Barenboim turns his concern controversially to Greece

Barenboim turns his concern controversially to Greece

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norman lebrecht

August 17, 2018

Announcing the Berlin State Opera’s new season, its music director said the focus would be on Greece.

He said that Greece had suffered ‘for years’  from a European Union led by its finance ministers and ‘at this time, we have a responsibility to give something back. As an artist, we can do that only through culture. ‘

The season will include Greek-themed operas – Richard Strauss’s Elektra, Luigi Cherubini’s Medea and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo’, but the central spotlight will be on the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, who studied in Berlin with Kurt Weill and Philipp Jarnach, attended Arnold Schoenberg’s masterclasses and wrote his first important works in the city – a violin sonata, piano sonatina, the first piano concerto and an octet.

There are two glaring flaws in Barenboim’s statement. First, the EU assault on Greece was led as much by his patron Angela Merkel as by any of the finance ministers. She, if anyone, is to blame for the austerity.

 

Second, if Barenboim believes that artists can only achieve through culture, why does he persist in making political statements? Does he consider them to be futile?

Comments

  • Cynical Bystander says:

    No doubt Barenboim will be returning the subsidy the Staatsoper receives from the German state and asking them to send it to Greece? Better still, close down and move to Athens, by way of Ramalah of course!

  • Simon Evnine says:

    Angela and he are best buddies.

  • Mike Schachter says:

    Greeks I know certainly blame Merkel primarily. But the German government is very generous to cultural superstars.

    • Pianofortissimo says:

      The German government was too generous to the incompetent Greek government at the cost of the German taxpayers.

      • John Borstlap says:

        I saw a TV documentary about the Greek tax system which revealed a chaos and careless incompetence one would not expect in a European country.

        • Mike Schachter says:

          I am just reading a book called “The Secret Barrister” about the English legal system, that is pretty appalling also.

        • Petros Linardos says:

          Mismanagement and corruption have plagued the Greek public sector for a long time, arguably since independence. They’ve been a major factor for Greece’s crisis in 2010. The current government’s incompetence arguably also caused further setbacks, especially in 2015.

          Yet the austerity measures imposed by the ECB, the IMF and the European Commission deepened the crisis to levels unseen in recent memory.

          It all makes me think of a medical analogy: patient gets a curable cancer as a result of their heavy smoking, and needlessly aggressive chemotherapy sets them back much further.

          As a native Greek, though ex-patriot in the last 15 years, I have had my fair share of personal ‘experiences’ with the public sector, and have seen first hand unacceptable situations – though I also have many positive memories. A lot of it is not what one would expect from an EU country, though it probably doesn’t take much effort to find appalling stories anywhere. Two examples I can think of are the saga of the Berlin Brandenburg airport and the Italian (mis)trials of US exchange student Amanda Knox.

      • Tamino says:

        Indeed.
        95% of the hundreds of billions of EURO (sic!) of bailout loans to Greece went straight into the koffers of private banks.
        It’s one of the biggest public robberies of all times.
        Socialism for the banks. Austerity measures for the common man.
        It’s a miracle, how passive the people are. If people would understand the truth, hundreds of bankers would hang at lampposts. But people are too busy on Netflix and YouTube, a few on Slippedisc.

  • Ernest Low says:

    Focus on Greece … where’s Baltsa?

  • The View from America says:

    It is rather laughable to make noise about “focusing on Greece” by showcasing the music of Jarnach, Weill and Richard Strauss.

    By all means, let’s also program the Brahms 2nd piano concerto because Gina Bachauer played it in Athens in 1937.

    lol

    • Pianofortissimo says:

      Unfortunately, Pythagoras of Samos’ scores were never printed, not even written down, thus the completely logical focus on Richard Strauss.

  • John Borstlap says:

    These Greek Dances (video) are truly good and fresh music, making use of folk material like BArtok regularly did. And they are not 12-tone music, he used that system (idiosyncratically) for other works.

    “The most striking example of his commitment to Greek folk music is the series of 36 Greek Dances composed for orchestra between 1931 and 1936, arranged for various different ensembles in the ensuing years and in part radically reorchestrated in 1948–49. About two-thirds of these dances are based on genuine Greek folk themes from different parts of the Greek mainland and islands, but the other third use material of Skalkottas’s own composition in folk style.”

  • Tamino says:

    ‘The EU assault on Greece…’
    Ladies and Gentlemen, are you serious?
    Greece finances wer hijacked by Goldman&Sachs (and some others).
    It’s fiscal policy was highly fraudulent, as advised by the aforementioned.
    The books were forged, with under the guidance of the aforementioned.
    The purpose of these actions was as usual greed, AND a motive to destabilize the EU… It was a highly successful operation.
    Hundreds of Billions were stolen from the EU and went into the koffers of private banks.
    And you talk about an assault on Greece by the EU. Crazier than crazy.

  • Edgar says:

    I miss Martinu’s “The Greek Passion” in Barenboim’s announcement, which is unfortunate.

    Here is something to accompany the lively debate on this page, as well as the music which Barenboim intends to perform: The fine book which I recommend to my fellow traveler Norman and all the fellow travelers here – Yanis Varoufakis, “Adults in the Room. My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment.” John Kampfner, in The Guardian, praises it as “riveting… An extraordinary account of low cunning at the heart of Greece’s 2015 financial bailout…” Paul Mason, also in The Guardian, calls it “….one of the most accurate and detailed descriptions of modern power ever written.”

    In one thing I do agree with Norman: “the EU assault on Greece was led as much by his [Barenboim’s] patron Angela Merkel as by any of the finance ministers. She, if anyone, is to blame for the austerity” – yet it is essential to mention the other equally, perhaps even more, important name: Wolfgang Schäuble.

    This ultra-austerity-dogmatist finance minister ruled with iron fist throughout all of the EU at that dark time, and distinguished himself in keeping Frau Merkel’s own cabinet at a short leash with such tenacity that his social democrat sucessor Olaf Scholz tries to even outdo him.

    Schäuble is now Speaker of the Bundestag, Germany’s Parliament, put in the position after the elections last fall by a desperate and fearful elite which has run out of any and all bold and clear-headed policy as the only, and last, defense against the right-wing AfD.

    • william osborne says:

      I wonder what role Germany’s bitch-slapping of Greece played in moving the UK toward Brexit. I think the connections might be more closely examined.

      • Tamino says:

        What parallel universe have you been in?
        Germany ‘bitch slapping Greece’?
        How absurd. Apparently you don’t know any facts about that Greek financial tragedy?
        The short version is, it was a scheme to steal billions from the EU, mainly Germany, done by private banks, Goldman&Sachs et al.
        Apparently they have good propaganda departments as well, that people like you have been successfully fed such absurd distortions of reality.

        • william osborne says:

          There was no conspiracy, Goldman & Sachs, Rothschild, or otherwise… The actions were based on the Maastricht Treaty which defined the economic principles of the EU, and on German political culture which views Southern Europe with great suspicion. One of the obligations of the treaty for the members was to keep sound fiscal policies, with debt limited to 60% of GDP and annual deficits no greater than 3% of GDP. The Maastricht treaty needs to be revisited so that better resolutions of conflicts can be found.

          • Tamino says:

            No, that‘s not what happened.
            Read a bit about it.

          • Saxon Broken says:

            Tamino:

            Really, it wasn’t a “plot to steal billions” from the EU. Incompetent yes. But not some grand conspiracy.

            While “Goldman Sachs helped Greece cook the books”, this was only to help Greece get round to stringent rules about which countries were going to be allowed to join the Euro at its inception. Essentially, Greece pretended it met the rules. Clearly, that has been a mistake.

            And also, pretty much every Eurozone country failed to meet to full government deficit rules during the crisis (Germany and the other Eurozone countries agreed to relax them). However, the Greek government essentially went bust. The bailout, largely from the rest of the Eurozone, was agreed in return for Greece moving towards balancing their budget (e.g. the government only spending money it could raise in taxes, and coming up with a plan to repay their debts).

          • Brettermeier says:

            Basically three things came together:

            1. Greece was and is unwilling or unable to collect taxes.
            2. They ‘tuned’ their financial statements to get into the euro zone. ( => devaluation no longer possible)
            3. 2008 Economic Crisis

            It was pretty stupid to just give them money that vanished ‘somehow’. Didn’t work with foreign aid in 3rd world countries, didn’t work here. Who would have guessed.

            Since Greece cannot do anything about 3., they can do a lot about 1. and 2: Fight corruption and 1. institution building.

            We should send them our ever resilient GEZ to collect their taxes. They could even keep this name.

    • Michael Endres says:

      May I suggest that if Greece would not have fiddled its books for decades,
      had a functioning tax system instead of chronic tax evasion ( 6-9% of its GDP ),
      would have been more frugal with sending people into full pension ( 75 % retire early, statutory retirement age for men ranges from 45 onwards )
      then it would have been a different picture, even with Germany’s utterly reckless policies in place.

      • william osborne says:

        Agreed. Greece has the greatest blame in this, even if better solutions might have been found.

      • Petros Linardos says:

        Greece and Michael Endres… I can’t resist a side question: did you perform with Hermann Prey in June 1991 at the Herodes Atticus Theater? For me that was a very special concert.

        • Michael Endres says:

          Nothing ever gets forgotten…yes, we did. What an unusual venue and quite an experience.
          I also remember a Beethoven 4th concerto on a stage that was not levelled but surprisingly slightly tilted…what a scary affair that was for a boy from orderly Bavaria….and then eating the most incredible food in my life for days at Greek Easter in the countryside…and that bakery in Thessaloniki that made the most amazing Galaburico…what a country !

          • Petros Linardos says:

            I suppose 27 years on it’s not too late to thank you for that very special concert. The acoustics are better suited for theater than for romantic music, but the clarity helped me easily follow Prey’s diction – which was wonderful to begin with. And I remember thoroughly enjoying the pianist too, not least in the Erlkönig (must have been one of the encores). The audience was small but enthusiastic. I remember shouting lots of ‘bravo’ myself. Fond memories!

    • Saxon Broken says:

      Actually, Yanis Varoufakis tried to blackmail Germany and the rest of the Eurozone into paying the Greek’s debts. He expected taxpayers in the rest of Europe to work until they died, enabling the Greeks to continue retiring at 50 on a full pension.

      Eventually, the rest of Europe demanded he go and that Greece face up to its problems.

  • william osborne says:

    “…why does he persist in making political statements?” History illustrates that politics and culture are inseparable.

  • Simon says:

    He should stay out of politics. And as for Israeli “barbarity” – you guys can shove it right up your asses. Try living freely as a Jew in any Muslim country and then go back to Israel and note that there are Muslims in the Knesset. If the entire Israeli GDP were gifted, annually, to the PLO they would have nothing to show for it. Give me a break.

    • esfir ross says:

      Simon, you’re truly “Israel barbarian” with your offensive language. There’re millions of non Jews in Israel and have representation in Knesset. There’re Jews live in Muslim countries and not oppressed. Iran, Irak, Turkey and etc.

    • Ms.Melody says:

      +1
      For everyone who talks about Israeli ” barbarity” and Palestinian “suffering “, I can recommend an introductory course and a number of good books about the history of the region. Any other nation defending it’s borders would be called just and heroic. When it comes to Israel the same actions are deemed barbaric and aggressive. And what about Israeli suffering from all the terrorist acts and killings?. Barenboim can have his orchestra , there is never too much music or too many orchestras, but don’t make him sound like a Ghandi of the Middle East. Frankly, the anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli sentiment expressed here is quite shocking. There will be no peace until Israel’slegal and historical right to exist is universally accepted.

    • steven holloway says:

      And so, would you have made the same pronouncement about Pablo Casals? Rostropovich? Should Ivan Fischer shut up? Perhaps even Beethoven in his Symphonies 3 and 9 was guilty? Haydn and his naughty Mass in Time of War? The conquering Russians, as you know, banned Sibelius’ Finlandia molto pronto. You light upon DB, but many musicians have of late deemed it necessary to make clear their feelings re many political, social, economic issues. Is your diktat general, or are you just after anyone who dares to make any sort of statement about Israeli policies out of alignment with your own position? This is really a rhetorical question, of course.

  • M McAlpine says:

    Dear old Barenboim, he does lose too many opportunities of keeping his mouth shut. He gave a speech at the Proms which was very much out of place. Like every country in the EU, Greece has been hit by the follies of the bureaucrats in charge, but much of the problem lies in over spending and failure to pay taxes.

  • william osborne says:

    It’s interesting that art is expected to often be political except in classical music where it’s considered poor taste. In the visual arts no one complains about Ai Weiwei, Bansky or countless others. In theater there’s Brecht, Harold Pinter, Elfriede Jelinek , Vaclav Havel, Julian Beck, Artaud, Tony Kushner as a few examples. In literature luminaries like John Steinbeck. In pop music Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Madonna…

    So why is classical music expected to be non-political?

    • Michael Endres says:

      “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

      An old-fashioned view, but given the stratospheric musical level he and a few others created ( Bach, Mozart, Schubert ) it might even make some sense.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXm1W6t-qqk

      • william osborne says:

        Quite true. In its abstract forms, a sublime language poorly suited to concrete political statement. But even Ludwig was quite political at times. Leonore rescues her husband from death in a political prison in an act of heroism, courage, and loyalty. The opera fits the aesthetic and political outlook of Beethoven’s middle period which was formed in part by the somewhat revolutionary ethos of the time — a desire of the bourgeois for freedom and democracy. It surely ranks as one of the most political operas ever written.

        And of course, there is the famous dedication of the Third Symphony to Napoleon, and its later angry erasure. Ludwig was not above some rather passionate political statements. The sublime is seldom reached without the mechanisms of earthly passions.

        • Michael Endres says:

          I totally agree that the sublime is routed in reality.
          And his music certainly is grounded, speaks to us as humans and goes way beyond pure entertainment. Arguments, conflict, solution, defeat, empathy, victory,…
          It should be noted though that the very few and often cited examples of Beethoven getting outspokenly political are exceptions when compared with the overwhelming part of his oeuvre that does not specifically refer to any outer musical connotation.
          He didn’t need to explain: for those with ears and hearts his music speaks volumes. There is no ‘ l’art pour l’art’ with Beethoven.

          Nietzsche’s remarks still hold ground :
          “When the purpose of moral preaching and of improving man has been excluded from art, it still does not follow by any means that art is altogether purposeless, aimless, senseless — in short, l’art pour l’art, a worm chewing its own tail…..Art is the great stimulus to life: how could one understand it as purposeless, as aimless, as l’art pour l’art?”

          • william osborne says:

            Interesting, the question isn’t what art is, but the impulses that shape it. Few composers of the era were overtly political. We can’t determine from that, however, how Beethoven’s creative processes worked. The emotional impulses of social reality might have partially influenced his abstract musical expression, or perhaps not. Music might be a “higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy,” or it might be art for art, but humans remain bound to the earth and that shapes their identities and thus their artistic expression even in its abstract forms.

            People sometimes utilize the obscurity of the creative process for ideological reasons: classical music is not to be political; social reality has nothing to do with music; life does not shape musical expression.

            Then it starts getting specific and nasty: Wagner’s racism did not influence the theatrical symbols he created; the metaphors of feudalism and militarism had no influence on the authoritarianism, regimentation, and hierarchies of the symphony orchestra; the dominate role of men as composers does not give classical music a masculinist perspective or nature; etc. Sometimes such connections are valid, sometimes not.

            Still, we are told that classical music’s sublime heights must not be sullied. We must respect the fact that classical music was given a virgin birth.

    • Tamino says:

      So why is classical music expected to be non-political?

      Because it primarily serves in reactionary circles, namely the US plutocracy, as entertainment for the upper class. They don’t want to be confronted with the problems and smell of the street, when they are settled in their comfy seat in the air conditioned concert hall, which they reached through the elevator directly from the parking garage underneath.

      It has lost most of it’s momentum to connect to the middle classes there, the actual movers and shakers of society. The productive people.

      Classical music is today a ghetto for the wealthy. Less so in Europe, with a few exceptions. Salzburg festival for instance.
      If you want to experience spiritual and intellectual death and decadence, you have to mingle with the classical music audiences in Salzburg. Or New York.

      • Michael Endres says:

        I agree with Salzburg.
        I remember one experience which was disheartening and slightly farcical.
        I had been invited and still remember my surprise when seeing the obscene ticket price.
        The audience, after arriving in style and showing off their very obvious wealth – I immediately felt out of place ( despite I having actually performed myself at that very festival ) was clearly bored to death with the concert.
        I particularly remember a guy 3 seats away noticeably snoring…nobody really did take much notice.
        The performance was equally forgettable, routine playing, grey, unimaginative.
        I felt like nodding off myself. Maybe the snoring guy was a true connoisseur after all ?
        Applause lukewarm, event finally over, culture box ticked off, Chateau d’Yquem waiting…( a few Pils for me to forget ).

        But there are the wonderful Proms, there are concert halls in Asia bursting with young people, so lets not bee too gloomy here….

        • Tamino says:

          Oh I agree with the indefinite appeal and attraction of classical music to young people, as long as there are enough ones who are receptive and intellectually and spiritually hungry.
          I only try to explain the here frequently found opinion, that the classical musician should do his ‘job’ and otherwise shut their mouth. Meaning those people think musicians are service people, they basically hired doing an entertainment job for them. These people have actually not the slightest clue about what art is and can be for the human condition. But alas, a few of those people are always needed to finance the whole thing. It’s just disheartening, if they reach a critical mass of too many.

          • Michael endres says:

            Art should be free of restrictions, but I am not particularly interested in concert halls being turned into regular playing fields for concise political propaganda ( some exceptions granted.)
            The Beethoven quote above stands for that view.

  • luigi nonono says:

    Then why isn’t he doing a Theodorakis opera? It is just more grandstanding by a grand a**hole.

  • Omar Bizri says:

    Barenboim is to be saluted for his stand on Greece as well as the rights of Palestiniana. His joint efforts with Edward Saiid stand out, should continue and be emulated by other artists …

  • Aria da capo says:

    The germans have slaughtered, tortured to death, raped and killed entire villages in the most savage way in Greece during the occupation (I spare you the details because you will not be able to eat for days), took away the gold of the country in the form of “obligatory loan”, and always refused to pay war indemnisations. And now they come to give lessons of morality! And it is so convenient to accuse the Greeks of everything under the sun. You know, debt can also be “remodeled” according to their will, especially when the weaker part has oil and natural gas on its soil. Not to mention obliging to cease 14 airports for decades and all national properties for 99 years. So, kudos to Barenboim (I met him once and he even tried to pronounce some polite phrases in my native greek) and a reminisence to “the patron”: we call it Nemesis.

    • Tamino says:

      It would help more than your hyperbolic rant, if Greece would start to collect the taxes properly from their own citizens, particularly the wealthy ones, as a first measure of civilized behavior as a state. Those are more pressing issues than fruitless and hyperbolic emotional debates about who did what in a horrible war almost 80 years ago. Even though it’s easier, if your objective is finding a scapegoat, rather than solving problems.

      • Aria da capo says:

        “Fruitless”? “Hyperbolic”? “Emotional debates”? And most of all… “civilised behaviour” from the ones that committed the crimes I mentioned above and still preaching of ethics and morality? (Refusing to pay the war indemnisations, I repeat!). Continuing with an economic occupation of the country turning it into a colony, while stopping all the attempts of develpment coming from the Imf, or France? Even Martin Schulz admitted it in his interview today. And let’s not forget the “brain drain” of which german hospitals, universities and companies took advantage. So the “scapegoat” is rather Greece! As for the rich Greeks, they donated several millions to relieve calamities -from the fires of Mati, to meals for the poor- and even builded impressive cultural venues, like the Stavros Niarchos. I can go on with our “emotional debate” anytime, I don’t find it “fruitless” at all, nor “hyperbolic” (a greek word) defending my country! Always with a very “civilised behaviour” of course.

        • Tamino says:

          Well, it seems you do not have good information. Particularly not good enough to be so condescending and aggressive toward people outside of Greece.
          https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/24/greece-collecting-revenue-tax-evasion

          Oh the rich Greeks donated millions? How cute. When they steal many billions they own…

          • Aria da capo says:

            It is the other way round: people outside Greece were condescending and aggressive to Greeks, spreading around the oh, so convenient story of “lazy southeners who lived on northern worker’s sweat”, whereas according to EU statistics they have been working more hours (and been payed less) than others -germans included. I also suggest you update your information (the article dates from 2015) with yesterday’s interview of M. Schulz in DW and the article of Handelsblatt “Five myths and five mistakes of the greek crisis”. It will clear up a lot of your misconceptions, plus, it is from german lips. Don’t worry, it’s not about war crimes, only economic ones (still, it leaves outside some, like the cease of the airports and of public property). I read them in translation, but I’m pretty sure you can find them. And you are free to sue big greek ship ownwer families like Niarchos, Latsis, Onassis, or Vardinogiannis who help their compatriots, if you believe they are stealing. There are huge penalties if you are proven right, like the ones a very well known automobile company had to pay in the US. Just saying…

          • Tamino says:

            Your constructed painting of a Greek ‘Wagenburg mentality’ where all Greek stand together in solidarity, is cute. So is the projection of all bad and evil on the oh so bad and evil foreigners. That’s a child’s view of the world. In fact the wealthy Greek have tried to hide their money out of the country as fast as possible, once the shit hit the fan. (and if they hadn’t done it already)
            All this still begs the question, how the epic Greek deficit and debt came to happen. It wasn’t the Germans who did that, darling. Try a dose of reality. Start with small doses, so it doesn’t overwhelm you.

          • Tamino says:

            https://adst.org/2015/07/the-greek-debt-crisis-how-did-it-get-here/

            This is good primer how people outside the EU, former US ambassadors to Greece, evaluate the Greek crisis from their insider perspective.

  • Aria da capo says:

    I doubt you could ever stand the amount of bitter, tragic reality I have lived and witnessed over the last 8 years -and counting. The solidarity Greeks have shown to one another -and foreigners- is touching and admirable, NOT cute, and being part of it is one of the most meaningful things I have done in my life. I would also urge you, in the context of the “civilised behaviour” that you value so much, to mind your vocabulary (the… fan thing) and not to call me your darling, as well as to update your references (I take “child” as a compliment, given my age). It would also help to compare the “epic” greek deficit to others, check for teutonic names in fiscal paradises and count the times “the patron” changed the rules, every time a government -either right or left- was achieving the goal, failing the promise to aliviate the debt. As it happens in “The magic flute”, Tamino is misguided and misinformed by the Queen of the Night, in her greed for power and control, but her downfall is inevitable (although I always found her a rather comic character). You know, Hybris always provokes Nemesis and Katharsis always comes in the end, even before Aeschylus wrote his first tragedy, or even before Thespis invented Theatre. Bless your good luck to enjoy a crisis-free summer in an immaculate country with glorious past, ethical leaders and irreproachable inhabitants.

    • Tamino says:

      I have great empathy with the people in Greece who went through so much hardship. But that doesn’t justify them (and you) to scapegoat foreigners, and whitewash the Greek.
      As far your delusion about the solidarity of the wealthy Greek (in average) is concerned, you can inform yourself easily about the truth, if you want to.
      https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/13/greek-debt-crisis-capital-outflow
      But the truth often hurts, and that’s not the fault of the Germans either.

    • Tamino says:

      And did you know the Persians had theatre 2.000 years before Thespis was born?
      Probably if you sold a bit of your national pride, you could pay for all of the Greek deficit and still keep some.

  • Aria da capo says:

    Good afternoon Tamino, sorry to have kept you waiting for our daily “emotional debate”, as I was taking my morning swim on a lovely beach I have the luxury to enjoy almost alone (and I’m not even a tycoon!), but I guess that’s one of the privileges of living in this corner of the planet. Before we continue, let me assure you that I pay religiously the taxes for my summer house, as for the rest of my properties. It is true that my national pride, along with that of the majority of my compatriotes, could get us out of the crisis, if only some other nations who have dark pages in their history, like, lets say, world wars, concentration camps and burning people into ovens, were interested in buying some. Herodotus had already described persian performing practices in his History, but theatre as an art form and written plays that influenced western civilisation will always be a greek product (and word), along with philosophy, democracy or the Olympic games (all greek words). I see that you insist in old references, instead of reading actual ones, admiting errors and omissions in “the greek drama”. Fair enough. But what really hurts, is having Lidl avoid paying taxes in Greece through triangular transactions, and still blaming the Greeks for being thieves. Having Schauble receiving black money for his party fond, and still blaming the Greeks for being corrupted. Having Wolkvagen caught in the diesel emissions scandal and still blame the Greek enterpreneurs for being dishonest. Fair enough again. As for the local politicians who took part in the game, instead of whitewashing them, we intend to treat them like the collaborators after the end of the Occupation. I hate being aggressive Tamino, I really, really hate it, it’s so against my nature, that I have to put a lot of effort in it. But nothing enrages me more than attacking my country, my culture and my people, for we have been a favourite target for so long, that I decided I’ll never be silenced again. I wish you all the best, and this time is not irony (a greek word again!). Take care.

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