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The growing protests in Athens, the pressure from the European Union for actually taking drastic measures to cut the budget and raise the taxes, the comments on the millions of euros the European Union taxpayers should pay were the central headlines of Die Presse, Courier, Kronen Zeitung and other media in the Alpine country in June. The negative attitudes towards those who were protesting in the streets "instead of working" prevailed over those who tried to explain that the reasons for this crisis are not only economical but also political. Austrians are not afraid to criticize their government that it agrees to pour money into the troubled Greek treasury continually. Maria Fekter, the first female finance minister of Austria, was accused of spending taxpayers' money without transparency and control. Impatience, anger, fear and mistrust dictated the mood of ordinary people. They felt cheated by the Greeks, the European institutions and by their own politicians.
 
SHORT BREAK IN THE CRISIS
I asked Michaela whether she is convinced that the proposed draconian measures would work in Greece. She thought. "There is no point to raise taxes in a country where tax evasion is clearly their national sport – she concluded.  – But apparently, the Greeks have no choice. They would not make it without that money." The dramatic decision the Greek Parliament took on June 29 to accept the European Union’s proposal as a condition for the granting of new funds was relieving. Kleine Zeitung wrote it would allow Greece to take a little breath.

The President of Austria Heinz Fischer congratulated the Greek Parliament's decision. He warned that the road to the recovery of the Greek finances would be difficult and painful, but thanks to this decision, the crack between Greece and its European partners has been deleted. The statements of the Foreign Minister Spingeler, the Minister of Finance Maria Fekter and the Chancellor Werner Faymann were also positive. Nevertheless, they all stressed that the money itself would not solve the problems of Greece. To get out of the deep quagmire of the crisis, the country should follow a clear strategy and start infrastructure projects. Only now, Michaela does believe that something could change in Greece. She believed that the spending cuts, tax increases and privatization would help Greece to restore.

WHAT ARE WE SAVING?
The question of guilt is hard not only because of the moral aspect, but also because unraveling it brings to the light hidden truths. Is it only Greece to blame for the situation, in which it is currently, or during all these years, major financial institutions, banks and business interests have contributed to the collapse of the country? Why has no one noticed the growing problems in the Greek treasury so many years? What is Austria saving by giving nearly € 2 billion aid – the Greek economy, the Euro or its banking interests in the region?

The fact is that there is no way this crisis to remain within one state and its effect would cause a chain reaction in the neighbouring countries. Much has been written about the German and French investments in the island country to be saved. Assuming the failure of Greece could also severely affect the interests of the Austrian banking sector, although not on a large scale. 16% of the assets of local banks are connected with Eastern Europe and in particular Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.

Our kids finished school and I have not met Michaela soon to continue our talks about politicians, the European Union, the fate of the euro and the emerging from the long crisis. The developments continue, the "Greece" problem has turned into a more serious and painful issue for the future of the European Union, the need to restructure the Union, to introduce financial discipline and centralization. It seems that people's fears are becoming greater and they increasingly distrust the ability of European politicians to cope with the growing crisis. Anonymous author of a comment on an article in Der Standard asked, "We probably got off with a whole skin. But what should we do to be sure that this will not happen again?"Well, it seems that the political elite have to do a lot of thinking. And summer is more than hot.