About the changes that must be made in Europe, the issues of the rule of law in Greece and the need to create a democratic arc in Greece as well as the developments in SYRIZA, the Green MEP and founder of “Kosmos” party, Petros Kokkalis.
Initially, referring to Tempi, Mr. Kokkalis commented that “the Commission of Inquiry stood unworthy of the circumstances, closed the case file, did not call key witnesses such as Mr. Triandopoulos”, while he noted that “unfortunately, 50 years after the post-colonial transition, people have little trust in institutions.”
Then, he emphasized that: “There is a need for a new path towards a future that is not described as easier, but more difficult, and in this future strong institutions are needed, the protection of society as a whole is needed, large public investments and public control are needed for to be able to face very serious crises, which in the end are public health crises, whether it is pollution or the climate crisis”.
He pointed out that the world today does not trust “politics, the media. In minority numbers, they even trust institutions such as the army and the police. There is a general collapse of trust and there needs to be an upgrade of the state’s ability to fulfill its duties. In the case of climate disasters, the ability of the state to protect the citizen, his property and his life is the main reason why we have a state. When people see that they are defenseless against natural phenomena, climate disasters, it is reasonable to feel that democracy is a polity that cannot bring results. So we run the risk of being driven to more authoritarian forms of political organization because we are entering a state of emergency, we no longer have before us the luxury we had in the past, because we made mistakes. So today we saw them in Evros with the self-trials, in Larissa where the citizens beat the regional governor, in Volos where the mayor beat the citizens. We see that this situation cannot continue.”
In our country we have a huge percentage to the right of the ND. We also have a normalization of the positions of the extreme right and by the ND and the European People’s Party, which in view of the European elections plans and supports an alliance between Mr. Weber, Mrs. Meloni, Mrs. Le Pen. This is expressed in a series of policies. Whether it’s agricultural or economic. All this is ominous and we know from the past that these kinds of turns never had a good end”, he stressed.
Regarding the resolution on the rule of law in Greece, Mr. Kokkalis stated that “I was part of the broad majority of the European Parliament which highlighted a series of violations of the rule of law that are taking place in Greece”, while when asked about the government’s announcement on the resolution comments “the right has acquired an establishment character. The Germans, the French, the Dutch, the Italians, the Spanish MEPs are to blame because Greece is monitoring and justice has not yet progressed. Yesterday, the Commission’s report on the state of the rule of law across Europe came out, and Greece is again in the lead in these matters. On the same day, the Report of the European Ombudsman came out, which describes important responsibilities of both Greece and Frontex for Pylos. Therefore, the issues of the rule of law are the first time that they are properly linked to the disbursement of European funds and the procedures for Poland and Hungary have been initiated.”
“The attitude of the prime minister now is that he leads an alliance of the right with the extreme right in view of the European elections”, he emphasized.
Regarding SYRIZA, he commented that “it has changed a lot and not for the better. I have a specific wallet, a specific political position, with which I collaborated with SYRIZA PS in order to make an enlargement. This expansion has not succeeded and this ending we have today I think gives a terrible mutation of a different space and I don’t know where this will lead. I expected it to go better, to create a broad democratic faction, which didn’t happen and I don’t see it happening at the moment.”
At the same time, he estimates that “from PASOK and beyond, to the KKE, any party that believes in the principles of right reason, is European and progressive in its social policies, could have a broad discussion and cooperation in view of the European elections”.
When asked if he can cooperate with the New Left, he answers that “we are still a party that has not created any institutions”.
“We have our plenary session and the first Congress on Sunday as well as a New Left conference. PASOK is progressing as it is, SYRIZA is on an internal search. What we want to do and we believe is useful for our country, is for there to be in the dialogue a modern force of the climate movement, of the green political space, to be established through the European elections and in the next elections”, he stressed.
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