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What is “the Troika”? Are we, Greeks, confused about our lenders?
The representatives of Greece’s lenders, that is the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank, the so-called “Troika” come and go in Athens in regular intervals for the last three years. The word ‘Troika’ is in everybody’s lips like a junk candy. Greeks hear it some 100 times per day or read it some 50 times per day in various media outlets. Not to mention the chats among relatives, friends and colleagues. It’s all about “the Troika” and its demands on Greeks.
And yet. University students seem to have a very vague idea about what the Troika represents exactly.
How much more, when these students study at Panteion University, a university of Social and Political Sciences.
Professor for Public Administration, Donatos Papagiannis, posed to students the question, “whether the Troika was an EU institution“.
Below are the more significant answers:
“The Troika is being considered as an EU institution, as it is an economic team belonging to Germany as EU member state, that manages and monitors the financial issues of Greece. In other words, it is not a single but a mixed institution within the EU. ”
“The troika is an economic team of Germany that (unfortunately) monitors Greece. In this particular case, it is considered to be an EU institution, since Germany is an EU member state. Moreover, since the troika is a legal body, it is a European institution. ”
“The Troika members are elected by the EU member states and belong to European Central Bank. Therefore it belongs to the supranational governmental bodies. ”
“… Therefore the troika is a bank from which we borrow money to repay debt….. The troika does not belong to Europe. It is responsible for the EU external relations and it conveys only when needed. ONLY THEN. ”
“The troika is not an EU institution, it is an independent global institution.”
*sigh*
2013-02-21 10:16:22
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