Editorial: Danger

This summer coincided with the completion of the third bailout programme. This time, however, it is the other three seasons that may prove exceptionally turbulent.

Italy now seems like a time bomb that can explode at any moment. Hence, we are approaching the autumn with prospect of an Italian explosion, and with the knowledge that until the end of 2019 much will have changed in Europe.

Mario Draghi will not be at the helm of the ECB, and Jean-Claude Juncker will have been succeeded as European Commission President. The European Parliament that will be voted in after the May, 2018 elections, it is quite possible that anti-European and xenophobic political forces will dramatically increase their representation.

One can, therefore, understand that the last thing that the government must do is shut itself in its own microcosm – the microcosm of cabinet reshuffles, of the announcement of fiscal measures at the Thessaloniki International Fair, of sterile political confrontations or, even worse, of extreme polarisation.

The cost of such a choice will be enormous. Unfortunately, it will not be paid by those responsible in the political system, but rather Greek citizens once again.