Greece’s debt crisis
The Greek economy, like those of so many other countries, entered a period of uncertainty as a result of the international economic crisis of 2009, and the ND’s hold on government appeared tenuous. In an attempt to reinforce his government’s efforts to right the economy and seeking to shore up his position within his own party, Karamanlis called for snap elections in October 2009. The ND was swept from office in dramatic fashion, with a resurgent PASOK claiming 160 parliamentary seats—more than enough for an absolute majority. Karamanlis resigned as leader of the ND, and George Papandreou became the third member of his family to hold the post of prime minister.
In the wake of the election, it became clear that Greece’s economic troubles were far worse than previously imagined. The borrowing by the ND government even before the international financial crisis, masked by misleading accounting, was revealed to have been excessive, and, with the onset of the broader economic meltdown, the Greek economy crumbled. Estimates of the Greek government’s budget deficit put it at several times greater than that allowed by the rules governing the euro zone (countries whose currency is the euro). The reactive broad austerity measures that were introduced by the Papandreou goverment met with widespread protest and wildcat strikes domestically and were neither enough to provide for the government’s short-term budget needs nor enough to stem the international financial market’s concern with the impact of the Greek crisis on the value and stability of the euro. In March and April 2010 the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to the rescue with two massive loan packages for Greece.
Even with the EU-IMF rescue, the Greek economy continued to struggle mightily. Growing dissatisfaction with the draconian budget cuts, reductions in benefits and pensions, and tax increases, as well as with Papandreou’s handling of the crisis in general, led to more strikes and demonstrations in Athens, Thessaloníki, and elsewhere in the country. In June 2011 weeks of mass demonstrations outside the Greek parliament building—by protesters labeled the “indignants” (associated with similarly disenchanted Spaniards who had taken to the streets in response to the Spanish government’s handling of its own debt crisis)—culminated in an eruption of violence. After failing in his attempts to form a government of “national unity,” Papandreou reshuffled his cabinet, most notably appointing a new finance minister. All these events came as the EU and IMF contemplated delivery of the latest installment of the bailout, which was contingent on Greek implementation of ever-greater austerity measures along with the partial privatization of some state-owned companies. On June 21—facing the looming threat of default and all the ramifications it would entail for Greece and the euro zone—Papandreou’s government narrowly survived a vote of confidence that set the stage for parliament to pass the necessary austerity measures on June 29 (contingent upon enactment the next day of new laws to facilitate the specific measures). Again the legislation was greeted with angry protests outside the parliament building, where demonstrators clashed with police.
EU leaders concluded an agreement on July 21 that extended more than €100 billion ($140 billion) in loans to Greece in an effort to stabilize the Greek economy and contain the potential damage to the euro zone as a whole. Interest rates for existing bailout loans were reduced, and the repayment periods were drastically lengthened. These changes came at a cost to private bondholders, however, and ratings agencies classified the restructuring as a “restricted default.” This marked the first government debt default by a euro zone country since the implementation of the single currency.
At the end of October euro-zone leaders summited in Brussels in an attempt to hammer out a lasting solution for both the Greek and the broader European debt crisis. German Pres. Angela Merkel and French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy met privately with Greece’s creditors and engineered a bond swap that effectively cut the value of Greek debt in half. Only days after the plan was agreed upon, a firestorm of controversy erupted on October 31 when Papandreou announced his intention to submit the latest bailout plan to Greek voters in a referendum. Other European leaders, fearful that a no vote would render all their efforts moot and lead to dire consequences for the whole euro zone, were furious, and Papandreou’s actions and motives were questioned not just by the Greek opposition but by many within his own party. As accusations and recriminations flew, Papandreou canceled the referendum after being assured of support for the bailout plan by ND leader Antonis Samaras, who nevertheless demanded Papandreou’s resignation. Seemingly attempting to cling to power, Papandreou submitted to a vote of confidence on November 4, which he won by a small margin. He then agreed to step down as prime minister to pave the way for the formation of a “unity” government to facilitate approval of the most recent bailout plan. On November 11 Lucas Papademos—an adviser to Papandreou, and former vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), who had overseen Greece’s adoption of the euro as the governor of the Bank of Greece—became interim prime minister at the head of a coalition government. An economist, Papademos was widely seen as someone who would approach the challenge as a technocrat.
In February 2012 the Greek parliament approved more spending cuts that opened the door to an additional €130 billion (about $173 billion) in bailout funds from the ECB, the EU, and the IMF. Violent clashes between police and demonstrators erupted in Athens in April in response to the death near Greece’s parliament of a man who committed suicide as an act of protest against deepening pension cuts. The widespread disenchantment among Greeks at the government’s austerity measures was reflected in the results of parliamentary elections in May, which dealt a major blow to the country’s longtime ruling parties. The ND finished first but garnered only about 19 percent of the vote. PASOK managed to get only some 13 percent of the vote, finishing third, behind the Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left), which captured about 17 percent of the vote and was just one of a number of smaller antiausterity parties who were the real winners in the election, including the ultraright-wing nationalist Golden Dawn party, which registered about 7 percent of the vote. As the winner, the ND had the first opportunity to try to form a coalition government but was unable to do so, as were Syriza and PASOK, forcing a new election on June 17. This time the ND had a stronger showing, though again it only narrowly defeated Syriza, capturing about about 30 percent of the vote to roughly 27 percent for Syriza and 12 percent for PASOK. Mindful that a minority of Greeks had voted for pro-bailout parties but still committed to the bailout (though hopeful that some of its terms might be renegotiated), ND leader Antonis Samaras took office as prime minister at the head of a coalition government that included PASOK and the smaller Democratic Left party.
Economic and public-sector reform (including planned layoffs of civil servants) remained at centre stage in Greece in 2013, with the government trying to limit the social and political costs of both while securing continued aid payments from the country’s international lenders. In June 2013 the Democratic Left pulled out of the government in protest of the closure of state-run Greek Radio-Television (ERT). The remaining ND-PASOK coalition government survived a no-confidence vote in November and projected that a return to economic growth was in the offing for 2014, despite the economy’s contraction for the sixth straight year in 2013.
In autumn 2013, after a member of the Golden Dawn party was charged with the murder of a leftist hip-hop artist, the government cracked down on the party, arresting its leaders and several members of parliament on charges that included the establishment of a criminal organization, murder, attempted murder, and blackmail. Nevertheless, Golden Dawn not only was able to participate in elections for the European Parliament in May 2014 but finished third, capturing three seats. Syriza also surged in that election, winning the popular vote (with some 27 percent of the total vote to 23 percent for the second-place ND) and six seats. The election had been cast by the opposition as a referendum on the government, which seemed to weather the worst of the storm by avoiding an overwhelming defeat, though Prime Minister Samaras’s slim parliamentary majority remained tenuous.