Amid migrant crisis, Greeks rediscover a lost sense of self-worth
| Lesbos, Greece
Among the casualties of Greece鈥檚 economic turmoil last summer were bookings at To Kyma, or The Wave, a low-key beachfront restaurant and hotel that looks onto the Aegean Sea on this northern Greek island.
As capital controls were put in place to avoid bankruptcy at the height of the then-crisis, Paris Laoumis says all his reservations were canceled for July and August. And his resentment of Greece being the 鈥減oor partner鈥� of the European Union grew.
And then came the boats. Less than聽10 nautical miles from Turkey, the rush of refugees into Europe came literally to his doorstep, his views of the sea marred by a growing pile of discarded life jackets.
And Mr. Laoumis, like many Greeks, forgot about increased taxes and harsher austerity imposed by the EU. The island鈥檚 fishermen saved lives, and those on shore cared for the children arriving. Everyone played a part.
Laoumis sums up sentiments on Wednesday: 鈥淲e can sleep well at night."
In many ways, frustration at EU policy has grown with the refugee crisis. Greece鈥檚 geography puts it on the front lines, its economy is still reeling, and many say the EU has done too little for the struggling nation. But amid the wave of migration that has hit Greece, something paradoxical has happened: a renewed sense of pride has followed in its wake, something that has been glaringly absent since the nation received its first bailout in 2010.
"Last summer, we were the ones actually blamed for not following the rules. We were the 鈥榖ad boys鈥� of Europe," says Kostas Bakoyannis, the governor of the central region of Greece. He has opened two refugee centers in former hotels in his region. "Now suddenly we are the good boys and girls of Europe. We have been following the rules, and we are asking others to do the same."
Compounded crises
Austerity has led to a half-decade of strikes, increased poverty, and unemployment.聽Up to 60聽percent of youths have no jobs. Greece is currently trying to agree to the terms of its third bailout, worth $98 billion. The leftist Syriza government that campaigned for a debt write-off and an end to austerity has found itself hemmed in by EU demands 鈥� primarily from Germany 鈥� that it continue following a harsh financial prescription or face insolvency.
And as jobs have disappeared, so too has the notion of philotimo, which translates directly into 鈥渓ove of honor,鈥� says Greek historian Thanos Veremis. 鈥淕reeks at the present moment are in total disarray. We have never been so confused as we are now,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you stop being able to help your children do well you are nobody. That is where the true test of philotimo lies,鈥� he says.
The refugee crisis, then, hits Greece at its weakest moment and widened its divide with Europe. The country has been panned by Brussels for its failure to properly process claims or provide livable conditions to asylum seekers. Until new rules were implemented and borders were shut, Greece had relied on waving newcomers onto northern Europe, saying it simply can't cope.
No place has been more overburdened than the island of Lesbos. In a single day last September, 9,725 people arrived 鈥� the island鈥檚 record, says mayoral spokesman聽Marios Andriotis, and one that rivals the pace at Ellis Island. [Editor's note: The original version misspelled Mr. Andriotis's last name.]
In Lesbos, while nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers have booked hotels and dine in restaurants 鈥� for the first time ever, Laoumis鈥檚 restaurant has stayed open through the winter 鈥� other longer-term forms of tourism are down, says Giannis Samiotis, president of the Association of Tourist Agencies in Lesbos. Charter flights have dropped by 60 percent. Just one third of the usual cruise liners are planning on docking here this season, he says.
鈥淭hey have left Greeks to deal with this problem alone,鈥� complains Ignatius Psiouxlos, as he loads 170-lb. bags of olives from a grove in the mountains above the sea 鈥� the main source of income for Lesbos 鈥� into a truck to be pressed. 鈥淚t is not our problem. Look at our unemployment rate. First we must help our people, and after that the refugees.鈥�
Restoring philotimo
But it has also led to a fury of activism, from community kitchens to volunteer life-guarding across Lesbos, restoring something fundamental to Greeks: precisely their聽philotimo, Mr. Andriotis says.
鈥淚 believe that the way we have managed the crisis represents the core European values of solidarity, of respecting human rights, of supporting people who need it,鈥澛燗ndriotis says. 鈥淲e as Greeks are considered to not do too much work, that we depend on other people鈥檚 money, we are lazy 鈥β犅燭his is an example of how people with severe financial problems respond to a large-scale humanitarian crisis. 鈥� And it shows exactly the Greek philotimo.鈥�
Lesbos has mobilized in part because residents are sitting right in the middle of it, says聽Stratis Valiamos, a fishermen at聽the northern port of聽Skala Sikamineas, whose boat sits just a few yards from Laoumis鈥檚 restaurant.
On a recent sunny morning, as he untangles his net with his father-in-law, Mr. Valiamos talks reluctantly about the people he鈥檚 rescued in the past ten years, including those he鈥檚 had to jump in the water to save 鈥� earning him, as part of a group, a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 鈥� and those he has seen drown. He does not consider himself a hero.聽聽鈥淎nyone who would encounter the same situation would help,鈥� he says.
Many say he is just being humble 鈥� and in fact embodies a spirit of openness born from Greece's history of emigration and its experience with forced immigration.聽Skala Sikamineas, a tiny, picture-pretty port on Lesbos' northern coast, in fact started as a refugee camp 鈥� after Greeks were expelled from Asia Minor during a failed military intervention in 1922.聽
鈥淭his experience has created a footprint in Greek minds,鈥� says Sotiris Chtouris, a sociology professor at the University of the Aegean in Lesbos.
Part of an openness to refugees in Greek society also lies in the reality that Greece has been merely a transit country to more prosperous nations like Germany or Sweden. That鈥檚 why their "neo-Nazi" party Golden Dawn hasn鈥檛 been able to capitalize on the crisis as the far right has elsewhere in Europe. Right聽now migrants are stuck in Greece only because Macedonia closed its borders.
鈥淕reeks are suffering from six years, she cannot stand on her own, we know that,鈥� says聽Mohammed Ali, who arrived聽from Syria in March and spent the month translating for volunteers at the main port of Athens. Many migrants preferred to stay in tents at the port than move to asylum centers far away 鈥渂ecause people are afraid about being forgotten in Greece,鈥� he says.
'Accidentally prepared'
Greece鈥檚 financial troubles have, unwittingly, trained them to respond to the refugee crisis. Communal kitchens emerged in Athens in 2011, and the activists behind the solidarity movements that sprouted across the country have now adopted the concept for refugees on the island.
鈥淲e were accidentally prepared for this,鈥� says Stratis Nikolaou, who is volunteering to feed asylum seekers at a municipal camp on Lesbos, as he stirs a giant metal pot of lamb stew, asking onlookers to smile at it so that it tastes good.
It's also caused new thinking about their place in Europe.
Despite all their frustrations at their economic plight, Greeks in their majority have always wanted to remain within the EU. Their 鈥渘o鈥� vote in last year's referendum, they say, was not a rejection of the EU but a vote fueled by anger, exasperation, and no small degree of humiliation 鈥� as the heirs of the founders of European civilization on the brink of being cast aside by it. Few thought it meant they鈥檇 eventually be kicked out of the eurozone, but their vote was risky, underscoring exasperation with the European project.
On one hand that gap has grown. Europe has finally shifted attention to Greece's migrant crisis, but only to implement its controversial EU-Turkey deal to deport those back who arrive and don鈥檛 get asylum. Mr. Nikolaou, who voted "no" in the referendum, believed in the EU but says Wednesday it has gone 鈥渙ff the tracks, away from its original ideals.鈥�
On the other hand, it has shown Greeks' age-old interdependence with Europe. At the ground level of crisis, it's simply brought more Europeans together. NGOs and volunteers from across Europe have converged on Lesbos to help Greece cope. Stavros Mirogiannis, who retired from the Greek military, runs a camp for migrants that he calls his 鈥渧illage鈥� 鈥� in fact he eschews the word 鈥渞efugee鈥� or 鈥渕igrant鈥� in favor of 鈥渧isitors.鈥�
鈥淲elcome to my village, my island, Greece, and Europe,鈥� he says cheerfully. 鈥淲e consider ourselves here the ambassadors for Europe.鈥�
Politically, Governor Bakoyannis says the refugee crisis has also served to improve what was arguably the most contentious relationship in the EU. 鈥淭he refugee crisis has actually helped strengthen Greek-German relations,鈥� he says. 鈥淕ermans and Greeks are in the same boat.鈥�
'The best Europeans'
Chtouris, the academic in Lesbos, says that the refugee crisis has reinforced the notion that Greece and the EU belong together, like a family.
鈥淪ometimes members of the family are not behaving well,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ometimes they show their bad face鈥� Europe is now showing the dark side of the EU. They are not supporting us but only asking us to implement regulations, from a country that is on its knees. At the same time, we have to stay in this family. There is nowhere to go.鈥�
He recently returned from Idomeni at Greece鈥檚 northern border with his spirits renewed. Volunteers from across Greece and Europe were there helping thousands of migrants stuck behind a Macedonian barrier. 鈥淭hese are the best Europeans,鈥� one of the volunteers remarked to him.
And he agrees. 鈥淚 think this is a light for Europe,鈥� he says.
This was part 1 of Who is 'Europe'?, a weekly series on how European natives and residents are responding to pressures from terrorism, migration, nationalism, and the 'European project.' See all of the stories on the series homepage.
