According to Zoe Georganta, Professor of the University of Macedonia and until recently member of the board of directors of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (EL.STAT.), the data presented in 2009 concerning the country’s deficit were false and Greece entered the EFSF for no particular reason at all.
Mrs. Georganta described a power triangle among Director General of Eurostat Walter Rademacher, former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou and President of EL.STAT. Andreas Georgiou, which made the country’s deficit appear in papers at 15.5% – in fact it exceed by far even Ireland’s deficit – in order to allow the imposition of the harsh EU/IMF austerity measures.
“We are under a new type of German occupation. I used to think Mr. Papaconstantinou was incorruptible and upright but the bitter truth is he kneeled under the German pressure. Unfortunately, Mr. Venizelos seems to follow the same path as his predecessor” said Mrs. Georganta.
All this aimed at rendering Greece weak and unable to resist the austerity programme while the general goal of presenting a higher deficit was to paint a much more gloomy picture of the situation the newly elected government had to face in order to make up for mistakes made in the past.
The Professor also claimed that she had been trying to inform both PM Giorgos Papandreou and President of the Parliament Filippos Petsalnikos on the false deficit data but never received any answer to her reports.
These accusations have caused quite a stir in all political circles with the opposition party, Nea Demokratia, asking for immediate investigation of the scandal.
Mr. Papaconstantinou defied Mrs. Georganta’s reliability and insisted on the credibility and accuracy of the processes followed and the results extracted by EUROSTAT and EL.STAT.
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