Nikitas wrote:Zan said:
"If it wasn't for the USA having urgent meetings with Greece at the time and forcing them to change and the EU to give them a chance, they would not have got in."
You kept up with Greek politics way back in 1981? Then you must recall the intense diplomatic work by Karamanlis and his aides that won over the French and the Germans, the two key players in the EU then as now.
Where did you get the Americans coming in to this? Giscar D'Estaing, the French president took on the job of convincing the rest to grant Greece full membership and by that time Greece had been a full democracy with the army firmly under civilian control. It was 6 years after the fall of the dictators.
You need to brush up on your history.
Greece sets the pace
Greece has come a long way since it joined the European Union 21 years ago. This makes it a fitting role model for the ten new members as it runs the EU presidency for the first half of 2003. Pity about Iraq.
When the government of Costas Simitis took over the presidency on January 1st, Greece had just ended a year as the fastest-growing economy in the EU. The coming year promises a replay. In 2001 – to general surprise – Greece earned its way into the euro zone. It is as a self-confident core member that the Greek government will put on the style in Athens on April 16th when present and new EU members formally sign the enlargement deal negotiated at the Copenhagen summit last month.
How times have changed. Greece was a basket case when it entered the then European Community in 1981. It was propelled in, partly under American pressure (sounds familiar?), before many people, including the European Commission, thought it was ready. During the first three years of membership, an army of Commission officials shuttled between Brussels and Athens to coax, cajole and bully the Greek administration into implementing EC policies and giving up centuries-old Levantine practices and habits.
http://www.erabrussels.be/information/e ... e_pace.htm
