Holding up our part of the bargain
Eurozone leaders granted Greece a significant break, a breath of air, during their informal meeting in Brussels that ran into the early hours of Saturday.
Now, however, the rest is up to us. If we rest on our laurels and the government and state mechanism continue dragging their feet, then we are in for a major disaster. Prime Minister George Papandreou, meanwhile, does not have a lot of time or leeway to improve his government and especially his coordination of it.
The message from Brussels was loud and clear, regardless of whether a large part of the government and the opposition closed its ears to it. The concessions made to Greece to help it repay its 110-billion-euro bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund depend on whether and how fast it proceeds with measures of fiscal discipline and reforms. And there can be nothing worse than Greece not holding up its part of the bargain, when our international lenders have done everything they can to help the country.
