[D66] Letter of support for Greece

[J.N.]

Letter of support for Greece

By Sophia Hussain / 29 June 2015
Signed by Etienne Balibar, Costas Douzinas, Barbara Spinelli, Rowan
Williams, Immanuel Wallerstein, Slavoj Zizek, Michael Mansfield, Judith
Butler, Chantal Mouffe, Homi Bhabha, Wendy Brown, Eric Fassin, and Tariq
Ali.


Over the past five years, the EU and the IMF have imposed unprecedented
austerity on Greece. It has failed badly. The economy has shrunk by 26%,
unemployment has risen to 27%, youth unemployment to 60% and, the
debt-to-GDP ratio jumped from 120% to 180%. The economic catastrophe has
led to a humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people on or
below the poverty line.

Against this background, the Greek people elected the Syriza-led
government on 25 January with a clear mandate to put an end to
austerity. In the ensuing negotiations, the government made it clear
that the future of Greece is in the Eurozone and the EU. The lenders,
however, insisted on the continuation of their failed recipe, refused to
discuss a write down of the debt – which the IMF is on record as
considering unviable – and finally, on 26 June, issued an ultimatum to
Greece by means of a non-negotiable package that would entrench
austerity. This was followed by a suspension of liquidity to the Greek
banks and the imposition of capital controls.

In this situation, the government has asked the Greek people to decide
the future of the country in a referendum to be held next Sunday. We
believe that this ultimatum to the Greek people and democracy should be
rejected. The Greek referendum gives the European Union a chance to
restate its commitment to the values of the enlightenment – equality,
justice, solidarity – and to the principles of democracy on which its
legitimacy rests. The place where democracy was born gives Europe the
opportunity to recommit to its ideals in the 21st century.

Etienne Balibar

Costas Douzinas

Barbara Spinelli

Rowan Williams

Immanuel Wallerstein

Slavoj Zizek

Michael Mansfield

Judith Butler

Chantal Mouffe

Homi Bhabha

Wendy Brown

Eric Fassin

Tariq Ali