经济学人282:希腊政治 齐普拉斯之旅

 　　Europe Greek politics Tsipras's travels The new government ruffles¹ feathers abroad but gains popularity at home

　　欧洲 希腊政治 齐普拉斯之旅 希腊新政府享誉国内却在国际上饱受指责

　　RATINGS for the evening news soared this week as Greeks tuned² into a new show: of Alexis Tsipras,their new prime minister,and his colourful finance minister,Yanis Varoufakis,sharing the spotlight³ as they separately toured European Union capitals. For Greeks worn down by five years of austerity,it was cheering to see their new leaders “standing up to the euro-zone bosses”,as an official from PAME,the communist trade union,put it.

　　随着希腊新任总理亚丽克西斯·齐普拉斯和个性鲜明的财政部长雅尼斯·瓦鲁法克斯各自展开对欧盟各国的访问，两位新任领导者齐聚聚光灯下，而希腊在本周的晚间新闻中完全颠覆其原有形象。一位共产主义贸易联盟（PAME）的官员表示：在希腊经历了长达五年的艰难时期之后，现在能看着他们的新领导人“重新站在欧元区各位BOSS”面前，这着实让人振奋。

　　希腊曾经的政治中心雅典卫城遗址.jpg

　　Mr Tsipras's Syriza party has lost no time getting its anti-austerity message across since defeating Antonis Samaras's New Democracy government on January 25th. Syriza fell two seats short of a majority in parliament,so Mr Tsipras signed up the Independent Greeks,a right-wing anti-austerity party,whose leader,Panos Kammenos,became defence minister.

　　齐普拉斯的左翼政党在1月25日击败萨马拉斯的新民主政府之后，立即开始向大众传播他们的反紧缩政策。因为左翼联盟在议会中以两席之差，未能成为多数党，齐普拉斯选择与右翼反紧缩政党——独立希腊人党，而该党派的领导者帕诺斯·卡门诺斯也顺势成为国防部长。

　　True to Syriza's promises,Mr Tsipras and Mr Varoufakis challenged their first visitors,Martin Schulz,president of the European Parliament,and Jeroen Dijsselbloem,chairman of the eurogroup of finance ministers,demanding an end to austerity,the dismantling⁴ of the “troika” of the European Commission,the European Central Bank and the IMF,and an international conference to restructure Greece's debt of 175% of GDP. In return,the Syriza government would crack down on tax evasion⁵ and corruption,which previous administrations ignored,and produce a programme of structural⁶ reforms in June.

　　为了兑现左翼联盟的承诺，齐普拉斯和瓦鲁法克斯分别向他们的第一位拜访目标发——欧盟议会主席马丁·舒尔以及欧元集团主席戴塞尔布卢姆发起了挑战。他们的目标是终止紧缩政策，拆散由欧盟议会;欧洲央行以及国际货币基金组织组成的“三驾马车”，并且寻求国际会议来裁减希腊高达GDP总值175%的债务。作为回报，新政府将着力展开针对逃税以及腐败的治理行动，这两个问题也恰巧是前任政府所忽视的，与此同时新政府还计划在6月的时候进行体制重建。

　　To the delight of many Greeks,other cabinet members also announced measures to reverse many earlier reforms: pension increases,a 45% rise in the minimum wage,a return to collective bargaining and a freeze on privatisations. Poor households will get food stamps and free electricity. Mr Kammenos said that the armed forces would have their pay restored to pre-crisis levels,plus compensation for four years of pay cuts. Mr Varoufakis has not spelt out the budget cost of all this,though he promises still to run a small primary surplus (ie,before debt interest).

　　让很多希腊人兴奋的是，其他的内阁成员同时还宣布了很多之前改革的替代政策：养老金的最低额度上调45%；重新展开劳资双方谈判；冻结国企私有化的进程；贫困家庭将会获得食物补助和免费供电。卡门诺斯表示，最终的目标是让工资水平恢复到经济危机前，同时还要给予这四年间因工资降低所造成损失的补偿。瓦鲁法克斯并没有明确说出实现这一切需要的花费，尽管他还同时承诺国家经济会有少量的盈余（在结算欠息之前）。

　　The reversal of reforms and the tough stance toward Greece's creditors⁷ have increased the new government's popularity. Opposition⁸ by the new foreign minister to more sanctions against Russia,albeit short-lived,was also welcomed by many who want the government to defend Greek interests,even against NATO and the EU. One opinion poll gave Mr Tsipras a 68% approval rating after his first week,better than any other recent Greek leader.

　　因为颠覆性的执政策略以及对债权国的强硬态度，新政府在国内大受追捧。即便是新任外交部长反对制裁俄罗斯而得罪欧盟和北约的短期行为，也受到了那些旨在保护希腊利益的人的欢迎。近期的一次民意调查显示，齐普拉斯的新政府在上任的第一周之后，获得了68%的支持率，这一数据超过了近年来所有的领导人。

　　Yet the exhilaration could evaporate if Mr Tsipras and Mr Varoufakis fall out with the EU. They have watered down their demands: instead of a debt write-off,Mr Varoufakis now proposes a limited repayment⁹ via special bond issues. Greece's creditors insist it must stick to the terms of its bail-outs. Greeks are still removing cash from their bank accounts,though the pace of withdrawal¹⁰ has slowed since the election. On February 4th the ECB said it would no longer accept Greek government bonds as collateral¹¹. Earlier the same day an issue of six-month bonds was only just covered,because foreign investors¹² failed to buy. The new government has a tough year ahead of it.

　　然而一旦齐普拉斯和瓦鲁法克斯和欧盟的谈判失败，这一切也可能都是一场空欢喜。事实上他们已经开始降低自己的要求：瓦鲁法克斯现在试图通过特殊的债权来进行有限的偿还，而不再寻求裁减债务。但是希腊的债权国仍坚持要求按期偿还。尽管在大选后速度有所放缓，但是希腊从未停止从它的银行账户中拿钱的步伐。2月4号，欧洲央行宣布不再接受希腊政府债券作为担保物。因为国外的投资者无法购买，同一天的早些时候一个刚刚担保发行的半年期债券不得不胎死腹中。新政府接下来将面对及其艰难的一年。

　　1.stand up to 对抗，勇敢地面对

　　Is this building going to stand up to the strongest gales¹³?

　　这座楼能经得住最强劲的大风吗？

　　How well does this thesis stand up to close examination?

　　这个命题经得起推敲吗？

　　2.sign up 注册；报名；登记

　　He has posted a sign up that says "No Fishing"

　　他已经张贴了一张“禁止钓鱼”的告示牌。

　　They manage to sign up all the best performers.

　　他们设法跟所有最佳演员签订合同。

　　3.return to 返回

　　Ford¹⁴ never desisted from trying to persuade him to return to America.

　　福特从未停止过劝说他返回美国。

　　The pilot wisely decided¹⁵ to return to Farnborough post haste.

　　飞行员明智地决定尽快返回法恩伯勒。

1 ruffles   

褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You will need 12 yards of ribbon facing for the ruffles. 你将需要12码丝带为衣服镶边之用。
• It is impossible to live without some daily ruffles to our composure. 我们日常的平静生活免不了会遇到一些波折。

2 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

5 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

10 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 gales   

龙猫

参考例句：

• I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
• This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。

14 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。