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INTERNATIONAL

Frankly, it sounds like a cliché, but Q: You have said earlier that this
it's nevertheless true; I could never situation in Greece began as early
have gone through all this without as in the '70s. Did it start after in-
my family. dependence from the military reign
or even before?
The fact that my wife is not Greek Greece has always been a country
also helped a lot. She allowed us, as a with weak institutions. It goes back
family, to have a bit of distance from to our long history. Having gone
the daily grind. through dictatorship does not help
either, because it destroys the institu-
It was a very difficult time for all of tions. As an example, we can quote
them. The children were teenagers the judiciary which is supposed to be
at the time. When I was minister six independent but is not in fact. Af-
years ago, my eldest one was 16 years ter the dictatorship there was a lot of
old, and the youngest 13, and it was social progress in Greece, but we did
definitely not an easy time. The night not build the institutions that would
when we signed the first agreement act as a counterbalance to power.
there were demonstrations all around This means that you have a political
the building. The situation got out system that uses power to reproduce
of control, and some anarchists put itself. It ignores or keeps weak insti-
a bomb with the terrible result that tutions that could act as countermin-
three persons lost their lives. ing institutions to the politicians.

When something like this happens, This system works as long as there is George Papaconstantinou was
you go home completely shattered. money to be distributed. Once the
born in Athens in 1961, and
You think that you have done what money runs out, this whole thing
studied economics in the UK
is your duty, and then the outside blows up. This is what happened to
and the US, obtaining a Ph.
environment considers you a traitor us. Money ran out, and therefore the
to the country. You have to explain old political system was no longer D. from the London School of
the actions and why you made these able to sustain itself. It collapsed to- Economics. After working for
choices, and even if you know you gether with the economy. 10 years at the OECD in Paris,
did the right thing, a lot of people do he returned to Greece to serve
not see it that way. Q: Do you think that the abscess
in a policy advisory capacity
has burst and that things are better
for the Greek government. In
Q: Today there is a lot of mistrust now?
2007, he was elected to the
of the politicians, and we do not I would like to believe it, but we are
honestly often think about the fact not there yet. There is still a lot of de- Greek Parliament, and in 2009
that you are human beings too. nial in the country. I always tell people to the European Parliament.
Well there is a general mistrust, and that we will get out of the crisis only In October 2009 he was ap-
I do not think it's misplaced. In my when we have figured out why we got pointed Finance Minister in
country there have been a lot of self- into the crisis in the first place.
the newly formed government
serving politicians in all parties. The
of George Papandreou. From
problem is that the people who come Many continue to believe that the
that position he played a key
up to replace the more established country was pretty much doing OK,
role in the Greek crisis, nego-
politicians are not necessarily bet- and that then some people came and
ter. At the end of the day, governing sold us out. They came to take our tiating the first bailout with
a country is also craftsmanship. You resources and buy out the country. Greece's European partners
have to combine somehow the fresh- This is unfortunately a statement and the IMF.
ness of people, and the ability to run with which a majority of people in
things. I'm not talking about myself Greece might agree, and you realize
here, but the fact that often we throw that they have still not understood
out the baby with the bathwater. the problem.
You want renewal, but at the same
you want to keep people who can get The narrative to be found in the ma-
things done. jority of analyses written about the>

INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT - DIVA