Problems come to the fore

No past serious economic crisis spared political institutions. The “concrete” consequences of recession, that strip families and individuals of their jobs and of the necessary income to make ends meet, make the difference. The outcome of Spain’s May 22 national elections, that ousted José Luis Zapatero’s government, must be read from this perspective. Notwithstanding the debates on the Socialist executive’s legislative provisions, Spanish electors reaffirmed the inability of the ruling class to give definitive and credible responses in the areas of public finances, SMEs, employment and purchasing powers. In this sense, the protests of the “indignados” signaled widespread malaise: in fact, Spanish unemployment rates are over 20%, and up to 44% as relates to the youth.But Spain is not an isolated case and the discontent conveyed in the ballot boxes stroke a hard blow elsewhere in Europe too, regardless of the political wing of the governments in office. It happened rather traumatically in Ireland and in Portugal. Through these lenses were interpreted the defeat of the Labor Party in the UK, as well as the French polls causing restless nights to President Sarkozy (who belongs to the neo-Gaullist moderate wing)). Also the recent electoral setbacks of Angela Merkel’s CDU and its Liberal allies in Germany (the latest on May 22 in Bremen) underline that social-economic tensions are channeled (as a sign of protest to say the least) in the political arena. Greece remains on the brink of disaster (despite the presentation of the new austerity plan this week). Most citizens continue having faith in Athens’ government that called for greater sacrifices, but only the results of the elections will confirm majority consensus. It is a widespread sentiment, which is intertwined with other issues pertaining to national and international political arenas. Public debates focusing on the question of migration as well as on economic issues – often lending support to nationalistic, localist or xenophobic stances – extend from Malta to Finland, from Hungary to Italy. These issues are being debated in European and world arenas. The EU is tackling the Greece debt hot potato, (some even proposed the Country’s exiting the euro zone), while at the top of the agenda of the G8 summit held in France past May 26-27, figured the economic crisis and the turmoils in the Middle East and Northern Africa. US President Barack Obama addressed the issue during official visits with European leaders or at the G8, from Ireland to Great Britain, from France to Russia and Poland. The global repercussions of the economic crisis that sparked off in the States in 2008 are such that perhaps the US President felt obliged to lend an ear to his European partners.