Don’t Balk this Balkan: Why Greece was an outlier in the EU’s COVID-19 Response

Thessaloniki’s normally bustling Mitropoleos Street barren during lockdown
Image: Parallaxi Magazine, @parallaximag

Marianthi N Hatzigeorgiou and Minakshi Raj

In recent years, Greece's successes have been discussed only within the context of its failures, primarily the economic crisis from roughly 2008-2009. Any accomplishment seems unexpected, finessed and achieved inadvertently or by luck. Accordingly, popular media suggested Greece may fall behind in managing its response to Covid-19, and disappointingly, was astounded by the country's success. In fact, one must merely consider history, simple economics, and current leadership to recognize how expected and within reach this was. 

Agile leadership drawing upon the diverse skills of industry leaders— stressing those within the healthcare sector— allowed for a rapid, evidenced-based strategy in preventing the same Covid-19 path as Greece's European counterparts. Tourism has always been central to Greece's GDP and, now especially, is critical to sustaining recovery since 2008 but is also a risk during reopening. Still, the leadership's genuine concern for the well-being of both local residents and tourists and an evidenced-based, transparent plan for reopening the country to its domestic economy and to tourism not only staved off unnecessary deaths, but has also been central to building trust between citizens and their government. Greece's success should not be regarded as a surprise. It demonstrates a thoughtful, deliberate, and unified response and the country’s successful efforts should be recognized as such.