The Economist - USA (2022-05-21)

TheEconomistMay21st 2022 Europe 51

G

reece’scentre-rightgovernment

hasdonea finejobofpolishingits

imagewithtouristsandinvestorssince

KyriakosMitsotakistookoverasprime

ministerin2019.Thecountry’sancient

heritage,notleasttheinventionofde­

mocracy,playsa bigroleinthemessag­

ing.Butjustasinthefifthcenturybc,

freedomofspeechmatterstoo.

Greecetumbled 38 placesthisyearin

theWorldPressFreedomIndexpub­

lishedbyReportersWithoutBorders

(rwb), anngobasedinParis.Ranking

108th(outof180),theGreeksforthefirst

timelaggedbehindallothereucountries

aswellastheirBalkanneighbours.

A tweaktothepenalcodelastyear

makingjournalists,editorsandpub­

lishersliabletoa prisontermforspread­

ingfakenewsisonereasonfortheIca­

rus­likeplummet.Anotheristheun­

solvedmurderofGiorgosKaraivaz,an

investigativereportergunneddown

morethana yearagooutsidehishome.

Themostrecentcauseforconcernis

thesurveillancein 2020 and 2021 of

ThanasisKoukakis,a financialeditor

probingpossiblecollusionbetweenlocal

bankersaccusedofwrongdoingand

publicprosecutorsandjudges.TheCiti­

zenLab,a Canadiancyber­watchdog,has

confirmedthatMrKoukakis’smobile

phonewasinfectedlastyearwithPreda­

tor,a hackingsoftwaremadebyCytrox,

anIsraeli­ownedcompanybasedin

NorthMacedonia.Thesoftwareissimi­

lartoPegasus,theIsraelispywareac­

quiredbyvariousrepressivegovern­

mentstoeavesdroponactivistsand

otherpoliticians.Thegovernment’s

spokesmaninsiststhattheGreekau­

thoritieshavenotusedit,andhasalso

questionedthemethodologyemployed

byrwbincompilingitsindex.

Thereareotherworries.Statehand­

outstocash­strappedwebsitesand

newspapersarerestrictedtopro­govern­

mentmedia,saysrwb; reporterscover­

ing”pushbacks”ofrefugeesfromAegean

islandsbytheGreekcoastguardareoften

harassed;journalistscomplainofbeing

bulliedonthephonebyaidesinthe

primeminister’soffice.

Thefree­speechrowisundermining

thegovernment’simpressiveachieve­

mentselsewhere.Touristsarenowflock­

ingbackaftera two­yeargapowingto

covid­19.Greeceattracteda record€5bn

($5.3bn)offoreigninvestmentlastyear,

withAmazonandMicrosoftamongthe

big­namefirmssettinguparoundthe

capital.Andthecashisstartingtoflow

fromGreece’s€31bnshareoftheeu’s

covid­recoveryfund.Anunhampered

presshasa crucialparttoplayinmaking

sureallthatcashisspentfairlyandwell.

Greece

Hemlockfor hacks

ATHENS

Rowsoverpressfreedomovershadowthegovernment’sachievements

Lessthanfree

cumbent  state  premier,  was  dancing  and
chanting along.
Mr  Wüst’s  landslide  surprised  every­
one.  In  the  last  polls  before  the  vote  the
cdu and the Social Democratic Party (spd)
were neck­and­neck. Yet the cduended up
fully  nine  percentage  points  ahead,  with
35.7%  compared  with  26.7%  for  the  spd.
The  other  big  winners  were  the  Greens,
who tripled their share of the vote to 18.2%;
the other big loser was the free­market Free
Democratic  Party  (fdp),  which  saw  its
share  halve,  to  just  under  6%,  compared
with the election in 2017. 
The result is the second painful setback
on  consecutive  weekends  for  Olaf  Scholz,
Germany’s  chancellor,  who  campaigned
hard for Thomas Kutschaty, the spdcandi­
date  for  premier  innrw.  On  May  8th  the
spdsuffered  a  humiliating  defeat  at  state
elections  in  Schleswig­Holstein,  taking
only 16% of the votes, the worst result in its
history in the state (the fdpalso lost votes,
whereas the Greens won big). But the state
election  in  nrw is  far  more  significant
than Schleswig­Holstein’s becausenrwis
the state with the biggest economy and the
highest number of inhabitants, with a fifth
of the entire population of Germany. 
“This will unsettle the Ampel coalition,”
says  Stefan  Marschall  of  Düsseldorf  Uni­
versity,  referring  to  the  “traffic­light”  alli­
ance Mr Scholz heads at the federal level of
the  spd,  fdpand  Greens.  The  Greens  will
be even more self­confident after such suc­
cess in two state elections. And the fdpis
likely to be more prickly, after faring poor­
ly twice in a row. As for Mr Scholz, his au­
thority  at  the  head  of  his  unwieldy  co­
alition  is  certain  to  have  been  dented.
Some analysts are already referring to him
as a one­term chancellor.
The Greens have been the great benefi­
ciaries  of  the  Ampel alliance.  Annalena
Baerbock, the Green foreign minister, and
Robert Habeck, the Green economy minis­
ter  and  vice­chancellor,  are  more  popular
than either Mr Scholz or Christian Lindner,
the  finance  minister,  who  is  leader  of  the
fdp. Yet the Greens’ jubilation about their
success in nrwhas been muted. “They un­
derstand  the  explosive  power  of  the  elec­
tion  result,”  says  Klaus  Schubert  of  Mün­

ster University. The coalition needs to ben­

efit all three parties if it is to hold together.

Mr  Lindner,  who  hails  from  nrwand

led the local fdpat state elections there in

2012 and 2017, said the result was a “disas­

trous defeat” for his party. For a while the

fdp even worried that it might not win 5%

of the vote, the hurdle that must be crossed

to secure any seats in the state parliament

at all. The party has been the junior partner

in Mr Wüst’s governing coalition. But Joa­

chim Stamp, the local fdpleader, failed to

excite voters.

The Greens are now the kingmakers in

nrw, since the cduand fdpno longer have

enough  seats  to  continue  their  governing

alliance.  They  could  join  forces  with  the

spdand  the  fdpfor  a  local  version  of  the

nationalAmpelcoalition;  or  form  a  red­

green government. Yet most observers ex­

pect the Greens will team up with thecdu,

again the largest party in the state. Hessen

and  Baden­Württemberg  are  both  run  by

cdu­Green  coalitions—and  Schleswig­

Holstein  may  be  about  to  get  one,  says

Frank Decker of Bonn University. The least

likely potential government is a grand co­

alition  of  thebattered  spd and  the  cdu.

Both partieshavesignalled little interest in

such a combo.n

More pain, no gain

Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia

State-election results, % of list vote by party

Source: North Rhine-Westphalia state returning ocer

2017

2022

100806040200

CDU SPD Greens FDP AfD

Others