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Two large and peaceful demonstrations shook Greece over the past week. Their participants neither protested nor caused unrest, breaking the long Greek tradition of violent protests. They just came out in the square outside the Greek parliament in Athens and in several major cities to unite their voices under the slogan "We Stay in Europe."

People of different ages and professions, and supporters of different political parties and ideologies, they became the object of harsh criticism from the supporters of the Greek government and the anti-European forces. According to their criticism, the participants in the pro-European demonstrations are rich people unaffected by the crisis, supporters of the two parties that governed the country during almost the past 40 years and, of course, neoliberals - with all the negativity that the opponents of Europe put in this term.
  
In response to these attacks, Kathimerini newspaper journalist Paschos Mandravelis explains, with arguments, why Greece stays in Europe. GRReporter presents his comment to its readers:

"Greece has chosen to "stay in Europe" since its establishment. This choice was crucial for the survival of the newly established state and for the dividing line between it and the feudalism of the East, from which it escaped. The country made a strategic choice thus standing out among the surrounding countries. Its history may have been turbulent but by choosing to "stay in Europe," it has managed to triple its size, develop more than its neighbours and join the club of powerful countries on the planet, the club that many of its neighbouring countries are still seeking to join.

Greece made its strategic choice 200 years ago. Unfortunately, it experienced a bitter and bloody civil war, but it had the chance not to experience the communist storm. Its neighbours are still struggling with the remnants of authoritarianism that they experienced and ultimately rejected. Yes, between 1950 and 1974, we lived in a crippled democracy, as we define the authoritarian state that followed the civil war but at least we saved ourselves from characters like Ceausescu and Berisha. Our history is not straightforward, from democracy to liberalism (there were dictatorships), but we did not go through the total terror of authoritarian communism, nor did we have a straightforward economic development. We starved, and much more than today at that. Now, amidst the severe crisis, Greece’s children are going abroad to work as doctors and engineers. In Europe, there have never been signs reading, "We will have Greek women soon."

The crisis of the capitalist system, and of Europe, has shown that it is no longer enough for a country to be simply a member of a powerful economic club. Although it has avoided the nightmare of a chaotic bankruptcy (because as a member of the euro zone it has received the largest loan in history), Greece's membership in the euro zone has proved to be insufficient to protect it from all dangers. The country too has to do something to avoid the worst, namely events similar to those that happened in Argentina. Firstly, it must adapt. It is not possible to insist to follow the consumption patterns of the 21st century with the industrial structures of 1960. The loans, EU funding and transfer of skills are not sufficient. Greece must make a choice. Either it will take measures to improve its production structures (this is something that it has always done in its history and can do today) or it will follow the consumption model of the 1960s or even of previous years, the model that its current structures allow it to have.

Today's slogan "We Stay in Europe" is associated neither with national integration nor with the desire of Greeks to become an integral part of the West, which dates back to 200 years ago. It is connected with plain logic. Technology is continuously globalizing the world when we are talking about the movement of capital, people and information. The European experiment is a political attempt that aims to drive national states to respond to these new challenges. Otherwise, I agree! The EU has its flaws, but it is preferable to the possibility of Greece being a lonely feather in the wind of globalization. To say nothing about our country when even Germany is not able to stay on the new world scene.

Therefore, taking part in this new and, let's say, imperfect experiment is vital to the Greek people. Best of all, Europe is democratic, despite the problems. But unlike the Nazi and communist authoritarianism, it allows the possibility of fighting inside it for its improvement. Of course, if only we continue to be part of it...."