At the 9th Delphi Forum, former Prime Minister and President of SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, addressed the stakes of the European elections in Greece and Europe, the geopolitical context, the Greek economy, and Wolfgang Schäuble’s memoirs.
In a packed room, Tsipras commented, “One probably has to resign to attract the audience’s interest,” describing in detail, in his opinion, the stakes of the European elections for both Europe and Greece.
As he stated, “The big picture is that we are witnessing across Europe a notable and I would say dangerous rise of far-right populism. Unfortunately, we are not just facing battles between Center-Left and Center-Right, but in many cases, the stake is the percentage of far-right parties,” commented the former Prime Minister. “The big question is why this is happening. We need to provide answers,” he continued, listing two reasons.
TikTok is not only Political
However, “I have not resigned from politics; I am still active politically,” he said, explaining that “with our mistakes and our successes, we have a legacy.” “I need to have self-critical moments of this period and explain some things,” Mr. Tsipras commented, saying that the critical issue for the Center-Left today is policy production. “It’s not just TikTok politics,” as he put it.
“I’m not claiming anything more for myself. I want to claim the role of policy production both in Greece and internationally,” Mr. Tsipras clarified, emphasising that he does not adopt the term rebranding, “I will not engage in rebranding values I advocate and serve,” he concluded.
Meaning in politics and not just in communication
“On the one hand, ‘for fifteen years now, Europe has been going through successive crises that create a sense of insecurity and fear,” noted Mr. Tsipras, “and on the other hand, the second reason is the retreat of politics. So, if the Left – if you allow me to speak of the Left in its plural sense – if it does not re-approach the visions and values of politics, to give meaning to politics and not just to communication, and especially if it does not address the critical issue of insecurity and fear, redefining, I would say, the concept of security, we cannot concede the concept of security to the right and the far-right, but by giving it a different content,” emphasised the former Prime Minister.
The concept of security
According to Mr. Tsipras, “security is not only about law, order, and repression. Let’s move from the concept of security and talk about its broader meaning,” he commented, “such as getting on a train and knowing you will arrive, knowing you will survive and not being slaughtered outside a police station when asking for help,” he added pointedly, with reference to the incidents in Tempi and Agioi Anargyroi.
In redefining security, the former Prime Minister additionally included economic security, climate security, and geopolitical security, saying that “the Left must revise its policies and redefine the concept of security.”
The official opposition “claims” – Mr. Mitsotakis is running a road race alone without an opponent
Responding to the European elections in the country, former Prime Minister Tsipras suggested that the stakes of these elections are to rebalance the political system. He mentioned that there needs to be an official opposition that can assertively challenge the government in the next round of national elections, achieve an electoral outcome, and capitalise on the delayed damage of the Mitsotakis government, as they see the Mitsotakis government suffering from events that occurred a year ago.
He observed that the current situation portrays Prime Minister Mitsotakis running a race alone without an opponent risking to come in second. He emphasised that the official opposition should seize this opportunity, as it would be beneficial for the political system, indicating that it would rebalance the political landscape.
In this direction, he warned that these European elections might resemble student elections where everyone both wins and loses. He added that if Prime Minister Mitsotakis’s percentage of votes is lower than in the national elections, regardless of the percentages of other parties, it would be a problem for the Prime Minister. Tsipras estimated that this situation poses a risk for Mr. Mitsotakis but also an opportunity for the party of the official opposition to rebalance.
Asked to comment on the course of the Greek economy, he acknowledged that “at the level of macroeconomic indicators, we have positive figures, the prerequisites for which were set during the period 2015-2019,” as he emphasised. “If all these (safety net, debt restructuring, etc.) did not exist, today we would not have the possibility of the Greek economy to have positive growth rates,” he noted, however, warning of the danger for the data at the medium-term level. “Many of these were elements that led us to the crisis, especially the production model,” as Mr. Tsipras said, adding that “the accuracy that no one can claim is imported, as well as that “in terms of per capita income, we continue to deviate from the eurozone average.” According to him, the question is whether we want to remain Europe and become Europe or become a country of Eastern Europe, emphasising that “the issue of convening is a central goal of Greek society that we are losing.”
I would see the need to strengthen defense in the EU
In foreign policy, “the concept of geopolitical security depends on deterrent capabilities but not only on them,” as he commented, saying that “the critical issue is strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy. In this context, I would also see the need to strengthen defense,” noting, however, that Europe is not moving in this direction. “I would expect it to be more proactive in taking diplomatic initiatives,” the former Prime Minister said regarding Europe, while continuing, noting that “defense should concern us, but this should be linked to foreign policy.”
Le Pen is a bigger problem than Trump in the EU
Furthermore, “the big issue for Europe is that its population is ageing, so we need to strengthen its social security systems,” noted Mr. Tsipras, and responded to the American elections by saying, “I think Europe should worry more about its own political developments and weaknesses than about developments on the other side of the Atlantic. We’ve been through this before; it wouldn’t be a surprise,” he said, believing, however, that “there won’t be extreme changes in foreign policy in the case that Donald Trump is re-elected. Europe will have a bigger problem if Marine Le Pen is elected in France in 2-3 years than if Trump is elected in the States,” he emphasised.
Regarding Turkey, Mr. Tsipras described that “they have a clear strategy, meaning it either escalates tension or moves into a phase of de-escalation, and that the latter is happening now. Turkey is now a strong regional power,” he noted, saying that “its policy of procrastination leads nowhere.” “I believe we are wasting valuable time,” he added, saying that we must examine perspective of The Hague with the revision of the Euro-Turkish Union.
Regarding the memoirs of the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, Mr. Tsipras commented, “I don’t remember it happening exactly like that, but we agreed that we disagree. What surprises me is that the late Wolfgang Schäuble, who had an obsession with Greece exiting the euro to cover his own mistakes and weaknesses. Germany had huge responsibilities for the debt crisis,” as the former Prime Minister said, “he wanted to put all the political weight on Greece because it was acceptable,” he stressed, referring to a “peculiar populism.”
“He threw so much political weight into it that he then couldn’t handle it. Schäuble himself had said that I told him I would stay in the Eurozone at all costs, but I would fight austerity.” Following this, a financial package came to the table, and debt restructuring after the intense drama in 2015, which allowed both lenders to step back and us to step back.”
Asked about the rebranding, “I want to assure you it was not something secret, also I did resign from the Presidency of SYRIZA something that was “extremely difficult and on a personal level.”
