Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/537300
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JULY 2015 News 13 TIM DIACONO GREEK people gathered in Val- letta yesterday to protest against the imposition of further auster- ity measures on Greece, ahead of today's crucial referendum that could determine the country's Eurozone future. In what was a harsh reminder of how five years of austerity have ripped people's lives apart, a 35-year old teacher, Maria, emo- tionally recounted how she had come to Malta after losing her job in Greece. "Most of my friends have also lost their jobs and emigrated, and I came to Malta because my boy- friend had found a job here," she recounted. "I've been working since I was 18 years old. I have a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree and another diploma, and I'm supposed to be in the prime of my life now. "We have no idea what will hap- pen to Greece tomorrow, and liv- ing with such uncertainty day in day out has left a huge impact on my mental health. I have left eve- rything and everybody behind in Greece, and I don't know wheth- er I'll ever be able to return." Greek immigrant Prodromos Ilachrimanidis recounted how his father has been waiting 19 months for his pension to be ap- proved, all the time struggling to pay €400 in rent each month, on a measly €500 monthly income. Another Greek immigrant, Aggelos, said parents are un- able to give their children pocket money to buy food at school, causing some of them to faint of hunger. He also accused Western me- dia of propagating an image of Greeks as lazy people. "We don't just dance and stay at home, and it's simply false that we don't want to work or pay our taxes," he said. The Greeks and Maltese sup- porters of the 'No' vote stood outside the City Gate Shopping Arcade in Republic Street behind a large banner that read 'No to fi- nancial blackmail, solidarity with the Greek people'. Similar solidarity protests were also held in European cities such as Berlin, Brussels, London, and Venice. The demonstration was organ- ised by Moviment Graffiti, who declared their support for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and condemned efforts by Eu- ropean and international insti- tutions to undermine the Greek referendum. "The European Central Bank's decision to stop liquidity to Greek banks, and the bellicose declara- tion by European leaders point to an increasingly authoritarian Europe where the neoliberal ide- ology of giving power to markets and those who are financially strong is becoming dominant," Graffiti spokesperson Carmen Caruana said. "Money loaned by the troika (International Monetary Fund, European Commission and the European Central Bank) since 2010 was given under conditions that made the Greek economy shrink, have driven tens of thou- sands into poverty, and drasti- cally worsened unemployment. "It was clear from the begin- ning that Greece would have never been in a position to repay the money it was loaned – this was just used as a political tool to impose on Greece specific economic measures based on a neoliberal ideology. "Bullying, blackmail and pat- ronising attitudes by the troika intensified when the Greeks elected the left-wing Syriza par- ty. The troika kept wanting to impose economic measures that would completely destroy the Greek economy and rejected the Greek proposal to raise taxes for the rich. "Instead, it insisted on penalis- ing pensioners, workers and the most vulnerable. Clearly, these were political choices aimed at imposing a specific ideology on Greece and at undermining the elected left-wing government." The Greeks present urged their compatriots back home to vote 'No', in the hope that they could turn a page in Greece's bleak re- cent history. "I toss and turn every night worrying about what would happen if Greece returns to the drachma, but from the bottom of my heart, I know that our situ- ation cannot go on like this any longer," Maria said. "I already know what will happen if the Yes vote wins," Ilachrimanidis said. "It will mean further reductions in salaries and pensions and further taxa- tion increases, and we will end up reaching ground zero again. I would rather vote in favour of sustainability, in favour of a pro- posal that grants dignity to the Greeks." Similarly, Greek immigrant Panagiotis Kalaitzis said that Greece is currently "more valu- able dead than alive". "I would definitely vote No, because things cannot get worse for us and we are quite desperate now. We should vote No, in the hope that the situation will im- prove. If it doesn't, then we'll just have to see what happens." "Everybody who has eyes can see that a Yes vote will lead us nowhere," Aggelos said. "Previ- ous Greek governments wanted us to live and work like slaves. Now we have the chance to show the EU that we want to remain in Europe, but not as slaves." He said that Greece should try and remain in the Eurozone, but that leaving it could prove to be a "great opportunity" for the coun- try to start anew. "We don't want to start a harm- ful chain reaction in Europe, but no one can live as we are living. Ultimately, the referendum is not about the euro versus the drachma, but about how to stay alive." Greeks in Malta rally against austerity ahead of crucial referendum Greeks in Malta rally against austerity ahead of crucial referendum Standing up for their country: Aggelos (above, centre) and (below, from left) Maria, Panagiotis Kalaitzis and Prodromos Ilachrimanidis