European press reaction: Papandreou’s referendum and the euro crisis
3 November 2011
This article was commissioned by the Guardian for Comment is Free, November 2nd.
Scanning the headlines of today's European press, optimism isn't a word that comes to mind. "Madness", "chaos", "fear", "collapse" feature heavily. Only a few days after the Brussels summit buoyed up the world's stock markets, the eurozone crisis has begun to resemble the giant planet in Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, skirting past the Earth in Wagnerian splendour, and now fatally moving back into view. Has Greek PM George Papandreou locked us into a eurozone dance of death? Last week's jubilant tone is today replaced by a bitter note. Leading the charge is French daily Le Figaro.