EU playing dangerous game over Greece: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Brent Budowsky, a columnist for The Hill in Washington, to discuss the EU creditors' plan offered over Greece’s third bailout deal.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Now that the Greek government has agreed to the demands of its creditors, why now excessive demands that we are seeing to the point where it looks like a bad deal?

Budowsky: Well I think the Europeans in particular the Germans are playing a very dangerous game and in my view a very wrong game. Tsipras went to a referendum with the people of Greece in a democratic election voted against austerity and even after that he was willing to accept austerity and he went very far in accepting austerity and as soon as he did the Europeans led by the Germans wanted even more which I think is a terrible economic mistake. I think it is terrible economic policy when you have depression which is what Greece is going through. That is not the moment to impose brutal and ugly and aggressive austerity.

So I hope there is some kind of a bail-out arrangement. Personally I have called for writing-off the step for more of a debt. After the Second World War when Germany gave the world Adolf Hitler and all the murder and destruction he caused, even then the German debt was largely forgiven. So they should have a little bit of a historical memory. Germany’s prosperity is because their debt was forgiven. The Marshall Plan funded particularly by the United States rebuilt Germany and then we supported their defense which they did not have to spend much on for 34 years. So they should be a little more reasonable and a lot more generous towards the Greeks. I hope a deal is worked out but it is a horrendously, stupid economic policy to be imposing austerity on a country – Greece - in the middle of a depression, even more than what the Greeks have already agreed to do which is a lot.

Press TV: Speaking of these excessive demands despite those austerity measures that Greece has agreed to implement, many are interpreting either as a way of the troika of lenders to humiliate Greece and punish it for even daring to ask for an alternative route or as a coup attempt to remove Tsipras and Syriza from power. How do you interpret it?

Budowsky: I interpret it as reactionary economic policy, overbearing and hostile economic policy and terrible economic policy. Now I am not a conservative, I am not a banker and I do not agree with what conservatives and bankers in many cases do economically. I stand with Pope Francis who has been talking about these issues including criticizing lenders very aggressively, the Pope just did when he was in Latin America over the last three or four days.

So I think what is going on is a reactionary policy by people who are not conservative and I also believe sometimes the Germans can be overbearing and I have seen that throughout history. I think they need to be wise. I hope President Hollande stands up as strongly as he can against some of the more extreme measures and I think it certainly is humiliating, intended or not, and even worse when people are suffering and hungry and poor and jobless. It is monumentally immoral and stupid at that point to keep asking for more and more and more austerity.

You want reform in Greece absolutely. You have to have some austerity in Greece and that is what Tsipras has agreed to but to keep asking for more, whatever their motive is horrendously wrong and horrendously bad economic policy. History teaches when countries are in a depression the worst thing you could do is impose even more austerity on top of the depression because people are really suffering. They are not the ones who caused the problem, the ones who are suffering in Greek society and so there has to be both generosity and common sense and I think that the Pope is right about the bankers and the financial system and chancellor Merkel is wrong and I hope Europe comes to its senses and does not create a crisis in Europe which has enough troubles even before and beyond the Greek problem.

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