15. februar 2012, 15:37 – opdateret 15. februar 2012, 15:49

Greece’s failure to provide the guarantees demanded by eurozone countries isn’t a crisis, according to EU expert Marlene Wind of Copenhagen University, it’s just ‘business as usual’ for Athens.

She characterised Greek leaders reluctance to provide a binding declaration that they’re ready to implement a raft of spending cuts agreed with EU lenders in exchange for a second bailout of 130 billion as another sign of the country’s ‘undemocratic immaturity’. After a meeting of the finance ministers of the 17 euro countries was called off, Wednesday, when Athens failed to deliver on several demands made by its euro partners, Ms Wind said:

“It’s becoming more and more like a Greek farce. It’s a circus we’ve never experienced in other countries that have experienced problems and it’s getting more absurd by the day. Others that have had to deal with stringent demands have accepted their fate but it appears that the Greeks just can’t handle the situation.”

She said if Greece goes bankrupt or is forced to pull out of the euro they’ve only got themselves to blame. “Italy has also had major problems but the markets have shown faith in its willingness to get back on track. Everybody believes that Prime Minister Mario Monti will deliver but Greece’s Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has failed to live up to what he promised.”