"I believe that the short-term effect will be positive and at least in the upcoming few weeks everyone will probably hope that the party with most of the votes will eventually form a coalition. But in the long-term, a lot of questions regarding further reforms in Greece and people's attitude to them will remain," he told BNS on Monday.
Pro-bailout parties, supporting the financial aid agreement with the EU and the International Monetary Fund, won the general elections in Greece on Sunday in a victory that is expected to lead the country out of a political deadlock stalling vital reforms.
Nevertheless, Vilpišauskas draws attention to the fact that "the parties related to agreement compliance and key reforms failed to receive at least half of all vote." In his words, if Greeks continue to resist reforms based on strict saving, Greece's future in the euro zone might once again become uncertain.
"In my opinion, the key issue is the extent of division in the Greek society and how much the implementation of further measures stipulated by the financial aid agreements will depend on that," Vilpišauskas said.
"I believe Greece's future in the euro zone will directly depend on its institutions' ability to make and implement decisions necessary to ensure the country's competitiveness and restore growth. If they manage to do so, then Greece will most likely remain in the euro zone. But if Greek people continue resisting any measures aimed at strengthening competitiveness, then this issue will re-emerge after some time," Vilpišauskas said.
The conservative New Democracy party won 30.04 percent of the vote in Sunday elections, followed by the leftist party SYRIZA with 26 percent. Coalition talks are expected to start as early as Monday, and the Pasok party is likely to become the New Democracy's main coalition partner. The New Democracy will have 129 seats in the 300-seat parliament, as a 50-seat bonus is automatically given to the party which comes first.
Based on provisional data, Syriza should get 71 seats in the parliament, and the Pasok party should have 33 seats.
The neo-Nazi Chryssi Avgi party, supported by anti-immigrant voters, will have 18 seats in the Greek parliament.
The Sunday parliamentary elections, second in six weeks, were held after parties failed to form a cabinet following the 6 May elections.
2012 06 18
Lithuanian political scientist: Greek election results do not remove need for major reforms
Electoral Victory of Greek parties that favor the country's agreements on international financial support will be viewed positively in the European Union, but will not dispel long-term issues regarding crucial reforms, says Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University.
prof. Ramūnas Vilpišauskas / Tomo Urbelionio/BFL nuotr.
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