Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tries to build a broader alliance among the progressive forces of Europe, ahead of the EU elections in May 2019. “Social Democrats and the Left must meet on the basis of a progressive plan for the 21st century in Europe,”Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said addressing the SPD conference in Berlin on Saturday (Nov 10).
“Such a strategy can stop the upsurge of extreme right, nationalism and xenophobia,” he added.
“We need political courage to take this step. Because it primarily calls for self-criticism. The example of Portugal and Spain is the practical proof that Social Democracy and the Left can and must work together on the basis of a cooperation for the benefit of social majority,” Tsipras added.
“The success for a left party is not only exiting a crisis, but exiting the crisis with the least possible losses for the weakest people, the poor, the middle class, the workers and the young,” he said among others.
Ahead of the European elections in May 2019, Alexis Tsipras and his close ally, senior Syriza MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis, are launching a number of initiatives to build bridges among Europe’s fragmented progressive political forces and create a broad alliance ahead of the EU elections.
“The left-wing and progressive political forces that were the initiators of European unification cannot be non-united in the next European elections, especially when the ghosts of the past reappear to break the European project […] when the extreme right is on the rise,” European Parliament Vice-President Papadimoulis told euractive.com
According to the news website for EU Affairs, Tsipras will coordinate this effort “centrally” while Papadimoulis will focus on a European Parliament level.
The main objective of this push is to bring leftist and progressive political forces closer both before and after the EU election. Syriza also aims to create a broad alliance, “from Tsipras to Macron”, especially when it comes to the protection of EU values.
For Syriza there is no way to join another European Political group, euractive was told. Cooperation with progressive forces is envisaged in a greater degree after the European elections than before.
Over the weekend, Tsipras spoke also with the German Greens, who currently are on the rise, and participated also at the Peace Forum in Paris as a guest by French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the many leaders invited to celebrate the end of World War I.
While in Paris, Tsipras invited his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez to Athens. The Social-Democrat Prime Minister accepted the invitation, the date has not be fixed yet.
