“I think it is very difficult for those who invest in Europe, both from outside and inside the continent, to understand what the real European strategy is, when there are so many people who have the right to speak”. The comment by the US Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, which takes its cue from the Greek affair, is lapidary. "The basic rule for managing a crisis - he added - is to make decisions in a unambiguous and clear way".
Expressing satisfaction with the outcome of yesterday's vote in the Athens Parliament, Geithner is now asking the Old Continent to act quickly and "speak with one voice". As if it were easy. Thus, with the underlying and ingrained question of EU-US bilateral relations, the apt joke of the then Secretary of State of Washington, Henry Kissinger, comes up again: "If I have to talk to Europe, which number should I call?"
