With
the Greek psyche itself the victim of a relentless shaming campaign,
the idea of Greece “going it alone” begins to seem outlandish and
quixotic. It is not. But it is as much tied to a revival of spirit
and self-esteem as to the nuts and bolts of economic transformation.
by
Michael Nevradakis
Part
3 - Greece wants to stay in the eurozone and EU — or does it?
One of the
most prevalent and recurring myths to come out of crisis-stricken
Greece is that despite the austerity measures and cuts that the Greek
people have been faced with, the overwhelming majority wishes to
remain in the EU “at all costs.”
This exact
wording has been used in numerous public opinion polls, such as one
published on July 5, 2015, the day of the Greek referendum on whether
to accept or reject a new troika-backed austerity proposal. According
to this poll, conducted by polling firm GPO on behalf of one of
Greece’s most notoriously pro-austerity TV stations, Mega Channel,
74.1 percent of respondents wished to remain in the EU at all costs.
Is this
really the case? It is worth considering that in Greece, there are no
polling firms which conduct public opinion polls independently.
Surveys are conducted on behalf of large media outlets which are,
without exception, favorable to the policies of austerity and
continued membership in the eurozone and the EU. The polling firms
themselves also belong to similarly entrenched interests. The
aforementioned GPO, for instance, was co-founded by construction and
publishing magnate Christos Kalogritsas, who is said to still
maintain a close friendship with GPO’s main shareholder, Takis
Theodorikakos.
Further
limiting their independence, Greece’s major public opinion polling
firms are all recipients of state funding. Between 2010-2013, Kapa
Research received 3,126,900 euros, MRB received 877,423 euros, GPO
received 395,003 euros, Metron Analysis received 273,574 euros, Marc
received 82,650 euros, VPRC received 55,500 euros, and ALCO received
50,677 euros.
Despite this
though, the question remains: are the polling results accurate? What
has been evident throughout the crisis is that poll results have
often been woefully inaccurate. For example, prior to the 2015
referendum, major public opinion polls showed “yes” and “no”
in a statistical dead heat. In reality, over 61 percent of voters
rejected the EU’s austerity proposal, even if this result was
itself overturned by Greece’s subservient SYRIZA-led government,
which itself seemingly wishes to keep Greece inside the eurozone and
EU “at all costs.”
More
evidence can be found from the results of the few relatively
independent public opinion polls which have taken place in Greece in
recent years. For example, in a pan-European survey conducted by the
Gallup International polling firm in December 2014, 52 percent of
Greeks favored a return to a domestic currency, while only 32 percent
favored remaining in the eurozone. Notably, Gallup International’s
respective 2016 end-of-year poll found less than overwhelming support
in Greece for remaining in the EU: while 54 percent of respondents
stated that in a hypothetical referendum they’d vote to remain, 46
percent would vote to leave.
Furthermore,
a March 2015 poll by Bridging Europe—an upstart polling firm which
has since openly and unabashedly supported SYRIZA—found that 53
percent of respondents favored a return to a domestic currency.
Together, these results contradict polling results which claim that
overwhelming majorities of Greeks wish to remain, and at all costs to
boot. However, these poll results have never been reported by either
the Greek or the international media.
What the
mainstream public opinion survey results in Greece aim to accomplish
is threefold. First, they seek to impact public opinion in Greece by
making it seem like there is such an overwhelming majority in favor
of continued EU and eurozone membership that resistance is futile—and
the product of “fringe” elements of society. Secondly, it impacts
the international media in their reporting on Greece and the crisis,
as they regurgitate these poll results without question.
Third, it
reinforces the pro-EU, pro-euro, pro-austerity politics enforced by
Greece’s current and previous governments, and the respective
pro-EU and pro-euro positions of the entirety of the political
spectrum that is represented in parliament.
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