THE RESOUNDINGLY successful Athens Olympics attracted lavish praise from all over the world. The plaudits were widely reported by the Cyprus media, which waxed lyrical about Greece’s colossal achievement. Commentators and politicians, as well as ordinary folk, concluded that Greeks could do great things when they put their mind to it and were no longer seen as the poor relations of the European Union. Greece had significantly raised its international standing and was now seen as a modern European state, we proudly concluded in Cyprus.
The truth is that Greece was transformed into a modern European state by the policies of enlightened, forward-looking, former prime minister, Costas Simitis, and the success of the Olympics came as confirmation of this. It is doubtful we would have been talking about triumph this week had the conditions not been created by the hard work done by the previous government. Simitis contributed to the creation of a confident, new Greece, which can achieve big things, by breaking with the past and putting the country on a brave new course.
In the EU, Greece ceased being the unreliable ‘problem-member’, working constructively, meeting its obligations and co-operating with its partners. The isolationism and siege mentality of the Andreas Papandreou years, when it was at odds with most of its partners and allies, were left behind as Simitis embarked on a new style of diplomacy. The unprecedented diplomatic openings to Turkey, for which his government was strongly criticised initially, have put relations on a normalisation path, which the Karamanlis government, to its credit, is now pursuing.
It is demoralising that in Cyprus, we are unable to see the connection between Greece’s recent achievements, including the successful Olympic Games, and the brave new political thinking embraced by the country. The new Greece is confident, dynamic and creative because it has abandoned the old mentality that saw most other countries as enemies conspiring against its national interests. In Cyprus, unfortunately, we seem unable to draw the obvious lesson from Greece’s experience, incapable of breaking with the past and remain obdurately stuck to the self-destructive politics of confrontation, defiance and moral posturing that lead nowhere.
Sadly, President Papadopoulos belongs to this obsolete school of thought, unwilling even to acknowledge the existence of modern political behaviour – particularly for EU member-states — based on co-operation, conciliation and compromise. On the contrary, since joining the EU in May, the Cyprus government has been involved in endless wrangling with the Commission and member-states over measures aimed at assisting the Turkish Cypriots. We have, so far, threatened to veto financial aid and to take legal action against the Commission if it decides to open direct trade with the north.
The government could succeed in getting its way, but what would it have achieved politically? It will have established a reputation as a troublesome member-state, isolating itself within the Union, pushing the Turkish Cypriots further away and making a solution unattainable. And could a legal victory in the European Court of Justice be turned into a political advantage? The likelihood is that it would maintain the status quo, which, supposedly, we consider unacceptable.
Yet, wherever it is possible, the actions of the government are geared to maintaining the status quo. It has had to accept the free movement of tourists across the dividing line (as well as entry through illegal ports) imposed by the EU, but otherwise its objective seems to be a return to the late 1970s, when we were setting unattainable targets and consoling ourselves by scoring countless, meaningless moral victories over the Turkish side. Now we are looking to score moral/legal victories over the European Commission as well, before appealing to it to help us find a ‘European solution’ to our problem. This is the latest illustration of the politics of wishful thinking that we are extremely fond of.
And the government is banking on Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader it disparages on a daily basis, agreeing to this ‘European solution’, without ever establishing any form of communication with him. On the contrary, Papadopoulos has made it quite clear that he would not talk to him because that would constitute a form of recognition of the illegal regime. Instead, his lieutenants have been at pains to create the impression that Talat is the new Denktash, taking daily swipes at him. It is a depressing return to the old days of sterile confrontational rhetoric, defiant posturing, unattainable targets and the pursuit of meaningless moral victories.
Negative politics (nothing is good enough) is the only politics that Papadopoulos and his cronies seem comfortable with. Not for them the bold initiatives and pragmatic thinking that will propel society forward and help it develop. We may have joined the EU, we may even recognise that Greece has made huge strides forward as a society, since it broke with the negative politics of the past, but with this government, we are condemned to live in a time-warp, under the illusion that something better will eventually come along.
