As Greeks are fond of saying, their country is not like others. Just as the rest of the world is pulling out of a recession, Greece’s service-oriented economy is entering one. While recent European elections have tended to favour the centre-right, Greek voters have awarded a stunning victory to the socialists of Pasok and their leader George Papandreou. After five years at the helm, Costas Karamanlis is out.

This was a very Greek election. It is not just that Mr Karamanlis and Mr Papandreou are scions of Greece’s two leading political dynasties (occupying the presidency or premiership for most of the republic’s short history). In an introspective contest, Europe was hardly mentioned. Without visible enthusiasm, voters preferred the vague promises of the Papandreou brand to the conservative Mr Karamanlis’ promises of austerity – and repudiated New Democracy’s failure to clamp down on corruption. Pasok has won a holding mandate from a fickle electorate. What Greece needs, however, is reform.