May 21, 2026. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s visit to Sparta…
Crowds on the sidewalks—spontaneous well-wishers or others on official duty, people eager for a selfie—perhaps to add it to their résumé—maybe just some curious onlookers, others hoping for a handshake, just for good luck, for… good fortune.
I couldn't tell if some children were waving little flags, as they did during Trump and Putin's recent visits to China.
Obviously, in the minds of those gathered above, there are no 57 dead and injured from Tempi; there is no surveillance of politicians, military leaders, or journalists; there is no mention of the funds stolen from OPEKEPE or the direct contract awards, there is no mention of the more than 3,500 temporary employees, there is no last-place ranking for Greek purchasing power in Europe, there are no exorbitant rents, there is no inability of countless young people to start a family, there is no worsening of the demographic crisis, there is no brain drain of young scientists abroad, there are no massive shortages of medical and nursing staff in National Health System hospitals, and there are no teacher vacancies right up until the last days of the school year…
In the minds of the aforementioned cheerleaders, none of this exists. There is a world that is beautiful and angelically crafted.
Tomorrow they'll hang the blue-and-white flag on the balcony, and on Sunday they'll make large crosses at a church.
And then—or before that—they will ask, as the greatest patriots, the local member of parliament to ensure their son serves in the K.E.E.M. at the expense of some other conscript who will end up—instead of their favored son—on the border. And, furthermore, the appointment—a «backdoor placement»—of another child, always through the appropriate channels but also… for a price, to a «nice little position.».
Pure and sincere in their intentions and actions, as befits patriots of high moral character and people of genuine faith.
Sad, but not entirely unexpected…
I recall the words written in a handwritten note by the intellectual, politician, and champion of democracy Georgios Alexandros Magakis just a few days before he passed away: «I set sail peacefully for the other world. The one I leave behind is no longer my Greece. It is another place inhabited by people of a different kind.».
How relevant his words still are 15 years later…
Kostas Chr. Tsebelis
