“PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS AND OPPOSITION LEADER PAPANDREOU, THE MEN WHO SPEAK FOR THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF GREEKS, SEEM TO AGREE ON ONE THING AT LEAST — THAT GREECE IS A NATION IN SEARCH OF AN IDENTITY. GEOGRAPHICALLY ON THE MARGINS OF EUROPE, SPIRITUALLY TRYING TO ACCOMMODATE A PAST WHICH PURSUED ORDER AND A FUTURE THAT PROMISES CHANGE, AWASH WITH IMPORTED IDEAS AND VALUES, GREEKS ARE UNCERTAIN OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR FUTURE.”
The opening lines of this 1978 document published by wikileaks sound alarmingly true today as Greece’s future is as uncertain as Greeks are uncertain about their finances and their place in Europe. Not to mention their identity.
The document is a report written by the U.S. Embassy in Greece addressed to Washington and it is an assessment of the political situation, the social conditions and Greece’s role as a NATO ally in the crucial geopolitical position in the Mediterranean at the time.
A time when Constantinos Karamanlis was Prime Minister as leader of New Democracy and the opposition leader, PASOK president Andreas Papandreou, was fighting to get in power and establish the first socialist government in Greece. Papandreou’s agenda was anti-American, anti-Europe, anti-NATO and was promising radical changes in Greek society.
Papandreou’s manifestos sounded threatening to U.S. interests. At the same time, Karamanlis’ performance was assessed. According to the document, Karamanlis was a charismatic leader and his charisma alone held the country together. However, he failed at restructuring Greece’s immobile bureaucracy, creating an efficient agricultural system, revamping the antiquated education system and creating a resilient political party. Yet, according to the assessment, “there is no greater asset for the U.S. than Karamanlis.”
Regarding the Greek economy, the document says that it is a small-scale economy that will not be able to compete in the world economy. “The road to a modern economy will be a rough one,” it says characteristically. Yet, the report continues, “Growth exceeds the Western European average, unemployment is almost non-existent, and foreign currency reserves are high.”
The writer of the report attributes that to the “blessed geographical location” and the “strong entrepreneurial tradition” of Greeks.
A lot has changed since: Greece became the eighth European Union member and Papandreou came το power in 1981 and died in 1996 without making true any of his anti-West threats. Instead, he created a massive state and big financial scandals. However, he managed to modernize Greek society to an extent and increased social benefits.
Ironically, almost thirty years after the report was written, Papandreou’s son beat Karamanlis’ nephew in the 2009 elections and led almost-bankrupt Greece to the worst bailout agreement possible. The Karamanlis and Papandreou administrations accumulated a huge state debt, leading Greece to the current state.
See the full wikileaks document here:
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1978ATHENS00001_d.html
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