The stumbling Euro, and the financial crisis in Greece has made the investors across the globe jittery and there have been protests against the government’s austerity programs and the protestors are now on the streets.

No one, even in his wildest imagination, must have foreseen what is happening in Greece today. Certainly not, when Greece pledged a financial overhaul, as it was eager to join the European Union, then called Euro zone. In more ways than one, this surely is a great Greek tragedy, whose cause can be traced to age old tradition of profligacy and over spending. Then there were the leaders of Greece who wanted integration of Greece into the European Union at any cost. Many say that this desire has spelt doom for Greece, and it is paying the price now.

Some say that the integration of Greece into EU before many other countries, who were richer and financially more disciplined, like Austria, Finland, Sweden, Spain and Portugal was very surprising indeed. Countries like France and Germany opposed the move at that time as they felt that Greece was just not ready for the integration. But those who were in favor of the move finally won, and their argument was that integration of Greece was the best possible means to modernize the fledgling democracy.

The then foreign minister of Greece, who fought hard for the integration of Greece into EU, Mr. Papantoniou now laments his zeal. He said, “ Now we are paying the price for the fact that we lived above our means, with amazing profligacy, and failed to reduce the role of the state.”

As the 16 member EU now prepares to chalk out strategy to bail out Greece from its financial mess, many are wishing that had Mr. Papantoniou lost his bet then, situation would have not been so grim as it is today.

During the first decade of its membership in the EU, no one foresaw anything wrong with its economic policies, and some even hailed Greece which was enjoying a 3% growth in GDP and also kept inflation under check.

Greek leaders of that time now recall that joining EU was a proud moment and it gave Greece a chance to be transformed from a third world country into one that wished to be as developed as Switzerland.

It was Germany, which sensed the problem with Greece first, and announced a series of tough measures for the members to remain in the EU.