Dozens of assiduous interpreters roamed around the European Council’s halls alongside frustrated, exhausted political leaders until the early hours of Monday, July 13, as one of the toughest negotiations between the Greek government and the country’s international lenders for a new bailout deal dragged on for hours. If it weren’t for these professionals diligently searching for the right words among such a host of languages being used, how else could the politicians from 19 different countries communicate with one another?

“The burden of responsibility is huge,” said Vangelis Panagiotatos, who often translates Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schauble’s statements on behalf of the Greek state broadcaster ERT. “Our biggest enemy is fatigue,” said Panagiotatos, who during that weekend’s marathon negotiations, remained in the studio at the Aghia Paraksevi headquarters in northern Athens for 30 hours, anticipating (as was the rest of the country) an agreement between the two sides. More.

See: ekathimerini.com

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