“Sad how those politicians / bureaucrats live in a bubble. Greece is trapped in a debt spiral. The only way they can serve their debt is by taking up even more debt. And it borrows at a higher rate than other countries, so its problems are getting exponentially worse. Ironically the biggest lenders are Spain, France and Italy (plus Germany). These countries also borrow at a high rate because they are in deep s**t too. But at least they lend to Greece at an ever high rate. So as long as Greece pays, these countries make a few percent interest arbitrage. But the moment Greece does not pay, Spain, France and Italy are f***ed because ... well, it's like cousin borrows 100 eur for uncle, promise to pay back 105. Cousin then lends to baby brother who promises to pay back 110. Cousin would make 5 eur if brother pays back, otherwise loose a whopping 105! And the tragedy of it all is that Greece have to pay back euros that don't yet exist. New money is created as Greek debt so in effect the Greeks are slaves of North-Western Europe. The Baltic countries are actually pretty much outside this debt ponzi. This is why they are recovering and Greece is not. Unfortunately Euro membership means they need to take up debt so they also lend to Greece (It's called Europen Stability Mechanism - a bit misleading to say the least). The Baltics are becoming the cousin in the example above.”