17th edition, 31 March 2015 – Pike & Hurricane

There still is Hope in Greece

Céline Sonnenberg — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:19:18 +0000

I have a special bond with Greece. I was only six months old, when I first set foot onto Crete, the beautiful Greek island my aunt decided to live on. I have since then been back almost every summer and every time I do not visit Greece I dearly miss the beautiful white houses with blue roofs and the amazing countryside of rough mountains and white beaches.

Obviously due to having very fond memories and family in Greece, the financial crisis that shook the country so deeply was especially interesting to me. Being German I was honestly shocked by the deeply negative and often racist reporting on the events in Greece. Stereotypes of lazy Southern Europeans were reproduced, the situation of normal people was often completely ignored and most mainstream media painted a black and white picture of the crisis, marking Germany as the honourable donor and Greece as the unappreciative child, that just could not behave.
Talking with both my aunt and friends we have in Greece, I had a different picture of the crisis, with a population deeply affected by the harsh economy measures. Now after the election of the new government I had the chance to talk to my aunt again and share an inside view of the situation in Greece.

How long have you been living in Greece?

I moved to Crete in 1991.

How has the daily life changed due to the financial crisis?

Especially the extremely low wages have changed our lives drastically. In the private sector wages went from formerly 750 Euros to around 540. My husband, who works fulltime on an airport, earns around 740 Euros, including extra pay for working Sundays and nightshifts. He often works overtime, most people here can only dream of having a 40-hour week, especially during the touristic season (May to September). Working conditions are extremely hard and often wages are not even payed, but no one dares to speak up, since unemployment is so high and you are in constant fear of loosing your job. It really is sink or swim, there are so many other people waiting to take any job they can get. Especially for young people there are no jobs, no perspective.

How are the economy measures visible in the daily life?

Basically all welfare measures have been cut off. There are no unemployment benefits, seasonal workers which is almost everyone on the Greek islands, get about 360 Euros for three months and that’s it. Even health funds have been almost cut of completely and medicine has gotten extremely expensive due to that. Some prices have doubled, we used to pay 30 Euros for my husband´s medicine, now we pay between 50 and 70 Euros every month, 10 percent of his wage during the summer.

What are your hopes for the new government?

We hope to get back to the old standard and living conditions. Our hope is that Alexis Tsipras as a young, credible politician and his combatants who has nothing to do with the old government can finally introduce a new start. He has promised to target tax evaders and to give us back a life in dignity.

Greece once again did not manage to fulfil tax goals. Is the population not willing to pay taxes?

I think the main problem is in retail. With such low wages people just cannot shop for pleasure, many shops closed and thus no tax money from sales. Additionally to that with so many people unemployed not enough people pay their tax on wages or pay into health and retirement insurance. Everyone who works pays their taxes immediately, but they are just so few. Also I am beyond disappointed from major enterprises. There is no solidarity from the rich families. Tax fraud and corruption exists everywhere, being a freelancer both here and in Germany I am very aware of that, but not in this scale.

Demonstrations and protests mainly show dissatisfaction with the European Union and often Germany, why is this anger only seldom openly directed towards problems within Greece?

I am proud of the Greeks, who have accepted their fate without huge violent riots. There was huge election participation, which shows that the Greek population wants to change something and to take a stand point.
Sadly biased media coverage and obviously the stupidity of some people both in Germany and Greece ends up just shifting the blame back and forth. It’s a fact that we are in a worldwide financial crisis and that we need to rethink the model we set up for Europe. There should be the same duties, but also rights for everyone living in the European Union, or we do not need this Union at all.

What do you think are realistic steps out of the crisis, that are also bearable for the Greek public?

We need to invest in our social system; there is no way around that to get out of this crisis. We need higher wages and better welfare to get the consumption up

again. We also need to raise taxes on the few who earn a lot and finally use our own resources such as oil and gas and sell them.

Is leaving the Eurozone a realistic alternative for Greece?

For me it is not an alternative, but sadly it is not impossible. The population just needs to be aware of the harsh consequences. I personally think the Norther European countries should share their knowledge on the taxation sector with the Southern European Countries. We do not need finger-wagging or lectures, but mutual respect and cooperation to finally change our crooked system.

By Céline Sonnenberg

Image credit:

Picture 1 & 2: Céline Sonnenberg

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Multiculturalism in Malmö – Interview with Anders Hellström

EditorChief — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:44:36 +0000

Anders Hellström is a professor and a researcher at Malmö Högskola. His current studies are related to Scandinavia, with a focus on populist and nationalist parties. He studied issues related to the concept of multiculturalism with a special interest for the Sweden Democrats. He accepted to answer a few questions for Pike and Hurricane about the special multicultural character of Malmö and its challenges.

Q: As a political science researcher, how would you define multiculturalism?
A: I think it can be the mirror image of the way nationalist parties describe it. It can also be about group rights, ethnic minority group rights.

Q: Would you say that multiculturalism has a special definition in Sweden?
A: No, I don’t think so. But I think that a chapter in the book Debating multiculturalism in the Nordic welfare states, edited by Peter Kivisto and Östen Wahlbeck, can help to understands it. They explain how multiculturalism could gain versus progressivism. But my focus now is about the Sweden Democrats. And I think that the majority of the Swedish population has become more and more tolerant. But if you’re not satisfied with this, there is only one party in the Parliament that can answer this demand, the Sweden Democrats.

Q: Malmö has so many migrants and refugees, coming from different origins and speaking different languages, would you say that Malmö has a special multicultural identity?
A: No, I would rather say it is a symbol of multiculturalism and swedishness. So if you are against Sweden Democrats (SD), you will support Malmö. And if you are pro-SD, then you are afraid of Malmö. So Malmö is like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it is one of Sweden’s symbols. But if you’re not happy with that, you might be afraid and feel like you have to move away from Malmö.

Q: Multiculturalism is also related to the worldwide famous refugees and migrants welcoming policies of Sweden, would you describe them as being efficient?
A: To answer, I think that you can go to Mipex index, because they compare integration policies of different countries. And, actually if you read the news and you listen to people, you see that those policies are seen as a failure. Everybody in Europe, especially politicians, say we should do something about it. But, if you go to datas, we are the best students in this area.

Q: But, what about your opinion on the matter?
A: I think that there is a narrow concept of swedishness. But, if you can broader it with everyday diversity, and I hope you can, you should embrace it. You will make more people feel at home and safe, because currently some people live in fear of being arrested. And I think Sweden is walking in that direction. More and more people are acclimated, are happy, are living with less and less fear in their everyday life.

Q: In Europe, nationalist and populist movement as Sweden Democrats, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) or Front National, are spreading all over Europe. Do you see it as a threat to multiculturalism?
A: I think there is a big yes and no to this question. It is a big threat because they claim to address concern of the common man against the elite. But before, it has always been in a vertical position from the elite to the mass. Now, it has changed to an horizontal position. A lot of very different people do not believe in the Sweden Democrats message. So, there is a struggle appearing here. And if the SD claim to represent the common man, sometimes there is not so much support from the common man.

Q: To come back to Malmö, are the SD rather strong or weak in Malmö?
A: It is stronger that in Göteborg and Stockholm. But it is not as strong as in the surroundings of Malmö. So there is definitely a rural dimension. It is not so big in the big cities as Malmö, Göteborg or Stockholm. If you look at the countryside, in Skåne for instance, the Sweden Democrats have gained a lot of votes.

Q: But, why, do you think, the SD has gained more votes in Malmö than Göteborg and Stockholm? Is it related to the multicultural character of Malmö?
A: No. There are studies showing that the SD voters are often the one living far from the migrants. I think it is more due to Skåne history of protest and opposition against the central government. There is also a question of publicity. It is not the main reason but it is noticeable. For instance, in Norrland, and I speak for the 2006 elections, people did not know about SD. If you do not know about them, you can not vote for them. And I really believe in that explanation rather than Malmö as being too multicultural. But you can also say that there is a serious demographic transition and the country has grown to become much less homogeneous. That creates tensions in public opinion: the great majority embrace diversity but a significant minority is against the change.

Q: Finally, more as a Swedish person than a researcher, what is a Swede for you?
A: In my opinion, a good Swede is somebody who can sort the garbage: plastic, metal… And a good Swede is not a Sweden Democrat. I also believe that national identities are not there but they are reproduced. Nationalism is very strong in Sweden, as everywhere else, but for me it is represented as sorting the garbage and not being a Sweden Democrat. And I think that nationalism is seen by every individual depending on several factors as the emotional climate. And to be against the SD more and more, you can find the energy to be mobilized against them. So they can see the mobilization against them and it can have a double effect: it shows your disapproval and diminishes them.

By Marine Pansu

Image credit:

Picture 1: Björn Rixman, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Picture 2 & 3: Maria Eklind, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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Lithuania – Next on Russia’s Bucket List?

Michael Schätzlein — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:03:40 +0000

If Germany has a “no more” moment that is deeply ingrained into its national consciousness, it is to never allow fascism to rise again. For Poland and the Baltic states, it is probably to prevent any enslavement under foreign dominion. In the light of the situation in Ukraine, where Russia utilised the political turmoil to press its own agenda and to occupy the Crimean peninsula and the Donbass region by disguising soldiers as irregular forces and sending weapons to local insurgents, many states in the Eastern parts of Europe feel somewhat uncomfortable. Lithuania, afraid of its Russian neighbour, is stepping up its defences.

A Panzerhaubitze 2000

Over the course of the last few months, Lithuania has taken up negotiations about several arms deals with its allies. One of the most striking ones is the possible delivery of PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers from Germany. However, this arms deal has not yet been concluded. Projects like these will be financed from the defence budget, which has increased drastically by 20% from 2013 to 2014 and another 32% from 2014 to 2015. Previously, it had seen major cuts due to the recession caused by the financial crisis in 2008.

Plans to reintroduce mandatory conscription for men have also been announced. Mandatory military conscription had been abolished a few years ago, but since opting for a professional army did not yield a sufficiently high troop strength, this decision will now be reverted. If everything goes as planned, about 3,000 to 3,500 new soldiers will be drafted every year starting from September, with exemptions for university students, single fathers and the like. Before the new recruits can be drafted, though, the law first needs to be passed by the parliament.

Lithuanian soldiers at an exercise

Apart from this military build-up, Lithuania will also receive foreign aid in the form of NATO soldiers that will be stationed there as part of a new task force. While the USA parades around military vehicles in the eastern parts of Europe in a show of force, Germany has agreed to send 500 soldiers. Joint military exercises with the newcomers and neighbouring countries are also in the planning, and new alliances are also on the horizon, most prominently the joint brigade Lithuania will form with Poland and Ukraine.

However, Lithuania has some of those advantages Ukraine did not have. Other than Ukraine, Lithuania has not isolated itself politically. Lithuania is a member of both the EU and NATO and can thus count on the support from Western allies. This diminishes the probability of an actual Russian intervention in the country. Also, it might be difficult for Moscow to legitimise any actions against Lithuania. Here, ethnic Russians only account for 5.8% of the population. Also, they have the same rights as any other Lithuanian. In this regard, Estonia and Latvia are far more prone to be targeted, as they have Russian populations of 25 and 27 percent respectively.

US troops during Operation Dragoon Ride

How, then, will Russia target Lithuania? The answer seems to lie in the Polish minority, which constitutes about 6.6% of the country’s population. While this might not seem like a lot, they are still a political force to be reckoned with. The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL), a political party representing the Polish minority, mostly sides with the Lithuanian Russian Union in elections to form an electoral union, and its leadership has close ties to Russia. Support for the party has risen over the years. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, it accounted for 5.83% of votes, and has since managed to increase its share of votes to about 8% in the presidential, municipal and European elections. Moscow could utilise the Polish minority to destabilise Lithuania politically.

By Michael Schätzlein

Image credit:

Picture 1: Andrew.CZ, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Picture 2: U.S. Army Europe Images, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Picture 3: David Axe, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

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One Step Closer to Gender Equality

Evgenia Isaeva — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:35:16 +0000

Malaysia, Israel, North Korea and Norway… What do these countries have in common? The answer is mandatory military conscription for women. Perhaps not many would expect to see Norway in this list. However, in almost one year all women on par with men will have to go through mandatory military service in this Scandinavian country.

Around a half a year ago, the Norwegian government passed a bill that aims to extend mandatory military conscription to females, and the overwhelming majority in a parliament voted in favour of the bill. Thus, starting from summer 2016, Norwegian females as well as males will be obliged to go through military service.

The phenomenon itself might make you question the main objective of this new law because unlike three other states with mandatory military conscription listed above, Norway is a member of NATO and does not really need to extend its military or have more conscripts. In fact, the main reason for this recent bill is an aspiration to eliminate any kind of discrimination and promote equality. Norway is already known as one of the most gender equal states in the modern world, and by means of the new law it will reach a new level of equality among its society. The main concept of the bill was voiced by the leader of the Norwegian Labour party Laila Gustavsen who said: “Rights and duties should be the same for everyone”. The main goal of the bill is promotion of gender equality.

At the moment military service is mandatory only for men but women can also serve on a voluntary basis in Norway. In general, women make up around 10% of military draftees now. However, with a new law Norwegian government aims to double the amount of females in the military by 2020.

Norwegian authorities think that this new law will help them attract better soldiers because it essentially doubles the number of individuals liable to military service and, therefore, provides a better selection of conscripts. Moreover, some female soldiers might turn out to be much more successful and have better skills in a number of disciplines. And who knows – perhaps, in several years women will make up a majority in the military in Norway.

So who exactly is going to be drafted? According to the new bill, all medically fit women between 19 and 44 years old will have to go through mandatory military service in armed forces for at least 19 months. It will apply to women born in Norway from 1997 onwards.

All female conscripts will live together with their male counterparts in unisex dormitories, but showers and toilets will be separated. As for the physical requirements, they will be the same for all the conscripts regardless their sex: women will be expected to held the same physical fitness standards as men, and will not be provided any kind of special treatment.

However, if Norway does not need so many conscripts in their army, and still aim to achieve gender equality, why would they not introduce any alternative for military service. As not every person is suitable for the military, and Norway, in fact, does not need everyone to serve, they could take an example from Germany and introduce civilian service instead. The alternative for the military service could be work in a healthcare sector, development sphere or, perhaps, in social services. Service like that could be applicable to both men and women, and at the same time, it would also solve the problem of discrimination caused by limited demand for people in the military. Due to the fact that new selection in the army will be based on the principle that only “the best of the best” regardless sex will be conscripted, many young people will probably feel discriminated as they will not be able to go through the service due to some minor health problems, especially, if they want to serve their country. The Norwegian government still has to solve this problem in order to combat inequity in this respect.

Nevertheless, mandatory military conscription for women, in general, is a positive development. Some people argue that women bring equality only when it is for their own benefit. This new law definitely makes Norwegian society equal and eliminates any kind of accusations of using gender equality only when women can take advantage of it. In fact, gender-neutral conscription seems to be the last thing left for completely even rights and obligations for men and women in Norway.

Some countries already want to follow Norway’s lead in order to achieve gender balance in the military. For example, officials in Switzerland have already started negotiations about extension of the military draft to women.

This new development towards gender equality is expected to be bring good results, and probably in a few years, we will witness military conscription becoming gender-equal in most countries around the world.

By Evgenia Isaeva

Image credit:

Image 1,2,3: Metziker licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

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Children Memories on “Operation Allied Force” in Yugoslavia

Victoria Yantseva — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:22:35 +0000

This is a story about children who survived the bombing of their home country. This story, however, is not about a war-torn society in the Middle East or Africa. It happened much closer to us, in the centre of Europe. These kids went to school, liked playing video games and dreamt about a new bicycle for their birthday. They are young adults now and one of them probably goes with you to the same class at University or lives in the same building as you. Even though they lead “normal” lives now, their most terrible memories surface again whenever they hear the sound of air raid sirens. What was it like for them to grow up?

In 1999, NATO started its air campaign, so-called “Operation Allied Force”, to stop human rights abuses in Kosovo, which at that time was a part of former Yugoslavia. Aleksandra* was only seven years old but she still remembers some striking moments from that period. She lived in Belgrade, the capital of former Yugoslavia and modern Serbia, when the bombing started. During the bombing neither she nor her sister went to school. Every day, her grandmother took her to a nearby park to play with other children until the deafening sound of air raid sirens set in again. This sound made her feel anxious and scared, as it meant that a bombing was about to start. Her parents, on the other hand, continued going to work and tried hard to maintain a careless atmosphere as much as it was possible, but still, Aleksandra could notice that they weren’t left unaffected by the misery that had befallen them. The general panic and uncertainty caused shortages of basic food supplies such as milk, bread and water.

After the infamous missile attack on the state television headquarters, which were located less than a mile away from their house, Aleksandra started to feel the fear and panic of her parents and neighbours. From that day on, the residents of her building gathered in the lobby every day, fearing that the next target could be the tallest building in Belgrade, which was, and still is, located right across the street. In order to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances they always brought small suitcases filled with essential goods with them. Luckily, nothing happened to any of them. They survived the bombings and continued with their everyday lives and occupations. Still, Aleksandra says that this experience definitely changed many people in one way or another, including her parents, who felt indignation and sadness. After the attacks ceased, all of them managed more or less to recover from this experience. Nevertheless, it has left scars that will probably never go away.

Dimitrije* was ten when the bombing started. He also lived in Belgrade, in a nice house shared by his grandmother, parents and younger sister. After the bombing started, he quickly got used to the new living conditions. All classes at school were cancelled and he enjoyed playing all day long and watching American cartoons which were broadcast on television without licence, as if in protest against NATO actions. He suspended his child occupations only when he heard the sound of air raid sirens. This sound reminded the whole family that it was time to hide in the hand-made bomb shelter in the house’s basement, to which they had moved all necessary belongings right after the start of the airstrikes. Dimitrije’s father continued to go to work, but instead of receiving real money, he got his salary in the form of food and other essential supplies.

One of Dimitrije’s brightest memories from that time is when his father took him to the attic of their house to see the bombing with his own eyes, and he could watch the explosions kicking up gigantic clouds of dust in the air. Even though it was a dangerous and risky thing to do, his father was careless enough to let his son see their life being destroyed. And the general atmosphere around Dimitrije was also little wrought with fear. Rather, people displayed a cynical and a bit doomed attitude. Hearing the sound of air raid sirens, some people would just go outside and sit in the café, making jokes about the allied forces and drinking coffee until the bombing ended. The only things important to them were the bridges. Sometimes, people would gather on them to become a living shield and to protect the bridges from being destroyed. The most striking episode from that time, however, happened when his neighbour, who was a journalist, was supposed to go to the state television headquarters for her night shift. Her senior colleague insisted that she should stay at home with her children and that he would take her shift. She complied. That night, the headquarters were attacked by NATO forces. Her colleague never came back home.

Today, if you walk around Belgrade, you can still see and feel the consequences of war. The bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 resulted in around 500 civilians being killed. The number of victims of the Yugoslav wars, including the one in the Kosovo, is hundreds of times higher, and the scale of the catastrophe and human suffering in the region should not be underestimated. These people and children who had to go through fear, violence and suffering – they live right here, in the centre of the seemingly quiet and peaceful Europe. Even though the conflicts have ebbed away lately, there are still many unsolved problems, both ethnic and economic ones. Combined with each other, they can produce a devastating effect on the stability of the whole of Europe.

By Victioria Yantseva

Image credit:

Picture 1, 2, 3: Victoria Yantseva

*The names of interviewees were purposely changed.

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