Greece at a turning point
This referendum marks a turning point in recent Greek history. On the surface it is about the latest savings and austerity plans proposed by the bankrupt country's creditors. Alexis Tsipras' government rejected the compromise and walked away from the negotiating table last week. Now he's dragging Greek voters to the ballot box, so that they can deliver a "resounding no," and strengthen his government's bargaining position with foreign powers. However, since the proposals and the plans are no longer part of any negotiations, the referendum is now about Greece's position within the eurozone, its connection to Europe, and its orientation.
What the populist left-right coalition government in Athens is doing is in fact a first class scandal for European democracy. Tsipras cries democracy at the top of his lungs, at the same time he is leading his country into a referendum on financial policy issues that the Greek constitution expressly prohibits. Tsipras invokes human dignity at the same time that he orders banks closed, while elderly citizens stand in the scorching heat hoping to withdraw a fraction of their pensions from empty ATMs. The economy is in a standstill, politics is polarized, and the people are helpless and growing desperate.
The nightmare of dictatorship
According to the polls, one can expect a very close vote on Sunday - between those who want a deal with international creditors, and those who agree with the government's uncompromising stance toward the lending institutions. Very few are aware that the Tsipras administration, and with it the country itself, has lost much if not all of the patience and goodwill that it may have once enjoyed throughout the rest of Europe. And it is only initially contradictory that a clear majority of about 80 percent of those polled say they want to keep the euro. Unfortunately, many have learned that a strong common currency is a gift from god, and not always the result of hard work and productivity.
All in all, on the eve of the referendum Greece seems more distant than ever from the rest of Europe - economically, politically and mentally. The country is broken, exhausted from the unprecedented economic crisis of the last five years; and alienated in a Europe dominated by a completely different political climate. In these tough times, in the undertow of a seemingly absolute intractability, the forgotten nightmares of a horrible past come back to mind.
Forty years after the fall of their last dictator, Greece's parliament now harbors a neo-Nazi organization, the notorious "Golden Dawn" party. But authoritarian ideas are also buzzing within the Tsipras government. Just yesterday, Panos Kammenos, Greek defense minister and head of the populist right-wing coalition partner "Independent Greeks," boldly stated - in absolute contradiction to the constitution - that the military is always the guarantor of Greece's "domestic security." The "leftist" prime minister, who was in attendance when the statement was made, just grinned mysteriously. The Syriza government is sitting on a nest of serpent's eggs.