ABSTRACT
Noteworthily, the validity of the claims and arguments employed by Papandreou in the discourse on Greece and thus the ability of his government to model the implementation of the EAP in line with his government’s political preferences, were further boosted by an inexplicable credit of trust that Papandreou was granted by Greece’s European partners. When constructing the negative image of Greece through discursive interventions – exemplarily depicted above – that undermined Greece’s credibility, a practice unheard of for a PM, Papandreou certainly aimed at distancing himself from the reality that unfolded through his statements. In addition, by shifting the blame for the dramatic developments in Greece to the previous establishment as well as to market speculation and market forces, Papandreou wanted simultaneously to recast himself as a concerned, responsible, modern politician; as a cosmopolitan and citizen of the world; as the saviour of Greece and the European Union. Remarkably, while the negative image of Greece voiced openly by Papandreou was eagerly upheld and reproduced by media around the world, the Greek PM received positive feedback mixed with sympathy, empathy and support for his alleged efforts to save the country. Papandreou’s talk of Greece as a corrupt country was welcomed as representative of ‘straight talk’ (Juncker, 2012). In October 2010 he was awarded the prestigious German Quadriga Award for ‘The Power of Veracity’ (sic!). In the same year, Papandreou was named as one of Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers for ‘making the best of Greece’s worst year’.
