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Anastasia Balezdrova

The critical comments on the coalition that will rule Greece after the elections on 25 January began immediately after the meeting between Alexis Tsipras and leader of Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos. The fact that he was the one to announce to the media that Greece already has a government provoked quite a lot negative responses.

The composition of the new Greek government, however, has flooded the social networks with comments and criticism, because the coalition of two quite different parties has created concerns about sharp changes in Greece’s international politics and orientation.

While SYRIZA consists of left and far left groups, Independent Greeks is a populist party with very conservative, and in some cases quite extreme, views and the only thing that connects it to the far-left SYRIZA is the rejection of the current austerity policy and the rhetoric against the lenders of Greece.

However, the differences between them are many and are associated with important issues, including the management of illegal immigration, the relations with neighbouring countries such as Turkey, the position regarding the name of Macedonia, gay marriage and the role of the Greek Orthodox Church.

In addition, shortly before the elections, Panos Kammenos did not fail to intensify the anti-Semitic attitudes among his followers, saying that Jews in Greece are paying lower taxes compared to the other residents.

Equally important is the position of the party that Greece must strengthen its relations with Russia at the expense of those with the European Union. After yesterday's reaction of Prime Minister Tsipras and new Minister of Foreign Nikos Kotzias regarding the probability of the European Union imposing new sanctions on Russia because of Ukraine it became clear that SYRIZA shares the same views.

The question that preoccupies Greek voters and the entire European public, and not only, is how this so controversial coalition will rule. GRReporter sought a response from two leading analysts, namely political scientist and commentator Eftichis Vardoulakis and Kostis Lympouridis.

According to Eftichis Vardoulakis, there is a balance inside the government, because all social and political currents that supported SYRIZA are represented in it, the one that originates from PASOK being represented the least. "It is not clear how they will work together, as the party has not yet established a culture of coexistence between such diverse personalities. In addition, the presence of three government ministers, two deputy ministers of agriculture and the expanded economic team could create problems regarding the coordination of the work of the government."

"There is one criterion for its performance, namely managing the economy," the political scientist said and explained why, "The new government has promised things that are directly related to the public funds. If there is no money in them, all the promises will remain hanging in the air. Furthermore, SYRIZA received support from voters who expected "nothing to happen" and that the radical left "will turn upside down its campaign promises," and "we will continue roughly in the same direction, but without the politicians who are to our disgust."

The biggest mistake that the government of SYRIZA can make is to believe that the election victory means a turn in the orientation of Greek society. It exists only in the persistent fantasies and obsessions of some of the party’s representatives. If it attempts to tackle the most important problems of the economy under the rules of strategic orientation, not of governmental realism, it will lose control over the situation very soon.

Kostis Lympouridis in turn is clear that the Greeks cannot expect anything better from their new rulers. He focuses on the ideological differences between the coalition partners SYRIZA and Independent Greeks, and believes that the alliance between them was agreed before Sunday's vote. According to the commentator, the new Greek cabinet will confront the European Union and will change the geopolitical orientation of Greece to Russia.

"The new government did not start well at all. Those citizens who voted for SYRIZA with the expectation that the radical left would not implement its crazy election promises have already been refuted.

The fact that SYRIZA has chosen the Independent Greeks party as a coalition partner without holding any talks with other parties shows that the decision had been taken in advance. Under normal conditions, a left-wing party would not choose as a government partner a party from the so-called "patriotic right", which has frequently expressed xenophobic and anti-Semitic positions, and positions based on the theory of global conspiracy and to which it is connected only through the confrontation with the Memorandum of financial assistance. This choice is the first sign that the government will not turn to reality, which many people in Greece were expecting, but will take a firm, absolutely utopian stance.

The composition of the cabinet makes the picture even worse. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has immediately shown that the government is preparing for a frontal collision with the European Union and has an inclination towards Russia. Changing the established geopolitical orientation would lead to dramatic consequences for Greece. It seems that the new Greek government perceives the commitment of Greece to the West and Western values as "euro slavery".