Under cover of the pandemic, Greece’s right-wing government has passed a slew of new measures to benefit the wealthy at the expense of workers, while massively expanding police powers. On the back of a decade of austerity, the latest laws are set to transform the country into a client state and playground for foreign tourists.
by Matthaios Tsimitakis/Mihalis Panayiotakis
Part 2 - Pandemic Politics
Since the start of the pandemic, greatest threat facing the country has been the paltry state of Greece’s public health system, a product of the troika-mandated austerity programs.
With knowledge of the health system’s weakness, yet refusing to invest in strengthening it to reach basic EU standards, the Greek government opted instead for the rhetoric of national emergency. This allowed it to shut down most public activities last spring in the early stages of the pandemic. The lockdown yielded positive results; with people staying indoors, Greece’s death toll during the first wave remained low compared to other European countries.
Basking in the glow of this early victory and congratulating itself while watching its approval numbers soar, the Greek government then rushed the reopening of tourism, refused to invest in public infrastructure or the health system, and neglected to plan for the second wave that was imminent. As a result, when that wave did hit, the government had only one weapon in its arsenal with which to confront it: lockdowns.
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