Greece Drags Itself Back Toward Normality
The country’s banking system is still in serious trouble, but next year’s election offers a real choice of left and right economic programs.
Greek politics have been dominated for years by Brussels and the IMF. That's all starting to change.
Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
As the cradle of democracy, Greece knows better than most countries what politics is all about. Yet, for the last eight years, any discussions between lawmakers from the left and right there have been overshadowed by the country’s economic collapse, and the string of rescue programs put together by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Athens has been locked in permanent confrontation with its European partners, which culminated in the showdown of 2015 when Greece very nearly exited the euro after a dramatic referendum. Politicians of every persuasion had little room for maneuver, as economic policy was dictated by the “memoranda of understanding” with its financial rescuers, who imposed budget consolidation and structural reforms.