The Italian newspaper La Repubblica publishes a detailed interview with the former Prime Minister and President of the Socialist International, George Papandreou. “Papandreou has a lot of ideas on how to win the showdown with the populists and believes that the main European authoritarian politician, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, now has little time to prove that he is not a puppet in his hands. “Putin,” the newspaper notes.
Referring to Orban’s stance, Papandreou said: “Let’s look at the facts. Orban distanced himself from the common European stance on Ukraine. He said that his great enemy is Brussels, the international media and the On the other hand, the Kremlin announced that relations with Hungary had improved since the recent elections, while Orban seemed to be receiving favorable information from Putin. “Putin will end the war on May 9. The real test, then, will be the continuation or the end of the war. And whether Europe succeeds in achieving an oil embargo.”
Regarding the gas embargo, the former Greek Prime Minister stressed: “If we all decide together, I think it can be done. But Greece’s dependence on Russian gas is similar to that of Italy, about 40%. “We have to work hard on alternative supplies.”
Asked about the case of Hungary and the general strengthening of authoritarian regimes, he replied that “there is a feeling against the current democratic system, which in many countries has pushed populist parties to insist on isolationism and nationalism and to divide society.”
“We have to work to rebuild society. It’s not easy. The weakening of traditional parties and the weakening of trade unions have further destabilized society. Many are seduced by ‘strong’ leaders, who are in fact weak and deteriorating. “We, the progressives, must bring about change, we must increase democratic participation and, above all, we must propose a more social and secure Europe,” he said.
Mr Parandreou emphasized that Europe needed a common defense but that there should be European production of certain goods. “The answer to populism must be, above all, to fight inequalities, tax havens and climate change,” he said.
“I experienced the financial crisis very closely, as you know. And the lesson is that the centers of power were not ‘too big to go bankrupt,’ but ‘too big to be controlled.’ We can not tolerate too much concentration wealth and power in a few hands “, he explains.
The president of the Socialist International also states that all the progressive powers of Europe agree that “Putin has no right to teach anyone a lesson and to reject authoritarian regimes.”
“We are not just talking about an invasion, we are talking about an attack on our values, our open societies and our democracies,” he said. “When there are inequalities, polarization is inevitable. The sense of injustice is fertile ground for demagogues and tyrants.”
The former prime minister and former president of PASOK, when asked about Putin’s attempt to exert influence in the Western Balkans, answered that he considers it wrong that the accession of Albania and Northern Macedonia to the EU is not progressing rapidly, adding that Ukraine will must become a member of the European Union.
“There are, however, Balkan countries whose accession process is at an advanced stage and we must give them priority,” he said.
Asked about the management of the Greek financial crisis, the huge sacrifices of Greece and the attitude of Germany, Mr. Papandreou replied: “Not only, as the OECD said, we achieved the biggest fiscal correction, we also made the biggest reform effort in history. Mario Draghi understood this and said “I will do whatever it takes to save the euro”. I told Merkel: “I do not want his money, but your support in the markets.” The problem was European divisions, not the The problem was that Europe said that Greece was the problem, and a “punitive psychology” of Germany, which did not help to calm the markets, certainly played a role.
“Russia seemed to want to help you, but no move was made. Why?” Papandreou was finally asked, to which he replied: “I went to Putin and said, ‘Can you buy our government bonds?’ And he answered me “and you can buy our weapons?”. A challenge “.
Source: Capital
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