Greek Islands for Sale?

The Ultimate Solution for the recovery of economy

Tensions between Berlin and Athens were reached after a couple of German politicians, mainly Josef Schlarmann and Frank Schaeffler, suggested that, in order to help itself, Greece should sell some of its lands, its historic buildings, and, even the famous Acropolis. This suggestion was not a well-received one, the Greeks being upset by the sarcastic joke


By ROXANA CIUPARIU (roxana.ciupariu@wavemagazine.net)
from Bucharest, ROMANIA


At the end of June 2010 The Guardian UK informed its readers that Greece has put on sale one of its islands in the area of Mikonos, which is a top tourist destination. The offer comes with an agreement that the buyer will engage in building a touristic complex, hence, making it a touristic spot. Further on, the EU Times announced that Greece might be thinking about selling its rail and water companies as well, which the Chinese seem to be interested in.

The idea of selling an island did not come as a complete surprise since the Greek government does not have the money to invest in the infrastructure and administrative apparatus its potentially populated islands. Hence, a rich buyer could afford to invest money into a project in the beautiful area of Greece and could also give a hand to its struggling economy.

However, the indication of selling an island came from Germany. As many German policy makers presented their disagreement with the idea of putting more money into a bailout of the Greek economy, they started asking harsh penalties for EU aid recipients, pointing mostly towards Greece. Tensions between Berlin and Athens were reached after a couple of German politicians, mainly Josef Schlarmann and Frank Schaeffler, suggested that, in order to help itself, Greece should sell some of its lands, its historic buildings, and, even the famous Acropolis. This suggestion was not a well-received one, the Greeks being upset by the sarcastic joke.

With regards to the island for sale, the Greek government spokesman George Petalotis denied the allegation, deeming it as "both incorrect and offensive", according to the English.news.cn. This solution is viewed as the last on Greece's list, with the idea of Russian or Chinese buyers being rejected as true.

The crisis in the last three months

Greece has been in a continuous and growing crisis since this year begun and even before. On 23rd of April the Greek government requested the EU and IMF to activate a bailout package, which is mostly a loan as Greece describes it. This request also implied that the Greek government has to take harsh measures, such as increasing VAT, reducing pensions and salaries, all measures that lead to even harsh responses from the people. Greece had no option but to accept this. The alternative would have implied an unwanted situation, at both EU and Greek level, making Greece the first country to leave the Eurozone.

At the beginning of May 2010, after reaching a new loan agreement with the other Eurozone countries, Greece had to impose a fourth and final round of austerity measures. This lead to the nationwide strike on the 5th of May 2010, starting with Athens; the unfortunate outcome of this was that three people were killed, dozens injured and more arrested following the violent confrontations with the police.

Protests and strikes are still present in Greece, a country which lives mostly from tourism, and since the crisis even this cultural cradle has suffered. Property value has also dropped since the economic crisis began, with 10-20 %. Therefore, amidst all these problems, selling some islands seems like the last resort for Greece, which could not afford organising some of its lands anyway. And, it also seems like a good opportunity for rich people. Some predict soon the Greek islands will be full with Russian Oligarchs. But this still has to be seen.



(Published: 12.07.2010.)