In a EMBASSY OF GREECE: PRESS OFFICE – News Flash, published by the Washington D.C. office in june 2002, Mr. Simitis said that the average salary in Greece rose to 80 percent of the EU average, inflation has fallen significantly, budget deficits were turned into surpluses and the country’s public debt was steadily shrinking. “This is a growth that allowed Greece’s social sector to strengthen and to converge closer to our EU partners,” Simitis noted.

For those who don’t know, Mr. Simitis is the prime minister of Greece. Unfortunately nobody I have spoken to recently in my role of enthousiastic job seeker seems to know this. Salaries offered so far have been hovering around the minimal wage salary, the best offer coming from a very nice person who has been living in Germany for en extended period of time. One would-be employer told me without blinking that a net salary of €1200 was reserved for top executives only.

I wished they would listen to mr. Simitis a bit more attentively.