EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici emphasized this week that Greece’s pending exit from the third bailout marks the end of “an eight-year nightmare” for the country, in an article he penned and published by the German daily Die Welt.
Moscovici, who holds the important economic and financial affairs portfolio on the Commission, nevertheless reiterated the standing line out of Brussels regarding the Greek program, namely, that the current leftist-rightist coalition government must continue with agreed to reforms.
In the article, entitled “Lessons from Greece,” Moscovici, among the more pro-Greek leaders in Europe during the crisis years, defended the decision to extend economic assistance to Greece, saying it was the right choice for the Eurozone.
In looking back to the very first bailout program for Greece, announced in April 2010 and with the IMF then in the “driver’s seat”, Moscovici said that “looking back we must acknowledge that mistakes were made by Athens, Brussels, Berlin and Washington (the IMF), which extended the crisis.”
Nevertheless, in a statement with distinctly negative connotations for the current Tsipras government, he added that the third bailout (August 2015) may not have been necessary if a “head-on collision” between Athens and European creditors had been avoided in the summer of 2015.
He directly cited the clashes of then Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis with Germany’s Wolfgang Schauble and other top European officials.
“A great deal of patience was needed to resume dialogue in the summer of 2015, and to find an exit from the impasse, with the assistance of the third program, which was not necessary if we had avoided these political clashes.”
He also referred to what he called the responsibilities of Greek governments in dealing with the crisis, pointing to delays and procrastination.
naftemporiki.gr
