Elisa Mallis herself of Greek origins, offers her views from her current home in China, mentioning her recent visit to Greece, giving her a real in depth exposure to the latest rounds of developments and the various reactions of the Greek people. She sums up below her perspective:
“I feel that a unified Europe is the priority and the best outcome for all European member states and the world as a whole. Forming the European Union has been one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments in the modern era. The ideals that founded the European Union are still very relevant and perhaps putting more real focus on them would help to resolve some of the conflict. From a European perspective it is clear that greater fiscal reform is needed to provide more common governance across European member states, e.g. perhaps a common department of treasury. Having a common currency without enough common fiscal and regulatory policy is a big part of what led us to where we are.
I believe hyper-nationalism has been another barrier to coming up with better solutions much sooner, especially over the last few months.
On the Greek side, in addition to being inexperienced the current Syriza government lacks global mindset and international exposure. The government used insular tactics to gain support of the Greek people, fuelling a hyper-nationalist sentiment, which I believe has been destructive.
On the German side, the stance seems to have become tougher and again we can see strong insular and hyper-nationalistic sentiment and behaviours.
For a unified Europe, we must see ourselves first as Europeans and then as Germans, Greeks, Spanish, Italian, Danish, etc. Seeing ourselves first as Europeans means that we can really see beyond national interests and collaborate fully to find what is in the best interest of Europe and as a result for each part of Europe. I believe this shift in mindset would lead to many positive changes for Europe as a whole, including all the member states it is made up of.”