Italy: the extraordinary commonplace?

Living abroad gives you the opportunity to see how deep the stereotypes about your own Country are.

Sometimes they can be an advantage. Italians, for instance, are seen as latin lovers with emotional, romantic and passionate nature. And this can be a good help in romantic affairs, even if those caractheristics are often associated with less worthy elements, like being loud, unreliable and mummy's boy.

As well, foreigners love thinking Italy as the place of the sun, the sea and the good food, but also as a Country complicated, with a byzantine political system, a weak economy and a marginal relevance in the World.

Everything false? Of course not: all those commonplaces came from some real characteristics.

So, who are the Italians? What is Italy?

Few weeks ago the Italian Government has been presented a video, entitled "Italy: the extraordinary commonplace" to show the achievements of Italy in the last century. 

So, we discover that Italy is a World leader in major infrastructures and in pharmaceutic. Italy has been also one of the first Countries to send a Satellite into orbit after US and Soviet Union and it is the World leader in the production of luxury yachts.

Without considering the role of Italy in history, culture and arts: in Italy for example, there is the highest concentration of Unesco Sites in the whole World and its movie production got the highest number of Academy Awards for foreign movies (14). 

Not so bad for a country of 60 million people, often considered weak and in a permanent and irremediable decline.

To be honest, Italy is also one of the Country with the highest tax evasion in the World, it is ranked 73rd regarding the press freedom and 69th for the corruption.

And Italians? 

Like in every Country, you can find people closer to the classic stereotype, as well very far from it.
Dreamers? Maybe. Lazy? Sometimes. Optimistic? The most part.

"What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human, which other places, other countries, lost long ago" - Erica Jong

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A new story?

Syriza Logo

Greece is a quite small Country: 11 million of people, a GDP of 180 billion Euro (11th in Eu), a public debt around 180% of GDP and an unemployment rate of 26% (the highest in Europe).

Can a Country depressed by years of austerity and weakened by social tensions, change the history of a Continent? After the elections of the 25th January, maybe yes.

The win of Syriza must be seen in two different perspectives. From the interior side, it is the first time in Greek recent history that a "third party" becomes the main political force beating PSOK and Nea Dimokratia. If the new Prime Minister Tsipras will be brave enough, he will be able to struggle with the corruption, result of a spoiled political system managed for decades by two parties and few families. 

From the external side, the Greek elections are the first (and probably not the last) in Europe that give power to an anti-austerity Party. This means that Eu (and Germany) will have to dialogue with Tsipras and this time it will be forced to listen his opinions. Even if it is too early to understand which will be the real effects of this situation in the future European economic policies, it is defineitely represents something new and positive.

The first public act of Tsipras has surprised the public opinion: the alliance with ANEL, the right and xenophobe Party. But it was probably the only available solution : even if the two new allies are ideologically very far, they are both against the austerity and this explains why To Potami (the new center-left political Party) wasn't suitable to support Tsipras Government for its softer position towards Troika.

Something is changing in Europe: the ECB has adopted a new position to fight the crisis and it seems that Germany is finally understanding the austerity is not a doable way anymore. At the political level, Paris and Rome are waiting to collaborate with Tsipras and press Berlin for less rigidity. Over all, another anti-austerity force, Podemos, could win the next elections in Spain. 

Let's be optimistic about the rest of the year.

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Is ECB the strongest opponent to austerity?

The European Central Bank has chosen the way of a "quantitative easing" to stop the crisis and push the growth. 

The announcement, made by the President Mario Draghi, has been received successfully by the investors and by the most part of the European Countries, except for Germany and the block of Nordics.

The general aim of this operation is that, buying 60 billion Euros of public debt per month, ECB could reduce the value of Euro, facilitating the export and also the access to the bank credit. This decision should increase the inflation tax and bring benefits to all the economy.


The Us Federal Reserve adopted this decision already in 2008, why in Europe did we have to wait till now?

The answer is quite obvious: the resistance of Germany. From Berlin, the  austerity and the internal reforms were the ways to reduce the National debts and improve their economies, without considering the social  (and then also political) effects.

That is why the media reaction to the decision of the ECB has not been positive in Germany. At the opposite, in the rest of Europe the operation has been considered necessary and with positive effects for everybody.

It is impossible to predict which will be the real effect of this decision. But we can draw two considerations. First, this choise is the first wide and robust action of the ECB, as indepent Istitution of the European framework. Second, the economic policy adoped till yesterday must be dismessed because it didn't work.

Euro can be an advantage just if the economic policy can represents and help all the Countries. It is impossible to be under a unique currency and adopting only the German perspective. In the last years we have seen the contraposition between Berlin and the rest of Europe. It seemed that Angela Merkel imposed her strategy to exit from the crisis. But today something is changing: the elctions in Greece and Spain could modify the political scenario in Europe. Over all Mario Draghi won a match against the austerity and maybe he represents the strongest opponent to Germany in the European arena.

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Podemos?

Few days ago some electoral polls have given Podemos, the party founded at the beginning of 2014 and born by the Indignados movement, the 28% of voting intentions. It has become the first party in Spain: PSOE should get the 20% and the PP 26%.

There is a similar situation in Greece, where Syriza is accredited of 31% of votes and could win the incoming political election.

But what would it mean if an anti-austerity force could win the elections in one of the most important European Countries?

In the last years, many protest movements became a Party and could get a lot of votes. In Italy, one of the biggest and weakest economy of Europe, the "Movimento 5 Stelle" leaded by a former comedian, got an extraordinary success in the general elections of 2013 (second Party with 25% votes).  Even with strong and supported ideas to change the system, the movement has not been really able to transform itself in a real Party, a essential condition to convert ideas in laws.

In Spain, in a post-electoral scenario with three main and opposed forces, it is possible to imagine an alliance between Socialist and Moderates in a solidarity government. But the importance of Podemos as first party could bring their leaders to be central in the future reforms.

One thing is sure: the raise of those forces cannot be considered just a signal, but a deep transformation of the European electorate. We are just waiting a consequent transformation at the political level too.

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Freedom and Tolerance

What happened few days ago in Paris has shocked everyone.

An attack to a newspaper and twelve people killed in the heart of the French Capital is something unexpected and unbelievable.

What happens? And over all: what is going to happen in the next months?

I want to expose just two short considerations.

First: freedom of speech, freedom of press and the right to satire don't have to be called in discussion. Those are pillars of our society and that is why we have to protect them even if fear and hate are going to raise.

Second: that massacre has not been done in name of Islam, but on the basis of a fanaticism dangerous for everybody. Muslims are around 8% of the population in Europe: they go to school, they work, they try to live a normal life as everybody else. The perception of Europeans is completely wrong. As presented by The Economist in a study realized by Ipsos.

The attack to Charlie Hebdo could increase the hostility against Muslim Community in every Country. It is needed an action at a European level to avoid it. At the same time, something must be done to fight the fanaticism. 

Few days ago the fanatic group of Boko Haram slaughtered two thousand people in the north of Nigeria. If it happens far from us, it doesn't mean we don't have to care about it.

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Can Greeks already welcome a Happy New Year?

The time has finally come in Athens. The impossibility to elect the President of the Republic by the Hellenic Parliament has caused the announcement of new elections in January 2015. 

Syriza is considered the winner of the next elections and many observers have written about the possible problems of a government leaded by Alexis Tsipras, who promises a renegotiation of the Memorandum with the Troika.

The Hellenic Parliament in Athens

Europe is scared by the result of the elections. But why?

There are two considerations to do. First, even if Syryza can win the elections, it is not automatic that Tsipras will be also able to create a government. It seems that the other parties are more inclined to keep the Memorandum than having contrasts with European Union and, especially, with Germany. On the other hand, it is improbable that Greece will be able to break the Memorandum or exit from Euro. Brussels and Berlin can keep quiet.

Second observation: as citizens of European Union, can we be satisfied about the management of the crisis in Greece as well as in the rest of Europe? The economic situation is not better than 5 years ago in Athens, the salaries are much lower, the unemployment is the highest in Europe. 

What can we expect from 2015? We can just hope that something will really change: we need a new vision of Europe, new ideas of how to solve the economic and social problems that are killing our generation in favor of few people that have the power and the privileges.

What Greece and Greeks are paying for the crisis is a shame for us. It is a shame for Brussels, as well as for Berlin and Paris.

After the announcement of new elections, Tsipras said that Greeks can already welcome a "Happy new year". Let's hope that it will be a real NEW year and not just the continuation of a sad and demoralizing past.

Happy 2015!

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Are Turkish events a huge failure of European Union?

What's happening in Turkey?

Few days ago two heads of police and at least 24 journalists have been arrested in 13 different cities. The Director of the newspaper Zaman, Ekrem Dumanli, and the Director of the broadcasting Samanyolu, Hidayet Karaca have been also included in the list.

It seems that those events are the result of an internal war inside the right wing of the Turkish politics. In particular, a contraposition between Endogan, President of Turkey and leader of AKP and Muhammed Fethullah Gülen, leader of an Islamic movement and considered by Erdogan author of the corruption scandal of the last year that deeply touched AKP.

Protests at the Headquarter of Zaman, in Ankara

Turkey is the country with the highest number of journalists in prisons in the World: 40 journalist, against 35 in Iran, 32 in China, 22 in Eritrea and 18 in Vietnam, following the report of the Committee to protect journalists.

European Union condemned the arrests, conflicting the freedom of press, one of the fundamental value of democracy and of Eu itself. But which are the responsibilities of Eu in the authoritative deviation of Turkey?

There are two main points of view presented in these days. Someone is pointing out how Turkey is not at all "aligned" to the European values and so it is not possible imagine an accession to Eu, now and never. Some others see the current situation as the consequence of a not-choice of the European Institutions about the adhesion of Turkey. 

It is clear that Europe didn't want a powerful Turkey inside their institutions. If Ankara have had entered in the Eu, it would have been the second most populated Country after Germany and the first military force, modifying the fragile balance that is still allowing the existence of the Union itself. 

Even if Europe didn't want a Turkey inside, would it have been possible a stronger relationship with Ankara? Would it have been possible to help the democratization of Turkey and therefore the  stabilization of all the area, where Ankara plays a central role?

But Brussels adopted another positions, well synthesized from the cartoon below, published in 2004 (but always current) by the International Herald Tribune.  A Turkish couple wants to enter in the Eu door and someone on the top of the wall says: "If I open the door, do you promise me not to enter?".

Source: International Herald Tribune (2004)

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