Cheers and jeers at Sydney conclave Hellenes share their views on

where Greece went wrong ANTHONY STAVRINOS

University professor Vrasi­das Karalis is convinced for­mer PASOK PM George Pa­pandreou is responsible for Greece's current predicament, and wants everyone to know.

Lasr weekend. on the eve of the referendum vote, more than 100 members of Sydney's Hellenic community gathered at the Greek Bilingual Book­shop at inner western Dulwich Hill for a discussion featuring Karalis and hosted by former SBS news anchor Mary Ko­stakidis.

Karalis believes problems within Europe should be solved within Europe, and the fatal mistake of Greece was to reach outside the EU for as­sistance.

"From the beginning, there have been many tactical er­rors and the process of nego­tiation has lasted far too long. This should have been resolved a few months ago; he told the meeting.

'The European Union depends on solidarity, mutual aid and most importantly, in these cas­es of default. intervention of

the European Central Bank to solve the problem.

'The problem in this case is that Mr George Papandreou had brought in the Interna­tional Monetary Fund (IMF), which is the serious problem in this case:

Karalis said that if Greece had appealed to the European Cen­tral Bank only - and excluded the IMF - then liquidity and recapitalisation of the banks would have been secured The Q&A covered topics

ranging from whether pre­conditions had been met for military intervention, to why Greece was balking at the troika's latest proposal in the face of chaos, and also wheth­er the IMF had a duty to wear Greece's debt in lieu of proper due diligence.

Despite a range of views among the audience. there seemed to be unanimity that Germany was the common enemy and questioners were generally greeted with jeers if they appeared supportive of the austerity stance, and cheers if supportive of the al­ternative.

'The answer for the Greeks

ProfessorVrasidas Karalis and Mary Kostakidis take the stage at the Greek Bilingual Bookshop event. PHOTO:ANTHONYSTAVRINOS.

is i n the word 'dialogue' - we do parallel monologue: Kara­lis said.

'The Greeks fight about the things they agree on. not about the things they disa­gree on. because when two Greeks disagree they don't talk to each other.

'What happens is that they all agree. but start fighting over different levels of em­phasis."

Perhaps the most humorous moment came when the meet­ing was interrupted with news a BMW was blocking a neigh­bour's driveway.

A "German vehicle probably being driven by a Greek with debts?" was the cry. ·varou­fakis!" was Karalis' reflex re­sponse.

Mary Kostakidis described the mood in the room as 'heat· ed. complex and concerned".

'There was an understanding that regardless of the referen­dum result, i t will take dec­ades for the Greek people to come out of the crisis and to evolve and develop the sys­tems that need to be in place for the country to function properly; she told Neos Kos­mos.