Other Europeans say they can’t trust Greece. The problem goes both ways.

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July 12, 2015

Yet again, Greece is in last ditch negotiations with other European states in the euro zone, the group of countries that share the common currency, over a proposed deal in which it would promise reforms in return for economic help. It has made an offer that gives in to nearly all of the demands that other Europeans were making a couple of weeks ago – but some of these other states are saying that this is no longer enough. What’s happening?

Other euro-zone states are saying that they can’t trust Greece

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has complained that “[t]he situation is extremely difficult if you consider the economic situation in Greece and the worsening in the last few months, but what has been lost also in terms of trust and reliability.” This echoes what a lot of other Europeans are saying – that Greece simply cannot be trusted to deliver on its end of any deal. On one hand, northern Europeans see the Greek state as weak, corrupt and unable to deliver on promised reforms. On the other, they distrust this particular government, which they see as having negotiated in bad faith, sometimes making promises that it can’t deliver on, and sometimes making crazy and insulting threats.

But it’s not clear that Greece can trust other E.U. states either

Greece could equally argue that it’s other states in the European Union aren’t especially trustworthy. First, the euro zone, like the Greek state, is collectively weak. It is composed of different countries with different interests, any one of which could decide to block a deal (except under circumstances of emergency). It has a habit of making things up as it goes along (for example, blocking Greek participation during a crucial meeting on legally dubious grounds). It too has been inconsistent in its negotiations with Greece and indeed other European countries, as witnessed by its reluctance to accept a deal that it had effectively been trying to force down Greece’s throat a couple of weeks ago. And key members, such as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, seem willing to float threatening ideas that seem just as crazy in their own way as anything that Greek politicians have proposed.

Read the full piece at The Washington Post