"It is our fault, all of this"

antonis ferraras
  • Name: Antonis Ferraras
  • Age: 41
  • Occupation: Owner of an Athens bar and café

"Business is tough. We have lowered prices three times in the past six years, each time by 10-15%. Profits were 50-60% higher when I first started this café six years ago. It's hard to pay taxes, it's hard to pay the staff, and the rent is very high. I have 10 staff in the bar and between five and eight in the café. All of them have been with me for a long time. It's important to me to have good relationships with my employees, to pay them fair salaries.

I hope there will be a solution. It is our fault, all of this. I sometimes blame the past governments and our fathers and grandfathers for the bad things, for not being responsible, for not paying taxes. I think the younger generations are more responsible.

I don't care if Greece leaves the euro. For too many years, we had this uncertainty, not knowing what would happen. I am tired. We must find a solution that would be sustainable in the long-term.

We have to pay the loans, at least some of it. But the Germans owe us money for the war. They should pay that too.

Related: Germany owes us 279 billion euros

I believe we are at the bottom now, things will get better. If we don't get an agreement, things will get worse, but in a couple of years, it will get better. But things in Europe would change. Europe is like a chain. If you break one piece the whole thing would collapse like domino."

First published June 28, 2015: 2:09 PM ET

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