Greek journalist shot dead

A popular investigative journalist, Sokratis Giolias, famous for uncovering corruption, has been shot 15 times outside of his home in Athens. Though the police have been quick to link the shooting to an obscure terrorist group called 'Sect of Revolutionaries', I suspect someone else was really involved.

Now, this is the type of action more commonly associated with poorer European countries with short histories of the rule of law and the presence of organised crime. The murders of journalists precluded Croatia from joining the EU quicker a few years back, and is very much reminiscent of similar killings in Milošević's Serbia, or more recently in Bulgaria and Russia . The thing is that this has now happened in an 'old' member of the European Union, where the freedom of speech is supposedly guaranteed and a democracy of sorts has been functioning for many decades. Essentially on paper, such shootings should just not happen in a place like Greece. However, this is yet another example of how Greece is not EU material. The fact that 30 years of EU membership has not been able to prevent such a murder indicates that more than just the economy needs to be fixed in Greece - its whole society needs a complete overhaul, and that will only be possible if Greece is made to reapply for EU membership.

In the meantime, I express my deepest condolescences to Sokratis' family and friends over their sudden loss, and to Greece for being what it is now - a failed state.