The Current

Greece debt crisis: Eurozone bailout deal comes with a cost

This week Greece and its European creditors finally reached a deal. But at what price? Today, we probe the potential political fallout from the bailout and ask whether a united Europe could be the ultimate victim.
A protester is arrested by riot police following clashes in Athens, Greece July 15, 2015. Greek anti-establishment protesters threw dozens of petrol bombs at police in front of parliament on Wednesday ahead of a key vote on a bailout deal, in some of the most serious violence in over two years. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis )

Greece and its European creditors may have finally sealed a bailout deal this week -- but there was hardly jubilation on the streets of Athens.

Thousands protested - most peacefully - though there were sporadic clashes with police. To those on the street, and many other Greeks, the bargain with Europe was a capitulation. But with Greek banks closed now for almost 3 full weeks, many feel their government had no choice but to accept a set of debilitating and humiliating austerity measures that they'd roundly rejected in a referendum.   

Those protesters are not the only ones wary of what's happened this week. Across Europe and beyond, people are wondering what the ultimate cost will be. 

Frances Coppola is a financial writer for Forbes Magazine who's been watching the situation closely ... and raises those very concerns. She was in Rochester, England. 

Pensioners are given priority tickets by a National Bank branch manager as they wait to receive part of their pensions in Athens, Greece July 16, 2015. (REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou)

From its founding, the European Union has been an economic entity with a political mission. And Elena Pnevmonidou thinks the EU is facing a crucial moment when it comes to how to balance those two missions.

Elena Pnevmonidou is an assistant professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Victoria.
 

This segment was produced by The Current's Kristin Nelson and Marc Apollinio.
 

RELATED LINKS

♦ Germany's Tone Grows Sharper in Greek Debt Crisis - New York Times
♦ Dr. Schaeuble's Master Plan - Frances Coppola, Forbes
♦ The IMF Says The Greek Deal Is Not Viable -  Frances Coppola, Forbes
♦ The Problematic Legacy of European Integration - Elena Pnevmonidou