Greece: The First 25 Years of the 21st Century

Panos Loukakos analyzes the first 25 years of the century in Greece, starting from the optimism of 2000 and reaching today's economic and political challenges.

In the early 2000s, Greece joined the Eurozone and saw major projects being implemented, such as the "Eleftherios Venizelos" airport and new road axes. The 2004 Olympic Games brought necessary solutions to long-standing problems.

However, economic growth was based on borrowing, leading to a real estate bubble and an increase in imports without a corresponding increase in production. After the 2004 and 2007 elections, the foundations were laid for economic destabilization and the increase in public and private debt.

Greece turned to the European support mechanisms and signed three memoranda (2010, 2012, 2015) totaling 300 billion euros. The measures of the memoranda caused a degradation of the standard of living and a decrease in purchasing power.

Today, new protest movements are emerging due to problems such as wiretapping, Tempi, OPEKEPE, and high prices, reminiscent of the 2010-2015 period.