Days away from a referendum that will decide the future of Greece and the Eurozone, a US presidential candidate is throwing his support behind the embattled Greek government, and placing the blame for the ongoing fiscal crisis on international monetary institutions.
“If Greece’s economy is going to succeed, these austerity policies must end,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Wednesday. The insurgent presidential candidate added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “must give the Greek government the flexibility and time that it needs to grow its economy in a fair way.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that Greece would not be paying a $1.5 billion euro payment due to the IMF, putting the country formally into default before the July 5 referendum.
In a few days, Greek voters will decide to either accept another round of IMF rescue funds and austerity, or break free from creditors’ yolk and navigate the economic crisis by abandoning the Euro in favor of a national currency.
Although US lawmakers and presidential candidates have strayed away from commenting on the unfolding Greek situation, Sen. Sanders candidly discussed his disappointment with how Greece has been treated.
“It is unacceptable that the International Monetary Fund and European policymakers have refused to work with the Greek government on a sensible plan to improve its economy and pay back its debt,” the independent Vermont lawmaker, who describes himself as a democratic-socialist, said.
“At a time of grotesque wealth inequality, the pensions of the people in Greece should not be cut even further to pay back some of the largest banks and wealthiest financiers in the world,” he added, saying that the IMF—an institution that the US holds a lot of sway in—should “enable Greece to enact pro-growth policies that improve the lives of all of its people, not just the wealthy few.”
While President Obama has expressed some frustration with European austerity, his administration has been reluctant to fully-support the efforts of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The left-winger was elected earlier this year by promising to end the half-decade long austerity regime that has crippled Greece’s economy.
On Monday, White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters that the administration expects Greece to “keep their commitments.” He added that it is in the US best interest that Europe remain “closely integrated”—a tacit acknowledgment that the administration may be concerned about a plebiscite on the Eurozone held by a member country.
Sen. Sanders, however, is more concerned about what happens to Greece should it continue down the road of IMF-induced austerity. He drew on lessons from the past.
“Let us not forget, after World War I, the Allies imposed oppressive austerity on Germany as part of the Versailles Treaty,” Sanders said. “As a result, unemployment skyrocketed, the people suffered, and the policies of austerity gave rise to the Nazi Party. We cannot let a situation like that ever happen again.”
In Greece, an extreme right-wing party called Golden Dawn currently has 17 seats in parliament.
Although Sanders is trailing in the polls to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, his campaign has managed to close the gap in recent weeks, thanks in part to a progressive base that devours his populist message. On Wednesday, roughly 10,000 people packed the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. to hear Sanders stump.
