A list of draconian new austerity demands handed to the Greek government in Brussels Sunday ignited a global backlash against Germany, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble.
#ThisIsACoup became the top trending hashtag on Twitter worldwide – and is #1 in Germany and Greece.
The tag was attached to tens of thousands of angry comments denouncing Germany’s aggressive demands that the Greek parliament pass new severe austerity laws within days to raise taxes, privatize public assets and cut back on pensions.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate economist, helped promote the hashtag it on the New York Times website:
“This Eurogroup list of demands is madness. The trending hashtag #ThisIsACoup is exactly right. This goes beyond harsh into pure vindictiveness, complete destruction of national sovereignty, and no hope of relief. It is, presumably, meant to be an offer Greece can’t accept; but even so, it’s a grotesque betrayal of everything the European project was supposed to stand for. ”
The weekend showdown came to a head on Sunday night as Eurozone leaders Angela Merkel and President François Hollande of France presented Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, with a new ultimatum.
Here are the EU proposals that outraged many around the globe:
Here’s the list of reforms in the #Eurogroup draft that Greek government has to pass by Wednesday to get bailout pic.twitter.com/nEF8OmDBiA
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) July 12, 2015
The hashtag originated Sunday evening from Sandro Maccarrone, who is a physics teacher in Barcelona, Spain. He tweeted: “The Eurogroup proposal is a covert coup d’etat against the Greek people. #ThisIsACoup.”