So, what does it take to be a true liberal reformer?
Although liberal reforms are crucial for Greece, they are not adequate. For a government to be genuinely liberal, it must uphold the rule of law.
On February 15, Greece became the 16th country in the European Union to recognize same-sex marriage and parenthood, making it the first Christian Orthodox country to do so. The law received support from two-thirds of the conservative majority and the leadership of the four left-wing parties.
Although the law was passed by 175 out of 300 MPs, it was a hard-won victory due to fierce opposition from three small far-right parties, the Communist Party of Greece, and former conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Even MPs from the socialist-democratic Pasok and the two radical leftist parties chose not to support the bill. Their main argument was that Greek society is divided on same-sex marriage, and a clear majority opposes gay parenting.
The new legislation was passed because Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a pro-European moderate liberal who holds a dominant position in Greek politics. This allows him to spend political capital without fear of alienating his conservative electoral base. Mitsotakis and his young liberal ministers and associates have even defied the powerful Greek Orthodox Church. The latter chose to penalize the government and parliament by discouraging members who voted for the law from attending religious ceremonies. It is hoped that this reaction will expedite the process of separating church and state.
On March 8, another battle against illiberalism was fought. The Greek constitution prohibits the establishment of private universities (even non-profit!), but Mitsotakis and his popular education minister, Kyriakos Pierakakis, decided to circumvent it. They used a “dynamic interpretation” of Article 16 of the Greek Constitution, which is notorious for its paternalistic conservatism, to pass a new Greek law that permits foreign universities to establish non-profit educational branches in Greece. The leading Greek constitutional law scholars support this circumvention, but the reaction, this time, was passionate. The Greek left is concerned about losing its sole remaining stronghold in Greek society, where it maintains control through a combination of patronage, manipulation, and, if necessary, violence. Thus, some professors and students on the left support a constitutional rule, even though it reflects the illiberal ideals on higher education of the Greek postwar right-wing authoritarian state.
Greek society, fed up with the situation in Greek public universities, which are deplorable in several respects, welcomed the new law. But the faculty and student representative bodies, which are controlled by the radical left (and thus most professors and students do not care to participate in them), fought it to the very end. The result was that many schools in Greek universities were occupied by fringe groups, following decisions made by no more than 5% of the student body. Several institutions, such as the University of Athens (which has already signed cooperation agreements with Harvard and the Sorbonne), decided to use Webex to administer exams and organize online lectures. This decision was met with a militant reaction: a small group of students and administrators tried to occupy the university’s servers in order to cut off the university community’s connection to the Internet! They only managed to shut down the server for 75 minutes. Fortunately, the university’s reaction was stronger than expected – considering that in 2012 the University was cut off from the Internet for several days, while its leadership tolerated these violent acts.
When the most ardent opponents of the law realized that their defeat was inevitable, they behaved in the same way as the opponents of same-sex marriage and parenting. They fought a rearguard action by indulging in dark jeremiads. The sad fact is that a large part of the Greek academic community has shamelessly defended such a blatant infringement on academic freedom for many years and still holds an irrational fear for any hint of competition in the academy.
However, while the two new laws recognize rights for the first time, they do not necessarily make Greece a model of liberal democracy.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his government, despite their recent liberal credentials (which include an impressive rise in Greece’s ranking in the Economist’ Democracy Index), were recently accused by the European Parliament of developments that threaten the rule of law. This seems an oxymoron, but it is not: it has always been extremely difficult not to abuse political power in a country with more extractive than inclusive institutions. The European Parliament’s criticism is not unjustified. There are indeed serious problems with media pluralism; national security agencies have been used to wiretap political opponents; there are serious allegations (by major international media and NGOs) of systematic repression of migrants; the police regularly use excessive force and appear to be infiltrated by elements of organized crime. Furthermore, one year following a severe train accident in central Greece, the majority of the Greek Parliament is being accused of obstructing the investigation by shielding its members. The Greek authorities have even been accused by the EU Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi, of obstructing her own investigation into the train accident.
The European Parliament resolution was drafted by members of the Syriza party, which had themselves attempted to distort the rule of law, corrupt the judiciary, eliminate political opponents, and control the media while in government. This raises concerns about the state of rule of law in Greece over time. Additionally, those who are now protesting against the government’s transgressions, remained silent when Syriza attempted to take over liberal democracy. Similarly, those who were then vocal against Syriza are now voiceless. This hypocrisy and double standards are indicative of the absence of a civil society that has internalized the norms of a liberal democracy and an open society. Public debate is frequently dominated by partisans who use the principles of the rule of law as a tool to exhaust their political opponents, rather than being genuinely interested in upholding it.
Nevertheless, to attribute this criticism to the European left is either a grave error or an outright evasion. According to the annual Human Freedom Index, which presents the state of human freedom in the world based on the extent of personal, civil and economic liberties, Greece ranks 25th out of 27 EU countries surveyed in 2021. This report is published by the two major classical liberal think tanks, the Cato Institute (USA) and the Fraser Institute (Canada). According to a policy brief [in Greek] published this week by the Athens-based Center for Liberal Studies - Markos Dragoumis (KEFiM), which is the Greek partner of Cato and Fraser, Greece is only two rankings from the bottom of 27 EU countries in terms of human freedoms [Note to the reader: I am affiliated with KEFiM as a member of its academic board]. Greece ranks low in both the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report and the WJP Rule of Law Index. [Note to the reader: I am contributing as an expert for both rankings].
The Greek government responded to the EU Parliament resolution and any other attempt to identify shortcomings in the state of the rule of law in Greece in a manner typical of governments: by criticizing the critics. This was a big mistake, because the resolution was adopted by European political groups that are consistently friendly to Greece. To make matters worse, the Greek Supreme Court as well as leading judges accused the European Parliament and the EU prosecutor of interfering with Greek justice. They do not seem to realize that this type of response from the judiciary is a symptom of the problem and confirms the criticism.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis has led Greece towards political normalization and re-integration into the European Union. He has been rewarded with electoral victories, while his opponents have suffered crushing defeats. However, his legacy as a liberal reformer will depend on how he addresses the serious issues raised in the European Parliament resolution and whether he respects the fundamental principles of the rule of law during his tenure.