Poorer than Greece: the EU countries that reject a new Athens bailout

Europe’s great Greek crisis is often cast as the downtrodden Hellenic heroes versus the ubermasters of austerity in Berlin. In reality, however, it is smaller nations that have faced crisis themselves, swallowed the austerity medicine and lived to tell the tale who are most hostile to another bailout for Athens.

From central European minnows such as Slovakia to Baltic eurozone republics such as Latvia and Lithuania, hard-pressed pensioners and workers earning barely €500 a month are at a loss as to why Greece should qualify for more largesse.

Milda’s monthly pension is €293 a month , well under half the current level in Greece. When Latvia went through a similar debt crisis in 2009, it imposed swingeing budget cuts and tax increases worth about 15% of GDP over three years. Output fell by a quarter and unemployment soared to more than 20%. The population fell as people left in droves.
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By the second half of 2010, however, the economy had started to grow again, and from 2011 to 2013 Latvia was among the fastest growing countries in the EU. Despite the fact that the currency was not devalued, exports are now at record highs, some 60% above where they were before the crisis.
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“We should contribute somewhat, in solidarity, but the Greeks shouldn’t be so arrogant about it,” Goštautas said. “They suffered cuts from a higher level, and these cuts had to be painful. It’s hard to help someone when you’re not in a good situation yourself, but some solidarity should be maintained by the EU.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/09/poorer-than-greece-the-eu-countries-that-reject-a-new-athens-bailout#comments

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Good read from the smaller Euro-zone members' perspective. Also, some interesting graphs showing Greece's income advantage compared to her Baltic partners, Latvia and Lithuania.