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Anastasia Balezdrova

The last week before the early parliamentary elections in Greece began with the news that Belgium had requested Athens to extradite a man apprehended on Saturday, who had supposedly led the group of jihadists that had planned the attacks in Brussels. The issue of terrorism was one of the main topics at today's first meeting of the year of the foreign ministers of the European Union member states.

About 10 days earlier, Greece had experienced its terrorist saga with the apprehension of terrorist and executioner of the group "17 November" Christodoulos Xiros, who was arrested a year after he had not returned to Korydallos prison having been granted a leave by the prison administration.

The topic inevitably became part of the election debate and New Democracy accused SYRIZA of not firmly condemning terrorism and the actions of the participants in various groups that organize assassinations and attacks against various targets. At the same time, the representatives of the party that all polls consider as a certain winner have called for the closure of special police squads such as the riot forces.

The pre-election promises, the probable outcome of the vote and the attitude of SYRIZA towards law enforcement forces and terrorism were the issues that GRReporter discussed with Greek commentator Kostis Lympouridis.

Mr. Lympouridis, SYRIZA is leading in all polls. Do you think the outcome of the elections will allow the party to form a separate office? If this is not possible, which parties could become its coalition partners?

The situation is very unstable. SYRIZA is actually leading in the polls but not with the margin reported in previous polls. I think this is because some "underground" social currents will join New Democracy at the last minute. Therefore, the difference between the two parties will decrease due to the fears of the uncertainty with which SYRIZA is describing the day after the elections. I would not exclude the probability of having a repeat of the events of the year 2000, when even the exit polls showed a victory for New Democracy but ultimately PASOK won the elections. What I mean is that I do not exclude New Democracy narrowly winning, despite the opposing expectations, and of course, on condition that it fails to strengthen the currents that I previously described. If ultimately SYRIZA wins the probability of the party being able to form a separate office will depend on how many of the smaller parties will remain outside parliament. The polarization in recent days shows that it will be difficult for SYRIZA to win the necessary majority but not impossible.

We see that the so-called Grexit (the exit of Greece from the euro zone - author’s note) remains one of the main issues in the global press and the analyses of commentators. How are the fears of Greece's exit from the euro zone grounded?

Personally, I think that the fears are fully justified. They are based on a logical analysis, not on an emotional judgment. When the party that is leading in the polls is saying that it will not respect the commitments of the country in relation to the management of the government debt, when it is promising everything to everyone, stating that it will cut taxes and credits, the logical analysis shows that these actions require huge amounts of money that nobody intends to provide - neither the financial markets, nor taxpayers nor other countries. The logical result of this is to try to cover the government debt in alternative ways, the most probable being the payment with a government bond, drachma, etc., or in a way that will take Greece out from the tight monetary policy of the European single currency and will push it into the abyss of inflation and devaluation.

Is a change in the concept of combating terrorism and in terms of the security forces possible on the part of a probable SYRIZA government?

No one can foresee this and I will tell you why. Local terrorism has left roots and it is likely to be at a standstill until the attitude towards it on the part of a leftist government is clear.

On the other hand, SYRIZA is saying it is against the excessive police presence. This can lead to negative events in the prevention and fight against "imported" or international terrorism, especially if the policy of SYRIZA jeopardizes the cooperation of the Greek authorities with those of our western partners.

What will the main criterion be that will affect the votes of the Greek electorate?

The majority of Greeks usually vote based on their narrow personal (family, corporate, etc.) interest. It is very difficult for them to assess what the common good is, so that it can predetermine their vote. On the other hand, they need to believe that they vote "for the people" or "nation". Thus, in many cases, the elections are won by parties that make promises to many people, beautifully "packaging" them before that, in order to present them as actions in the interest of the country.

Which parties will be able to enter the next parliament in your opinion?

Based on data from the polls conducted to date, I believe the parties that will enter the next parliament are SYRIZA, New Democracy, Golden Dawn, Potami, the Communist Party of Greece and PASOK, probably in that order. Independent Greeks probably will be able to cross the 3% threshold of the votes too. I think that the newly formed Movement of Socialist Democrats (the party of former Prime Minister George Papandreou - author’s note) will win just under 3% of the votes and will not enter parliament.