Greek crisis threatens European dream, say analysts
Kathimerini (English edition), Danny Kemp, 29.06.2015
Interview
Europe's failure to solve the Greek debt crisis risks lasting damage to the post-war dream of "ever closer union" at a time when it faces new threats on its borders, analysts said. [...]
"It will leave scars," Janis Emmanouilidis of the European Policy Center think-tank in Brussels told AFP. "There is a lot of distrust."
The launch of the European single currency a decade and a half ago was trumpeted as a unifying moment for the continent of 500 million people, but recent days have seen that dream of unity descend into what Emmanouilidis called a "nightmare." [...]
That showed Europe at its most dysfunctional at a time when it should be coming together to deal with unprecedented challenges in an unstable world, said Emmanouilidis.
"If you show that you are not even able to deal with your internal problems... that sends the wrong signal in a geopolitical context," he said.
"It's different from 2012 when Greek exit from the euro was last being talked about. When that was happening, the geopolitical situation was not as unstable as it is now with respect to the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, Russia, migratory pressure, you name it."
The chaotic situation could also boost euroskeptics such as Nigel Farage of Britain's UK Independence Party and Marine Le Pen of Frances National Front, he said.
"Farage and Le Pen, I am sure, have a smile on their faces as they watch this," he added. [...]
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