A year of Tsipras in power
The left-wing Syriza party won the general election a year ago with the promise to put an end to the austerity policy. Today Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has implemented many of the creditors' reforms and terms. Commentators take stock.
Greeks cured of their blind infatuation
After a year of the Tsipras government the Greeks must realise by now that there is no miracle cure for their country, the conservative daily Kathimerini comments:
“Those who believed a new form of government would emerge have had to look on from day to day as the government adopted the worst and most well-worn patterns of the Greek political system. ... Others believed the government would emerge victorious from a tooth-and-nail fight with the partners and creditors. But such beliefs have been shown to be false. ... Perhaps this is the best lesson from our experiences with the Syriza government: the Greeks now understand that there can be no simple, magical and supposedly revolutionary solution to their problems. Without a plan, without a consensus and hard work, the country won't be able to get itself out of this mess.”
Creditors must keep a close eye on Athens
A year after taking office Tsipras has failed to keep his promises to Greece's creditors, the conservative daily Le Figaro observes, suspecting the Greek prime minister of duplicity:
“Reforms remain necessary because Greece has not yet earned the right to remain in the Eurozone. The young prime minister is being duplicitous in imposing on parliament policies which he claims to disapprove of in the name of the EU. Far from putting an end to corruption, he has added his own form of nepotism and named several members of his close entourage to key posts. Added to that is his passivity in the face of the wave of migrants: so far only one of five hotspots planned for registering refugees has opened on the island of Lesbos. ... This explosive cocktail requires close supervision and a political tact which until now has not been the forte of the European troika and the IMF. ”