Greece is among the leaders in the fight against the pandemic

Greece topped the list of the most successful countries among the 29 countries of the OECD and the European Union in a comparative study conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation (Ίδρυμα Bertelsmann).

The report, among other things, assessed the stability of political power, the government’s organization of anti-crisis management and the stability of the state, as well as the general welfare of the population during a pandemic.

“Greece has reached the top positions in the rating scale and is one of the surprisingly successful countries in the fight against the pandemic, being one of the best,” the researchers say.

In particular, in the category of “Governance stability” Greece ranks ninth among 29 countries with an indicator of 7.56 out of 10, behind New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Canada and Switzerland.

Below Greece are Finland, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal, and below the average are Estonia, Chile, France, Spain, Belgium, Turkey and the Czech Republic, among others, the United States, and in last places are Mexico, Hungary, Poland and other countries.

The researchers note that Greece has seen significant progress in governance since the pre-crisis period. The country ranks second in the category of effective political decisions.

In addition, measures to overcome the crisis were publicly announced in detail and discussed openly in parliament, while national coordination efforts were smooth and responsive to local concerns. In addition, the government reacted quickly whenever the number of cases increased by introducing the necessary measures.

In the Democratic Stability category, Greece ranks eighth out of 29 with a score of 8.5 out of 10, and points to “a particularly compelling commitment to abolish restrictions on civil liberties and rights at the earliest opportunity” and the fact that “parties, despite polarization , at the beginning of the pandemic were united “, although there was a” collapse of the united front in the second wave “of the pandemic.

In the Welfare State Stability category, Greece is in tenth place with a score of 6.38 out of 10, as the health care system was reportedly underfunded and unprepared before the crisis, but the government was able to double the number of intensive care beds. “

The Bertelsmann Foundation also cites the conclusion of its research that in countries where press freedom and civil rights, judicial independence and central democratic values ​​have already been undermined even before the crisis, alarming events have been further negatively developed (exacerbated by the pandemic). And countries that were considered democratically stable have proven their ability to demonstrate stability even in times of crisis.

In Turkey, Hungary, Mexico and Croatia, efforts to curtail basic democratic rights continued during the crisis. While the pressure on media professionals has increased significantly. However, Greece is among the eight countries that “have managed to demonstrate a high degree of trust in terms of proportionality of restrictions on freedoms.”

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