From Protesting Against Troika Memoranda to Pro-EU Governing during the Crisis Period in Greece and Portugal

Following the global financial crisis, new anti-austerity movements, left-wing parties and trade unions led large mobilizations against severe austerity policies in Greece and Portugal between 2010 and 2013. In Portugal, the movement Que se Lixe a Troika (Troika to the Hell) gathered together different contentious actors, including new actors, traditional radical left-wing parties and trade unions, creating the basis for the first socialist government ever supported by radical left parties (PCP and BE). In Greece, SYRIZA, a social movement, left-oriented party and radical right-wing ANEL, formed a coalition government with anti-Troika election campaigns. Interestingly, these developments did not lead to anti-EU government policies. On the contrary, since 2014 anti-EU mobilizations are rarely visible, while governments in Greece and Portugal take pro-EU positions and follow EU policies. Using primary data on anti-Troika and anti-austerity protests, as well as secondary data on government policies, this article employs a comparative, social movements perspective to explain the shift from anti-Troika claims to pro-EU governments in both countries. By doing so it aims to extend understanding of how and under what conditions initial mobilization against EU policies does not lead to Euroscepticism or indeed an alter-European vision.