Officials of the European Union have announced they will delay making a decision on an $11 billion installment of a bailout loan to Greece until October. International relations professor Vivien Schmidt is a long-time EU watcher and author of Policy Change and Discourse in Europe. She offers the following comment:
“This is a very dangerous game that the EU leaders are playing.
“The problem is that the brinksmanship with regard to the second Greek bailout is not a calculated decision to try to squeeze more out of Greece while appeasing national publics in, say, Finland or Germany. Rather, it is the same muddling through that has caused the fear in the markets.
“My best guess is that the markets will respond as they have to the slow responses and lack of leadership, by continuing to bet against the weakest members of the eurozone.”
Contact Schmidt at 617-358-1092; vschmidt@bu.edu
