey's path to European membership would be an entirely smooth affair. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, commented that Turkey's EU membership would 'take a very long time and would be a difficult one.' 

We are not just talking about the need to overcome Turkey’s obvious human rights violations or its failure to recognise Cyprian sovereignty. These are issues that stand a better chance of being overcome by demonstrating to Turkey that their membership is indeed possible. As is with the case with Serbia, let the normative power of Europe just do its work. Europe however, is suffering a disenfranchisement amongst its peoples; a road ahead that no one is sure where it will exactly take them. One can foresee how Turkey's 99.8 per cent Muslim population will cause problems, not to mention that it does not exclusively lie on the European continent. 

Although nothing to do with Turkey, one need only look to the recent murmurings that the UK Labour party will promise a referendum on EU membership at the 2015 general election to see the uncertainty of the union. Party politics it may just be, but astonishing it remains that the Labour party, of all parties, would even consider such a move. Europe as fodder for the political parties of Britain may result in short-term gains but such moves lack the foresight of a possible lucrative future for the EU and Britain- especially if Turkey is allowed to join the mix. 

Admittedly David Cameron has publicly endorsed Turkey's candidature realising the benefits of Turkey's membership. Whilst it will result in marginal economic gains for the EU, in terms of regional security, Europe stands to gain most. Turkey's location next to Iran would allow the union geographically strategic borders. One could argue that this is exactly what Europe currently needs. In other words, the EU would come to really be depended upon. No longer would Herman Van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton just look like mere token symbols of a demi-power at the bargaining tables. 

I would hasten to add that it is all too easy to get carried away with the optimism created by the Hollande campaign; Turkey is not exactly at the top of the agenda. But as Egemen Bağış, the Turkish minister for EU affairs, astutely commented, ’Turkey is changing, the EU is changing and the new Europe cannot be without Turkey.' Whilst the latter part of that statement can be fiercely debated, no one can or should doubt that Turkey and the EU are both in states of metamorphosis. The Turkish economy may currently be experiencing a slow down (in part due to the faltering EU being its largest export market) but this should not prevent any movement on the issue. It is important to remember that Turkey’s membership should be seen as a long-term not short-term solution to the unions’ ills. 

This is exactly what British policy makers, present and future, should keep in mind. Hollande has realised that when it comes to the EU economy, growth is just as important, as are the current processes of budgetary consolidation. Moreover, our cousins on the continent are beginning to realise the potential that can result from Turkish membership. Whilst it is the case that the major UK political parties remain in favour of Turkish candidature, their current pandering to anti-European rhetoric risks overlooking the 'new' Europe that may result after the current calamity passes over. Surely it cannot be the case that Britain's future lies outside of a union strategically strengthened by the presence of Turkey and a union whose role can only gain in significance in the years to come. It is like leaving a bad party early, only to find out that it got a whole lot better later. 

Eleventh Hour Reform - Qatada and the Issue Of Human Rights

Henry Norman

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Wrangling between the UK government and the ECHR leaves the fate of Abu Qatada in a state of limbo.  Matt Dunham.

Background

Back in February 2009, the then Law Lords judged that Abu Qatada, the radical Islamic cleric, could be deported back to Jordan under the agreement that Qatada evidence obtained by torture would not be used in any trial against him. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) then stepped in and in January of this year ruled that returning Qatada to Jordan, in spite of the potential of such evidence, would be a ‘flagrant denial of justice.’ Such a move would contravene Qatada’s protection under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights which dictates one’s right to a free and fair trial. This is an unalienable right that extends even to a man widely seen as a security threat and Bin Laden’s ‘ambassador in Europe.’

The Home Secretary, however grudgingly, has played to the letter of the law. Diplomatic missions have been despatched to Jordan to gain further assurances that evidence obtained by torture will not play any role in a trial against Qatada. This is perhaps in light of recent events that have seen the former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, threatened with litigation surrounding his alleged collusion with the CIA and the illegal rendition of Abdel Hakim Belhadj to Gadhafi’s Libya.

The Eleventh Hour  

Just as it seemed that Qatada’s one way return to Jordan had  all but been booked, an eleventh hour appeal was submitted to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR by Qatada’s legal team. Confusion between what the Home Office thought was the appeal deadline and what the ECHR thought has resulted in utter disarray. 

What is really troubling about this affair is that it will fuel the resentment of many within the Conservative half of the coalition towards the ECHR. This may result in further eleventh hour reforms driven by populist sentiment. This threatens to have dire consequences for our role in upholding human rights within the international community.

To combat the perceived erosion of state sovereignty by foreign judges, reform of the ECHR has been made a key priority for the UK chairmanship of the Council of Europe. At the opening of the Brighton Conference, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced, ‘Our shared priority is to show that it is possible to bring sensible and meaningful reform to the Court without weakening human rights, giving up on the Convention, or undermining decent standards across Europe.’

The much maligned European Court of Human Rights dispensing justice since 1959. Vincent Kessler.

These proposed reforms will really be in the eleventh hour as UK chairmanship of the Council expires on the 14th May 2012. However, what seems to be most worrying is the wish to allow ‘greater margins of appreciation’ in interpreting the ECHR rulings. In other words, member countries can decide how far (if at all) they wish to implement the judgments of the court. For a liberal democracy such as the UK, this worry is far less profound. Amnesty International, on the other hand, has concerns for the countries such as Russia from which the ECHR ‘provides the only means of redress for millions of people.’ 

Comparative versus Absolute

As such, these reforms, spearheaded by the UK government, threaten to treat human rights as an issue of comparative advantage rather than of absolute gain. In other words, the UK government gain comparatively in their ability to keep many popular policies such as deporting hate clerics and stripping prisoners of the right to vote. In absolute terms however, as members of an international community, they neglect their universal obligations to uphold human rights. Such disregard of universal human rights also threatens to put too much power in the hands of governments that don’t always act in the interests of its citizens. As a policy advisor for Amnesty International reminds us, ‘UK courts don’t always get it right. It was this self-same European Court of Human Rights that reprimanded the UK government when it wanted to indefinitely retain the DNA of innocent people.’ As such, the ECHR is pivotal in providing a system of checks and balances for what could be unruly governments. 

Road Ahead

This is not to say that the ECHR is not in need of reform; there are obvious problems surrounding the enormous bottleneck of over 150,000 cases currently clogged up in the backchannels of the ECHR. However, such reform cannot be achieved by what appears to be eleventh hour dealings at the end of the UK chairmanship. As the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Jean Claude Mignon reminds us, ‘for every indigestible adverse ruling, there are dozens that are quietly progressive and have come to be regarded as profoundly sensible.’ As such, we should not allow cases such as that of Qatada to cloud our obligations towards international institutions such as the ECHR. 

Furthermore, if we want more quantitative data on the matter, then look to the ECHR’s Annual Report of 2011. Going by headlines in the popular press, anyone would think that the ECHR had ruled against the UK on countless and far too many occasions, but the actual figure is only 8. Compare this with France and the number is 23, and compared with Russia the total number of violations comes to 123. 

Obviously there is no question that the UK will leave the ECHR (despite the wishes of a few backbenchers). To do so would cause a cataclysmic dent in the soft power apparatus of the UK. However, the UK must remain vigilant in not appearing at all isolationistic when it comes to issues such as human rights. The government’s proposed reforms still have a hint of self-interest more than a concerted effort to actually effectuate substantial change within the ECHR. The outgoing President of the ECHR, Sir Nicholas Bratza has commented that, ‘reducing or even eliminating the backlog [of 150,000 cases] will require additional resources.’ Such a view will not go down well with law makers across Europe, but perhaps it is the tangible evidence needed in order to demonstrate member states’ deep commitment to human rights across Europe- at least that is the populist, easy to say, hard to deliver rhetoric we have all grown so used to.

Social Woes in Pre-Election France and Europe

Erik Edman

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A European citizen should be able to maintain their cultural identity within their host nation. Just because someone is Muslim, does not mean there are not also French. Europe should not promote a system which has “second class citizens”. Reuters. 

French Issues

As France edges closer to a presidential election, the nation has come under the scrutiny of the political microscope. The examination has revealed scores of economic, administrational and cultural “tumours” within the government and society. Politicians claiming to possess the golden formula, believe they can cure them. They have some very difficult and delicate work ahead of them.

Most prominent among these issues has been the case of the French-Algerian gunman who shot and killed 3 soldiers, 3 children and a rabbi in the French city of Toulouse. Apart from being a significant case of racial hatred, this event revealed to the world an underlying social rift between France’s Muslim community and the rest of its society. Back in 1962, following a long and bloody struggle with France, Algeria’s independence was finally recognised and it was released from its former colonial status. The seed of animosity, however, was sown deep within the souls of Muslims living in France. Fifty years on and watered by a feeling of social exclusion, the seed has grown. When, following the shootings in Toulouse, New Statesman journalist Andrew Hussey asked some Muslim youth in the outskirts of Paris if what happened all those years ago in Algeria justified the killings, they answered “Who knows? Who knows anything? Maybe everything was a set-up to provoke the Muslims… We are Muslims. We hear things. France is our enemy.” An isolated incident? Indeed. Many Muslims voiced their concerns and condolences for this unreasonable violence and it is very possible that they constitute the majority. The fact remains, however, that a great number of these people feel alienated and trapped in a country that they feel does not respect them. This disdain leads them to crave revenge, and this revenge can take many forms. Important to also mention is the niqab (Muslim religious veil covering the face of women) ban that came into effect last April. And last year, the country spearheaded the military intervention in Libya. It is not too difficult to see how France might not be perceived as the most hospitable nation for Muslims.

And the Muslims are not the sole social group with a bone to pick with the French government. The Roma have been targeted by Sarkozy’s “immigrant clean-up”. Last summer saw many illegal Roma camps disbanded and people evicted from the country. Many of them, being citizens of Eastern European countries now members of the European Union, have the right to live and work in France as they would in their home-countries. The European Commission has warned the French government that it will face legal action if it does not respect EU legislation on freedom of movement. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has maintained that France has not respected a 2004 EU directive on the matter and she will therefore suggest the launch an infringement process will be launched against the French government. People are left homeless and their means to make a living for their family and themselves is hampered by the social stigma that accompanies their people. On top of this, Sarkozy in one of his pre-election speeches has threatened to take France out of Schengen, Europe’s passport-free zone. 

The young are also restless. The “generation Y”, as those born after 1980 have been named, is reacting to the lack of jobs, the fact that their education and work is underappreciated, harsh economic measures (not only in their own country but others too, in a sign of European solidarity) and what they perceive as their marginalisation by the government.

A Pan-European Phenomenon

This is by no means a nation-specific case. The entire Union is showing signs of what one expert has called European Hypocrisy. For all its liberal ideas and outlooks, the nations of the EU are showing signs of neglect towards certain social groups, regardless of European legislation.

There are cases of EU citizens who should be able to live and work freely within any of the 27 country-members, but poor citizenship education and a lack of interest in these people has meant that they spend time and money trying to acquire papers which they do not need. About 2.5% of the European population (12 million people) consists of Europeans living outside their home countries and even the most educated of them can trip over administrative barriers. There have been initiatives, such as the European Commission-supported ECAS (European Citizen Action Service) to educate people working outside their country of origin and provide them with information regarding their civil rights.

As the economic crisis takes its toll in the continent, xenophobia has started raising its ugly head in nations around Europe, with the far-right gaining supporters in places traditionally seen as liberal, such as Sweden and the Netherlands. In search of scapegoats, people have come to blame immigrant workers for taking jobs which could have been filled by locals. Europe and its people have yet to accept a pan-European identity, which makes a “European citizenship” a very vague concept indeed. A united Europe is definitely the future but greater care needs to be given to how society perceives this integration. There is a great need for everyone to realise that they not just citizens of their respective countries but also of a greater institution; the European Union. That second identity must be strengthened, demystified and explained if Europe is ever to function as a unit.

An anti-Swedish Democrats (Swedish far-right party) rally in Sweden. The far-right managed to gain 19 seats in the country’s parliament. Bob Strong/Reuters.

The United Kingdom and “The Continent”

If one nation could be singled out of as the least European-minded among the 27 members, it would have to be the United Kingdom. Its foreign policy and economic outlook tends to follow independent paths and bypass the views of its European partners. Many Brits refuse to see themselves as Europeans. The “them” and “us” distinction is almost palpable in the UK’s conscience, whether the distinction applies to social classes, religious groups or simply British and European.

If British society is decisively distinct from those found in the rest of Europe, it has not managed to avoid many of its flaws and problems. From gaps in social identity and roles within society, to the treatment and perception of immigrant workers within the country, the UK is treading on a fine line. The Summer Riots of 2011 are an excellent example of how people from various social groups in the country have failed to become part of society or, depending on one’s view on the matter, the state has failed to integrate them into it. Muslims have voiced greater concerns in Britain than in any other European country on the future of their families within the country. People have an instinctive need to belong and when the state does not satisfy that need and appears to be neglecting them, the results, as the whole world saw, can be disastrous.

Serbian Symbolism

Henry Norman

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Boris Tadic meeting with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels. The Council of the European Union.

                                         
Moving forward
 

As the Minister for Europe David Lindington remarked, ‘Serbia has come a long way in the past 20 years.’ When you think that it is just over a decade since the beginning of the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, then this certainly appears to be true. The days of Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing are now resigned to the textbooks of history, with Serbia looking forward to its rightful place amongst the family of European nations. Indeed, this is what could be inferred from the announcement of Serbia’s EU candidate status on March 1st, 2012.
 

The announcement comes after the capture of both Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić by the Serbian authorities in May and July of 2011. For many this was the symbolic end of the atrocities. With the perpetrators of the bloodiest European conflict  since WWII captured, a chance for justice to be seen and heard was offered across the war-torn Balkan states (lest we forget the charade trial of Milosevic).
 

Considerable efforts have been made by the Serbian government in order to speed up the democratization process. In 2007, the Stabilization and Association Agreement was signed in an effort to take firm action on the political, economic and human rights problems that affect Serbia. Furthermore, according to the 2010 EU progress report, ‘significant progress was achieved’ with regards to the issue of organized crime, an issue of major concern in Serbia.
 

And yet the 2011 Human Rights Watch report of Serbia found that there is, amongst others, widespread intolerance shown to the Roma population and intimidation of the press. One can only place faith in the normative power of the EU, the allure of membership and the attention paid to meeting the chapters of the acquis in tackling such urgent issues.

Kosovo on the horizon
 

Field Survey carried out on 1031 interviewee’s which clearly shows Kosovo being the number one cause for concern amongst the Serbian population.  Seio.gov.rs

However, perhaps one issue more so than any other is of more political concern to Serbia’s successful membership.
 

The above survey merely demonstrates the fact that the issue of Kosovo is not going to disappear any time soon and such predictions were indeed found to be validated. Coupled with the fact that the majority of EU countries now recognise Kosovar independence, Germany’s refusal to support Serbia’s candidature back in December demonstrates the EU’s inflexibility on the issue. This all spells a membership process of untold diplomatic pressure considering that Tadic has made it clear that Serbia will never recognise the independence of Kosovo.
 

Asterisks and Footnotes
 

But could we be witnessing a gentle thaw in Serb-Kosovar relations?

The literal symbol of Serbia beginning to realise it has at least appear to kowtow somewhat over the issue is shown by an unassuming asterisk placed after ‘Kosovo.’ It directs the reader to a footnote clearly (but discretely) affirming that, "This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence".

Reading between the lines, this seeks to upset no-one as the Security Council resolution 1244 makes no mention of an independent Kosovo whilst the ICJ ruled that Kosovar independence broke no international law. Whilst some could disregard this move forward as nothing more than phony symbolism, it at least allows meetings to take place in what has before been a case of officials storming out of delegations due to disagreements over Kosovo’s very right to sit at the table.
Institutionalization
 

Whilst some would see such progress as no progress at all, it is important to remember that we are still in the early stages of the Serbian membership process. An article in The Economist put it best, ‘it is like saying buying a ticket to get on a train does not get you closer to your destination.’ In other words, let the immense normative power of the EU do its job.
 

Admittedly the EU is currently in a bit of quagmire but no-one can realistically believe that Serbia will do better on its own. Benefits such as access to the world’s largest internal market are especially alluring given the current state of affairs. According to most reports, Serbia has an ageing population, high unemployment, overreliance on the state and high levels of corruption.
 

It is not only Serbia that would benefit from processes of institutionalization, but also the EU. Once again, the symbolism of a once war-torn region beginning to unite under common ideals, as set forth by the EU charter, is enormously valuable for an institution currently suffering from bad publicity due to the Eurozone crisis.
 

UK Position
 

A group of ‘Toniblers’ at Tony Blairs visit to Pristina in July 2010.  Kushtrim Ternava

According to the Minister for Europe, David Lindington, ‘further improvement in its [Serbia] relations with Kosovo is a priority from the UK perspective.’  What ‘further improvement’ amounts to is not quantified, but presumably Lindington wants Serbia to recognise Kosovar independence (just as the UK did soon after Kosovo announced independence on 17 February, 2008).

 Adding further tension to Anglo-Serb relations is the fact that if one walks the streets of Kosovo, you may even bump into a few thirteen-year old children called ‘Tonibler’ in homage to a leader they see as their hero. This is compounded by the fact that two-years earlier, Serbs had taken to the streets of London in protest to what they saw as British hypocrisy.  Why, they shouted, was it that they supported Kosovar independence but not at the same time willing to make similar concessions to the republicans of Northern Ireland?

Putting this aside however, it is important that the UK continue to support both Serbian membership whilst maintaining its support for Kosovar independence. After all it is all they can do.
 

The UK has a lot of history in the Balkans, with most of it being forged in the past twenty-years. Also keep in mind the UK’s recent involvement in Libya which, as many have commented, share strong parallels with NATOs involvement in Kosovo, for example both involved the use of air-strikes in response to a humanitarian crisis.

The point of this comparison is that if Serbian membership of the EU leads to a chain of Europeanization across the region and a thaw in the tensions with Kosovo, hopefully this can serve as an example, and hope for the future, that intervention can work. It is a powerful symbol for the transformation of once brutal regimes, which is why the UK should welcome the recent announcement of Serbian candidature.

Who said Greece is “washed-up”? New tragedies Produced

Erik Edman

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Greece might not be receiving the best treatment from its European partners, but it remains a European country.

(picture from: theglobeandmail)

A Greek “Tragodia”

The Ancient Greek civilization, some 2500 years ago, gave birth and meaning to the word “tragedy”. It was a genre of theatre in which a fundamentally good –but far from perfect– tragic hero would make a mistake or hubris, resulting in different types of calamities meant to punish him for his shortcomings. These calamities where collectively known as the pathos of the protagonist, made worse in the peripeteia, during which the events take a turn for the worse and within that dire moment of despair, all seems lost.

Anyone who has been following even the most basic developments of the Greek economic crisis will be able to draw a number of parallels between an Ancient Greek tragedy and its modern counterpart. The details of this story are known all too well. With an astronomical public debt, a corrupt administration, a soaring unemployment rate and with civil unrest as a common phenomenon, Greece is definitely the most volatile corner of the European Union. Young people in Greece face a 51.5% unemployment rate as opposed to a 22.2% in the UK and an impressive 7.8% in Germany. Europe might be saving Greece as a political entity –although even that is questionable- but it is leaving it bereft of life.

Some may ask: “What is Europe meant to do? It simply wishes to ensure that its investment is not laid to waste.” I can sympathise with that. What I refuse to endorse is the way Europe is going about doing this. It is so easy seeing Greece as a collection of graphs, spread sheets and numbers when sitting in an office in Berlin, an office not smelling of teargas and with no daily protests to interrupt the rhythmical, hypnotising clicking of the calculator.

Greek “Mythoi”

The austerity measures have started to take their toll: the number of homeless in Greece’s capital, Athens, has risen to 20,000. Graffiti reads: “Let us not live like slaves”. (picture from: The Guardian)

But Greece exists outside those numbers. It lies in the South-Eastern corner of Europe and it is taking a good beating, like it has done so many times in the past. Hardships are not new to the Greek people, some of whom still remember the German occupation, the Civil War that followed, and the military dictatorship of the 1970s. It is important to dispel the myths of sloth that surrounds Greeks today. It is disturbing that anyone would consider these as truthful. The European continent was witness to one of the most monstrous vilifications of a single people the world has ever seen. One would have thought that it would know better.

What Greece needs is to regain its political trustworthiness and legitimacy, not only with its international partners, but also at home. Until the Greeks can feel that they can trust their politicians, the unrest will not end and the country will stay in turmoil. The state needs to create new institutions, replace outdated legislation and implement the changes it has promised not just on the easy targets, such as the poor, the retired and the jobless, but also the rich and powerful. Greece needs a strong government; a government that will put the national interest above political interests.

Europe is desperately trying to keep Greece afloat and in doing so, it is damaging its people. Greece as a political entity is a fumbling, imperfect thing which does not resemble a modern democracy in a number of key ways. It had to fall and give rise to a new country; refreshed and born out of the mistakes of the old one. Instead, Europe has kept alive a gravelly ill patient, not because it cares for the Greeks but because it cares about the euro. A cure might be found in the long term but until then, the patient will have to suffer.

A discontent Greek outside the House of Parliament holding a sign that reads: “Punishment Awaits You at the Elections”. The Greek public has lost all hope in its political representatives. (picture from: keeptalkinggreece)

The Way towards a Greek “Katharsis” and the UK’s part in it

In Greek tragedies, following the peripeteia, the road is open for the protagonist’s katharsis which leads to atonement. Sadly, Ancient Greeks were huge fans of drama, and atonement did not necessarily mean “happily ever after”. In this modern production, the happy ending might depend on the secondary characters.

The UK is currently firmly undecided concerning its role. Germany is happy with the UK taking an observer’s position in this crisis and the UK seems, in return, happy to oblige. But there are plenty of reasons why it should speak up.

The first and most obvious reason for the UK to act is moral. The Greek people are being forced to live in conditions where no human being could live. The new debt-swap deal might save the country as an institution from bankruptcy –for now– but it does little for its citizens. When one attempts to save an addict, they take upon them the responsibility to do so in a way gradual enough not to kill them. Brussels and Berlin have simply pulled the plug. London should recognise this and oppose it.

The second reason is economic. A healthy and steady Greece could only benefit the UK. Although outside the Eurozone, the UK is still part of the European Union and therefore part of a single market which provides free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within member states. As such, it is in Britain’s interest to involve itself in the proceedings. The Greek people need to have some kind of market power in order for their economy to stand back on its feet. But when the citizens have no money to spend, there is nothing to get the economy moving again. This is disastrous for the euro, which hopes for a Greek recovery. Any blow to Europe’s economy, the UK’s biggest trading partner, would have huge negative side-effects on the country’s economic strength and stability. The UK is not beyond economic reproach, as the recent warning from Moody’s to downgrade the country’s triple-A status proves.

Europe also owes Greece a cultural debt. Greece is one of the main pillars of European civilization, a fact that Europeans of the Enlightenment were keenly aware of when they came to Greece to fight and, as in the case of Lord Byron, die in the revolutionary war against the Ottoman Turks. However deep in economics Europe decides to bury itself, no matter how much it loses itself in accounting, it will never be able to escape its past; a past which is inescapably intertwined with Greece’s. The idea of the Union turning its back to the country that shaped the thought of the continent so profoundly is unthinkable.

Greece in “Europi”

Greece belongs in Europe. It is a European nation, with European ideals, beliefs and culture. Most European languages can find within them the profound influence Greek culture and ideas have had on the continent’s development. What the nation needs is fair treatment from its European partners. It does not require saviours, but it does need supporters; nations that will encourage investment in the country in order to commence a much needed growth period.

It is interesting to note that many Greeks, and especially the younger generations, continue to feel part of Europe and welcome a European future for Greece. They were taught to appreciate money with the drachma but they have learnt to use it with the euro. They have seen the merits of a united Europe and it would be a shame to ruin their dreams and replace them with hatred through this unreasonable EU treatment.

With the Olympics Games quickly approaching and the Parthenon Marbles still safely on display in the British Museum, the UK should take a step back and remind itself that Greece is everywhere. It is in the language we speak, the thoughts we think and the economy we worry about. One needs not be a social activist to accept the fact that Greece is too big a part of us to be left to ruin.