Greek civil society has a crucial role to play in maintaining social cohesion during the country’s crisis

Greece is facing a period of political uncertainty after the process of appointing the country’s next president was moved forward to December. Despite currently lacking the required number of parliamentary votes to appoint a new president, the Greek government must elect its preferred candidate by 29 December or new parliamentary elections will have to be called in early 2015. Vasileios Stathopoulos writes on the strains within Greek society which have occurred since the start of the country’s economic crisis. He argues that with excessive unemployment and falling living standards, Greek civil society has a key role to play in ensuring social cohesion is maintained.