greece - Index of

18
INTRODUCING MAINLAND GREECE
Barrels in the Achaïa Klauss winery at Pátra
the norm, with professional brass
plates alternating with personal bellbuzzer
tags in any apartment block.
There is a tenacious adherence,
despite repeated campaigns against it,
to the long afternoon siesta. As a
result, some workers have to
endure commuting twice a day.
With EU membership since 1981
and a nominally capitalist orientation,
Greece has now overcome its
resemblance to pre-1989 Eastern
Europe. The state no longer invests
heavily in antiquated industries nor is
the civil service of today overstaffed
as part of a full-employment policy.
Instead, recent years have seen a
number of improvements: loss-
making state enterprises have been
sold off, inflation has dipped to
single figures for the first time since
1973 and interest rates have fallen.
However, the drachma suffered on
entry to the ERM and unemployment
remains stubbornly high. Tourism
ranks as the largest hard-currency
earner, offsetting the depression in
world shipping and the fact that
Mediterranean agricultural products
are duplicated within the
EU. Greece’s historically lenient
entry requirements for refugees, and
its pre-eminent status in the Balkans,
have made it a magnet for Arabs,
Africans, Kurds, Poles and Albanians
for a number of years. Now
pro tectionist procedures, such as
stringent frontier clamp-downs and
the deportation of all undocumented
individuals, have been introduced.
The fact that the Greek state
is less than 200 years old,
and that it has had much
political in stability, means
that there is little faith in
government institutions.
Life operates on networks
of personal friendships
and official contacts.
The classic designations of
Right and Left have only
acquired their conventional
meanings since the 1930s.
Statue of Athena
standing beside
the Athens
Academy
Rooftops of Náfplio and Boúrtzi islet from the Palamídi fortress
The dominant political
figure of the first half of
the 20th century was
Elefthérios Venizélos, an
anti-royalist Liberal. The years
following World War II have been
largely shaped by the influence of