Turkey picks Greek bones

[Diopos]

Originally Posted by msxyz

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The EU already expanded to include too many countries which shouldn't have been admitted in the first place (ie Greece) because of poor states of their finances or because they simply don't grant the necessary social stabilities.

And where do you draw the line sir?
Should Portugal, Ireland had been excluded? Maybe Italy, too? Mmmm the UK seems to have fiscal problems too ehhh?. Either we like it or not, EU is a political union and that is the reason that countries with weak economies were included. Granded the economic situation is bad but I don't see anybody in the USA talking about expelling California from the Union because it has gone almost bankrupt!

[msxyz]

The problem is twofold

It's a problem for the Greek people because they're forced into keeping pace with much stronger economies even if, at the moment, they don't have the means. It should have been better if Greek economy progressed at its own slower pace until it was strong enough.

And it's a problem for the wealthy countries because the problem of Greece becomes the problem of the Union. Every nation (even Germany and France) felt the 2009 crisis. Having in tow several countries won't help them recover as fast as they could in the past.

UK is out of the monetary system and this was a wise decision on their part.

One of the hidden risks of adopting an unified currency is that the single nations loose the ability value/devalue their currency to meet the short term crises. As in Greece case, it means they may face a drought of cash with no other means that cut salaries (which in turns cut national spending creating a domino effect).

As it is now, the EU is a mess; countries forcefully kept together by blind bureaucrats even if they have a different histories, cultures and strengths/weaknesses.

The biggest mistake was trying to convert the ECU/CEE from a common regulated market into some sort of 'United States of Europe'.

Apologies if you felt insulted as a Greek Citizen. I'm not against the people from individual countries but against the blind governments ruling us.

[Diopos]

<Apologies if you felt insulted as a Greek Citizen>

None taken... From you at least! But I'll admit I'm fed up with greek bashing anyway. Actually many more people knew what was going on than those claiming that were "fooled" by the Greeks. And I'm not talking about people in Greece ...
1st) "EU" does not equal "Eurozone"
2nd) EU is a political union (of some kind anyway). The fact that the UK and other "players" insist that it is only a market is due to their own policies and agenda. An example: 98% of greek environmental laws are based on EU directives. No sir, it is more than a market and (of course) less than a state ...