Athens: Crisis-hit Greece in January takes over the six-month rotating European Union (EU) presidency with a crucial European Parliament ballot looming, and the bloc divided over delicate efforts to create a banking union.

Added to Greece’s own considerable economic and political troubles, these issues could prove a major challenge to the Greek presidency, analysts note.

“I don’t expect that the Greek presidency will be, and can be, as smooth as other presidencies,” Zsolt Darvas, an economist and senior fellow at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels, said.

“It will be very difficult for Greece due to its [internal] problems, its public administration inefficiency and the time pressure imposed by the European Parliament elections,” he told AFP.

In the European Parliament elections in May, eurosceptics and far-right parties are poised to score major gains that could harden the bloc’s political agenda for the next five years.

Municipal elections

Greece itself is scheduled to hold municipal elections on May 18 and 25, a process expected to bolster political forces opposed to the government’s austerity policies and the economic agreement with the country’s EU-IMF creditors.

Chief among them are the main opposition leftists Syriza, who have emerged as the most popular party in Greece in many of the latest opinion polls.

The government coalition is taking fire over ongoing cuts, and its majority in the 300-seat parliament fell to 153 deputies earlier this month.

And there is speculation that the coalition, composed of the conservatives and a rapidly weakening socialist party, might not even last till next year, forcing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to call early elections by autumn if not sooner.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, recently named the radical left’s candidate for European Commission president, has pledged to reverse many of the spending cuts and tax hikes imposed as part of Greece’s loan rescue.

A more sinister threat comes from Golden Dawn, the neo-Nazi party under investigation for serious crimes including murder and extortion.

Golden Dawn’s leadership is in prison awaiting trial and several of its lawmakers have been indicted, yet the party consistently ranks third in opinion polls and could elect a number of mayors, mainly in the poverty-hit countryside.

Focus on growth, migration

Aware that undocumented immigration is a key factor in the rise of Golden Dawn in Greece and other far-right forces on the continent, Athens has made frontier policy one of its presidency priorities.

European officials are also expected to put emphasis on social issues, such as youth unemployment, to stem voter malaise. The new European banking union will be on the agenda as well.

A successful Greek presidency would enable Athens to show “that Europe has concrete answers to popular expectations,” a European diplomat noted.

Samaras earlier this month said that the Greek presidency would focus on fostering growth, regulating immigration and promoting maritime issues.

“This is going to be a presidency of hope. Hope for more Europe and hope for a better Europe,” Samaras said.

Nikos Konstandaras, managing editor and columnist at liberal daily Kathimerini, says that Greece’s European peers have a tangible interest in helping Athens see the presidency through.

Rise of populism

“The whole of the EU understands that they have to show something that will prevent the rise of populism,” Konstandaras said.

In its fifth EU presidency since joining the bloc in 1981, Athens plans to host 14 ministerial meetings and another 120 related gatherings in the first six months of 2014.

The Greeks, who are still drawing EU-IMF loans to keep their economy running, have pledged to organise a “spartan” presidency.

The overall cost is calculated at €50 million ($68 million) but the foreign ministry hopes to eventually return part of the money to state coffers.

An unnamed European auto maker has provided free cars to chauffeur visiting dignitaries around, and gift costs have also been drastically slashed.

“We will not be handing out ties and foulards,” deputy foreign minister Dimitris Kourkoulas told a recent briefing. “For symbolic reasons, we decided not to have this cost. We will have notepads and pens to hand out to guests,” he said.

The Greek presidency, taking over from Lithuania, will be officially unveiled on January 8 when the EU’s 28 commissioners are to convene in Athens.

Samaras will then present the Greek priorities in Strasbourg on January 16. Italy takes over from Greece in June.