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Victoria Mindova

The Greek economic crisis has evolved from a simple structural difficulty in an ancient Greek drama and its climax could be defined as the decision of former Prime Minister George Papandreou to call a referendum "for" or "against" Greece accepting the financial aid from Europe. The idea has scandalized the tandem Merkel-Sarkozy, who in 2010 made the 16 Member States help the Mediterranean country despite opposition to that cause. All decisions of Europe, on time or delayed, were the result of not just love for the Greek nation, but were made in the name of protecting the monetary union from the domino effect known with the Lehman Brothers in 2008 - one small link in the banking system caused an almost mortal blow to the financial system in the world.

The European leaders have changed the question of the Greek referendum and it became "Shall Greece remain in the euro area or leave it forever?" This turnaround has resulted in a series of social and political events, which in less than 10 days ended with the fall of Papandreou and the formation of a new interim coalition government. The developments in this short period have proved to be the icing on the cake of discontent of the Socialist government, which has made us ask our readers in our usual poll, "What does Greece need?"

The majority of the votes are for the call of all sane people in the country who say that Greece should immediately "fulfill all the obligations under the bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund and Europe" in order to recover as soon as possible and regain its independence. This is the opinion of 61% of the Bulgarian readers and four in ten respondents in the English version of GRReporter. They know that there is no easy road out of the deep trap of large debts and inflated deficits and that change will not come without serious economic deprivation.

Our Greek visitors are not so enthusiastic about the idea of ​​strict implementation of the Memorandum of financial assistance, but this option leads the other possible ones by 35%.

The second most popular answer to the question of what Greece needs is "a government without Papandreou," which has become an axiomatic truth, especially in the last two weeks of his ruling. From the pensioner in the trolley bus, going to buy tomatoes from the neighbourhood market to Obama and Sarkozy, who have agreed that the former Greek Prime Minister is dangerous and perhaps even off course, it has been clear to all that the socialist leader cannot continue to rule. 27% of our Greek readers believe that everything is better than Papandreou in power. This opinion is shared by 12% of the voters in the English version and by only 8% in the Bulgarian.

There are also extreme feelings and a few people consider the idea of ​​a "coup and military junta" as a possible solution to the Greek woes of the past two or three years. This is the opinion of one in five of our Greek readers,  and 15% and 16% respectively of the Bulgarian and English speaking visitors to our site. Apparently, constant strikes, civil unrest, political corruption and non-government by the state have inclined this part of our readers to accept that desperate actions are the only ones that can provide perspective.

Among the last places is the idea of ​​a referendum, which basically is logical, but not especially in the Greek case. Only 11% of the Bulgarian readers have thought that it would be a good idea to hold "a referendum "for" or "against" the country staying in the euro area."  This option has been preferred by 18% of the respondents in our English site and only 3% in the Greek version.  Apparently, our Greek readers are less enthusiastic with the voice of the people and what it could proclaim, for them to take the risk of conducting such a crucial referendum.

The fewest votes are given for the the opportunity of "former King Constantine to return to power " and to come from London as a saviour angel to clean up the mess of new Greece, the main culprits for which are PASOK and New Democracy. The bitter experience of the Bulgarians with the failure of their former majesty Simeon Saxe-Coburg to bring brighter times for Bulgaria makes them sceptical on the subject of kings-salvation. Only 5% of the Bulgarian audience has preferred this option. Braver are our Greek and English-speaking readers, who have trusted this option - respectively 11% and 14%.

Now we invite you to vote in our new poll on What is the future of the euro area?