Germany 'Bases Greece and Cyprus Policy on Stereotypes' - Telegraph

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Germany 'bases Greece and Cyprus policy on stereotypes'

Germany bases its policy towards Greece and Cyprus on stereotypes of idleness andcriminality, according to a German MEP of Greek descent who says he is quittingpolitics as a result.

Mr Chatzimarkakis accused German politicians, including his own party, of belittling Greece. Photo: REX

By Jeevan Vasagar, Berlin

10:57AM BST 05 Apr 2013

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, a MEP with Germanys Free Democrats, declared that he is quitting

German politics over his countrys treatment of its European partners, citing the Cyprus bail-out

as the last straw.

He told the Daily Telegraph: Politics should respect people and not only geopolitical and

financial interests. The case of Cyprus, in which the EU warned that it would withhold bailout

loans unless depositors shared in the cost of the rescue, has provoked an intense euro-sceptic

reaction, Mr Chatzimarkakis said.

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After an outcry, savers in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros will be spared, but the levy on

larger depositors will cause intense damage to the Mediterranean islands economy, which is

dependent on offshore banking.

Mr Chatzimarkakis, 46, whose party is the junior member of Angela Merkels ruling coalition,

said: Germany has proven several times during the last three years that it is feasible to change

course. My decision not to pursue an active role in Germany is linked to the fact that German

politicians have ignited a fire in our European house. It has nothing to do with the German

citizens whom I greatly respect.

Mr Chatzimarkakis accused German politicians, including his own party, of belittling Greece.

He said that within his own party, ideas such as sell your isles and the Acropolis had been

circulated as measures to pay off Greek debt. "They were so extreme that I couldn't go to the

party's convention.

It's very difficult to push through messages that don't fit stereotypes - such as that Greeks work

very hard, even more than Germans. That doesn't enter the Germans' minds, he said in an

earlier interview with a Greek news agency.

They want the lazy Greek as a stereotype, Cypriots as gangsters, [a] country and people who

must be punished.

The MEP, who was born in Dusiburg in the Ruhr area of Germany and holds both Greek and

German citizenship, left open the question of how he would influence the debate after quitting

the European parliament. Being a parliamentarian is one means, there might be others as well.

It depends on the course Europe is taking in the future.

Giving an example of an occasion when Germany had changed course over the euro-crisis, he

referred to Berlins acquiescence over a more active role for the European Central Bank.

Germany feared that allowing the ECB to print more money as a way out of the debt crisis

would only lead to inflation.

The restrictive attitude towards a stronger role of the ECB was abolished to allow an active

role, the MEP said.

Mr Chatzimarkakis, who will not seek re-election when his term as an MEP ends next year,


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made his anger over the Cyprus bail-out plain when he accused the EUs decision-makers of

neo-imperialism in a recent comment piece for the newspaper Handelsblatt.

Reaching for the deposits of Cyprus small savers was a violation of European values, of the

rule of law and solidarity, he wrote. The way in which porcelain has been broken in recent

months is unprecedented. In particular the small EU states must have the impression that they

are nothing more than the playthings of the big ones. We dont make progress in Europe with

neo-imperialism.

There is disagreement in Europe over whether Cyprus could be a model for future bailouts.

Berlin favours making investors and savers share in the costs alongside taxpayers, but euro-zone

central bankers have insisted that Cyprus is a special case.

Unemployment figures published this week once again exposed the gap between the north and

south of the euro-zone. Spain and Greece suffer from unemployment rates above 26 per cent,

while Germanys joblessness rate has fallen year-on-year to 5.4 per cent, according to the EUs

official statistics agency.

The economic gap and the fractious politics of eurozone rescue have fuelled old national

rivalries.

A poll published on Wednesday underlined German discontent over the perceived ingratitude of

their neighbours; 79% of those polled for Stern magazine thought protests against the German

government in southern Europe were unjustified. Just 16% sympathized with the public protests.

A spokesman for the Free Democrats declined to comment on the MEPs remarks before

speaking to Mr Chatzimarkakis. Two years ago, the University of Bonn stripped the MEP of his

doctorate after an investigation into allegations of plagiarism.

Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2013


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Germany 'Bases Greece and Cyprus Policy on Stereotypes' - Telegraph

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