Greece has only several days to meet the demands of its international creditors. The country’s debt will be settled if the National Assembly of Greece adopts by July 15 main legislative acts regarding value added tax reforms, the restructuring of the National Statistical Office, makes amendments to the pension system, etc. Some of the money - nearly EUR 50 billion will come from the future privatization and will be fresh capital provided by the commercial banks to Greece to pay the pensions and the salaries, so that the third bailout package for Greece becomes reality and the country finally meets the demands of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
The agreement between Greece and its creditors has already been reached. But where are the demands and the dignity of the Greek citizens? Over 60% of the Greeks already said NO to the creditors only several days ago. A public discontent has already occurred in Greece, including the left wing of the ruling Syriza party. Many people employed in various profitable sectors of the national economy, such as the tourism field and the pharmaceutical industry, already started to show discontent. The Greek pensioners will be also affected by the new austerity measures. It is still not clear whether the ones who voted for the charismatic Premier Tsipras would follow him again after he took the responsibility to sign the latest agreement and trust him that it was the only opportunity ahead of that country, in order to return again on the road of recovery.
According to the opposition party New Democracy and its leader Vangelis Meimarakis, the new agreement will give a bit of fresh air to Greece. We can not make more mistakes, the leader of the leftist PASOK party Fofi Gennimata contends. She added that despite the multiple difficulties, the latest agreement was a victory of the European socialists over the extreme conservative circles.
Now the Greek citizens have to tighten their belts and suffer a series of deprivations, because the austerity measures will last longer this time. The country may now enter into a period of permanent street protests. The latest agreement between Greece and its creditors means success to the political leaders and their parties, as that country would continue to be a member of the Eurozone. However, the gap between the ordinary citizens and the ruling coalition and the political parties is yet to become wider.
English version: Kostadin Atanasov
