5 “misunderstandings” about Greece that journalists love using

When I first came to Romania, the majority of Romanian people knew very little about Greece. They liked it as a destination for their vacation and respected its cultural legacy and civilization. Of course they had an opinion about the country after having visited it, but it was more or less the same with my opinion about Stockholm, after 3 days of visiting as tourist. Very few knew something more, usually due to a relative that was working in Greece, a Greek friend etc.

When the Romanian media started talking about Greece…

All this changed in 2009 – 2010 and especially in 2011. As Greece became the “black sheep” of Europe due to its financial problems, all Romanian media started writing about the Hellenic Republic and its debts, “analyzing” what was happening in the country and predicting its future. Usually their “expertise” was based on some articles they read in the international media, 2 – 3 Greek friends and… “google translate” (translating what they could find in some Greek media sources, without being able to verify the accuracy of the information transmitted there).

But they were usually far from reality. I am tired of reading obviously wrong stories, written by people who (probably) do not verify the accuracy of their information, they just transmit what “someone” told them or “something they found written” or a “declaration”.

I am a Greek who used to be a journalist, having as hobby the psychology of the mass (and 88 successful political campaigns in 89 attempts), plus I am in Romania since 2004, maintaining my bond to my mother country. This is why today I would like to share with you some “usually spoken” lies about Greece and the truth that lies beneath.

1. Greece can’t sell its islands or any other part of its territory

I think “The Guardian” was the one that wrote this stupidity, back in 2010. They wrote that Greece would be forced to sell an island, “preferably Corfu”. Others mentioned Acropolis etc. Since then I have read this obvious lie in many different versions.

The truth:

An island, or any other part of a country, is not the country’s property (this is true just for some small deserted islands). Corfu has tens of thousands of private ownerships, as all the places in the world. It is like Romania would be “forced to sell Timis county”. Can it sell it? No.

A country could lose an island as part of its territory, where its laws are followed. So this would mean that Greece would lose Corfu and this island would become (for example) German, as territory, not as property. But the borders of a country change by war and I don’t think that anyone in Europe is interested in this.

2. A “violent demonstration” in Greece does not mean that a revolution has started in the country

One of the endless mistakes that Greeks have accepted throughout the years is the fact that “anyone has the right to close the center of the city to demonstrate”. This mistake is the beginning of a bigger one, where “tradition” forces the police to be tolerant “with the people who want to destroy or burn things. They are just people who are expressing their feelings in a violent manner and if the police grabs them, it means that it lacks the democratic spirit”. These 2 mistakes have created the images that we usually watch on television and other media once demonstrations start in Athens (mainly). The reports speak about “people revolting”, “danger for democracy and stability” etc.

The truth:

Yes, the riots happen, more than in any other European country. But this does not mean that there is any kind of revolution (at least not until now). During the last demonstration in June, while the media was announcing that “Athens is on fire”, the problem was mainly around the Constitution square, across the Parliament. But at the same time, you could drink your coffee peacefully 500 meters away, without hearing the noise.

At the same time, tens of friends of mine were asking me “is it safe to fly to an island, via Athens airport?” Of course it is, the airport is 38 kilometers away. But it would be the same even if it was at 3. This is a mistake, but not a revolution as it is presented.

3. Europe (and the world) just pretends that it did not know anything about the problems of the Greek economy.

Too many people continue to pretend that they were surprised about the situation in Greece. They say that they first found out in October 2009, when the new government announced that the budget deficit would not be 6% anymore, but 12%. Analysts were “shocked” by the news and the problem started.

The truth:

Everyone knew about the Greek economiy and statistics. The IMF, the World Bank, the European Union and many more “authorities”. This is why they kept on asking Greece to undertake measures in order to restore its financial order for many years now. The same happened in 2008 and 2009, as well. The Greek government did not really follow the suggestions and continued spending, but only in October that year the problem started.

Until a certain moment, the whole economic establishment was comfortable with Greece borrowing endless billions of Euro. Greece is guilty bringing its economy in such a terrible state, but this was not a secret.

4. All international media do not necessarily say the truth about the Greek problem. Too many interests are hidden behind

Since the problem started, we keep on reading analyses, comments and predictions about Greece. Sometimes this seems to be some kind of … “soap opera”, with a new episode on a daily basis. By coincidence or not, too many people have said incredible things about the country, which were reproduced as if they were true, without any control.

The truth:

Many major international speculators are shareholders in well-known media outlets. Each time you hear something bad about a country, someone is earning money (if he knew this information in advance), “shorting” the market down. There are tens of billions of Euro that have been earned during the “Greek crisis” and there are still more to be earned, especially by the ones who are pushing for the country’s collapse.

So, sometimes think twice before you believe any rumor you see written…

5. The Greek government did not follow the agreed measures, it is not that the majority of people did something wrong

There is a growing speculation regarding the Greek people’s ability to accept the measures and contribute their obligations. At the same time we read endless analyses regarding the reason why the Greek government failed to reach the agreed targets, with the people again being the ones to blame.

The truth:

Up to a point, this is true, but the majority of Greeks still continue to support their country and would like to see it saved. The major problem that has not been solved yet is the huge size of the Greek State. 800.000 – 1.000.000 people work there, with salaries being usually double comparing to the ones of the private sector. Until today the Greek government decided to put many new taxes (in the last 1,5 year they taxed the properties 6 times!) in order not to fire anyone from the State.

This strategy kept the country blocked in expenses that prevent it from exiting the vicious circle it had entered. More than 400.000 Greeks lost their job in the private sector, while so far no one in the public one suffered the same (except the ones who worked temporarily). Also new people were hired during 2010 – 2011 (25.000!).

This procedure will only start now, if the government shows the necessary courage to move forward and fire people, an unpleasant but necessary solution.