As the new government is trying to appease Greek people after the creditors’ insistence on the existing bailout program, the renaming of key words in the negotiations has been a very important tool. It has also been the subject of talk for many Greeks. Proto Thema newspaper has an interesting and entertaining glossary of the new buzzwords that have replaced the old buzzwords that were hated by Greek people. Or like SYRIZA MEP Manolis Glezos has said, “baptizing fish as meat.” Here they are in alphabetical order: Bailout: The measures and reforms Greece needs to implement in order to get new financial aid. The legal name of a bailout is Memorandum of Understanding. Brussels Group: This should not be confused with the group formerly known as the Troika that included Greece’s international creditors, i.e. the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead, the Brussels Group is all of the above plus the European Stability Mechanism and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism. Creative Vagueness: The term made famous by Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis is an agreement that is philosophical rather than based purely on figures. Simply put, it is a flexible agreement that gives leeway to both sides. It is also called “creative ambiguity.” Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): See bailout. The term memorandum, like the Troika (see below), has very negative connotations in Greece and should be avoided. On-site Exchange of Facts: The new word for the old “reviews” of the Greek economy that the representatives of Greece’s three international creditors (or the troika) would make. The difference between the “review” and the “exchange” is that in the latter, the facts will be given by officials of the same ranking between themselves. Furthermore, the visits now take place at a neutral territory (eg. hotels) and not within ministries. Program: The new word for bailout and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), bearing in mind the bad connotations that the old words have in Greece. Troika: The most hated old buzzword. Greece’s international creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are engrained in Greek people’s minds as images of low-ranking officials, not heads of these groups coming to Greece like colonialists and ordering Greek ministers around.
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