Laurent de Sutter and Rosita Allinckx to lead Belgium’s “Be European Spring” candidates’ lists to the European Parliament elections
8 women and 8 men will represent Be European Spring as candidates in the May 2019 European elections. The grassroots citizens list was initiated by DiEM25 Belgium, in collaboration with France’s Génération.s Brussels Committee and Portugal’s LIVRE.
Be European Spring will offer all citizens in Belgium a common, green, progressive agenda, its Green New Deal for Europe, which offers a path towards a democratic European Union. Laurent de Sutter and Rosita Allinckx were elected as the lead candidates in the French-speaking electoral college and Dutch-speaking electoral college, respectively.
“More than offering a new set of political proposals for a New Deal in Europe, I strongly believe that DiEM25 and European Spring incarnate a new style of politics – a new way of behaving, talking and even looking political. One doesn’t go without the other”, said Laurent de Sutter.
Rosita Allinckx explained that her aim is “to bring transparency and our visionary economic plan right into the heart of Europe”. “I am not a politician,” she elaborated, stressing that she is an independent artist who joined DiEM25’s pan-European bid “to bring transparency into European politics and beyond, so that people don’t have to flee everyday injustices”.
Be European Spring is part of Europe’s first transnational electoral list – European Spring – a broad, democratic, European alliance based on a single manifesto (the Green New Deal for Europe). The transnational alliance includes political movements, intellectuals and grassroots activists from all parts of Europe, including the French movement Génération-s, the Polish Razem party, Greece’s MeRA25, Germany’s Demokratie in Europa, Denmark’s Alternativet, Portugal’s LIVRE, Spain’s Actúa, Austria’s Wandel and many more.
To note:
- February 14: Meet & Greet of Be European Spring, 19:00 at the Muntpunt Café in Brussels.
- February 15: Laurent de Sutter will participate in a debate with Place Publique’s Raphaël Glucksmann, MEP Pascal Durand (Green) and Pervenche Bérès (PS), at Les Ateliers des Tanneurs in Brussels at 17:00.
- February 19: “Europe, just for the rich?” debate with Laurent de Sutter, Philippe Lamberts, Georges-Louis Bouchez, Olga Zrihen, Rihen, Felipe Van Keirsbilck and Johan Bruyere at the University of Mons, Auditoire Marie Curie, 19:00.
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The candidates are available for interviews.
French-speaking list:
- Laurent de Sutter
- Marine Betrancourt
- Michèle Heyvaert
- Davide Castro
- Marianne Oppitz
- Nigel Munisamy
- Julian (Julek) Jurowicz
- Andréa Kalubi
Dutch-speaking list:
- Rosita Allinckx
- Adrian Vlaicu
- Laura Peek
- Joren de Wachter
- Nicolas Neirinckx
- Rik Wellens
- Marita de Neubourg
- Francine Mestrum
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Media contacts
DiEM25 Belgium – (Belgian Press Officer)
Davide Castro | +32 488 03 41 87 | [email protected]
Génération.s Brussels Committee – (French Press Officer)
Oriana Henry | + +32 485 17 35 25 | [email protected]
LIVRE – (Portuguese Press Officer)
Jorge Pinto | +32 483 05 09 23 | [email protected]
DiEM25 Communications
Luis Martín | +34 670 48 48 51 | [email protected]
DiEM25 activists gather in Cologne to boost a citizen takeover of the European institutions next May
Our movement is as powerful as the activists that drive it. That is why between February 7 – 10 we brought together 150 of our most passionate activists in Cologne to train them on the skills they will need for the campaign ahead. After the success of the first-ever DiEM25 Academy in Belgrade last September, we decided to repeat the occasion.
In the run-up to the May 2019 European Parliament elections, this year’s Academy focused on promoting our European Spring manifesto and and the way each of us can contribute to this unique endeavour. Campaigning, advocacy, social media: all was covered by experts ranging from the senior advisor of the Bernie Sanders campaign, to European professionals and of course the expertise coming from our own grassroots.
At the same time, we met, chatted and had fun together – proving that politics is not reserved for gray suits and black ties.
Here’s what happened during the three days:
The day started with a slight delay in the coffee production process, but it was soon resolved! Our activists got their DiEM25 bags and coffee take-away cups and the room filled to about 150 people, coming from 21 countries!
Our local volunteer group in Cologne (DSC Cologne) opened the second Academy by welcoming our activists with the personal story of their latest dynamic group processes. They told everyone how Marx and Engels had met in a city close to Cologne (Wuppertal) and that Jan Böhmermann, the TV-show host who engineered the Varoufakis’ ‘middlefinger’ just lives around the corner.
DiEM25 co-founder, Srećko Horvat, reminded us of the urgency of our cause in his welcome address.
At the same time a demonstration organised by school children inspired by Greta Tunberg was taking place in front of the town hall in the city center. Some activists spontaneously decided to support the school children and attended their protest to offer their support.
Among them were Srećko Horvat and Zack Exley, former senior advisor of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.
After some discussions with the demonstrators two of them decided to drop by at the Academy for a short time.
Before noon Janina Urban gave a workshop on understanding our Green New Deal for Europe, the manifesto that we’re taking to ballot boxes everywhere in Europe this May. Janina explained how the Green New Deal wants to change the maldistribution of resources, fix the unfavorable institutional set-up of the Euro currency area, and tame finance.
This carried over nicely to the workshop on the European Spring programme, presented by David Adler, DiEM25’s Policy Coordinator, who challenged our activists to break down the programme’s ideas in order to develop specific campaign actions.
In a parallel workshop led by DSC Cologne member Justus Spott, our activists got hands-on advice on how to give refugees legal support, hinting at the European political landscape on attitudes towards migration.
Gianna Merki, DiEM25 Coordinating Collective member, presented the work she has been doing on conflict mediation.
The day ended with a discussion on the Gilets Jaunes. We heard reports from activists living in France who described situations of despair. One activist said that it was important to take these protests very seriously because it shows that politics is still taking place in the streets where DiEM25 should be visible.
Day two began with a workshop led by Zack Exley on the work he did to help organise volunteers during Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. He later talked about his current work with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and described their version of the Green New Deal.
Georg Blokus introduced our activists to community organising, starting with the first pillar: (political) storytelling
Boris Falatar talked about his experiences in Bosnia and highlighted the importance of storytelling in successful political communication.
After lunch, Davide Castro, DiEM25 Social Media Coordinator, gave a seminar on how to make the best use of social media during political campaigning.
This was followed by a workshop on diversity led by Evelyn from DSC Cologne. She spoke about the importance of intersectionality and the need for progressive movements to know its vocabulary.
The evening started with an event hosted by our friends from the School of Political Hope at “Altes Pfandhaus”. It counted with the participation of Rosemary Bechler, Ivana
Nenadovic, Zack Exley and Srećko Horvat and was moderated by Georg Blokus. They spoke about the topics “EU – In or Out”, the “Progressive International” and “Democracy in Europe” and then answered questions from the audience.
The day ended with a party at “Acephale” to celebrate DiEM25’s third birthday!
DiEM25’s online art auction: A new way of funding democratic movements and a new relationship between participatory politics and art
DiEM25 is changing the way we do politics and fund our campaigns. From our first day, we declared that we shall not be receiving money from bankers, Brussels, oligarchs and assorted vested interests – that we would struggle with whatever funding our activists could provide from their meagre resources.
Today, faced with the uphill struggle of participating in the European Parliament elections across Europe, we proudly inaugurate a second source of funding: Our online fundraising art auction made possible by the donation of splendid works by remarkable artists we are lucky to count amongst DiEM25’s friends, comrades and supporters – e.g. our very own Brian Eno, Alfonso Cuaron, Costa Varotsos, Hito Steyerl and many, many others.
To peruse the works, and to meet all the participating artists, click here.
Speaking for a moment personally, I am touched and honoured that these artists should see it fit to support DiEM25 and its hard working activists in the run up to the European Parliament elections. This auction demonstrates DiEM25’s remarkable depth and quality, as well as our penchant for a New Politics and a new relationship between Activism and Art.
Artists for DiEM25: an online auction
We are delighted to launch DiEM25’s online auction in partnership with paddle8, “Artists for DiEM25”, raising funds for DiEM25’s historic campaign to bring democracy and humanity back to Europe.
Across the continent, we are witnessing the rise of xenophobia, populism and toxic nationalism. These forces threaten to undo decades of peace, progress and a shared European identity.
DiEM25 is a grassroots movement launched by Yanis Varoufakis, Srećko Horvat, and many others to transform the European Union, bringing people from across Europe and around the world to end austerity, enshrine democracy, and combat the forces of division inside the EU.
This auction will support DiEM25’s transnational campaign, featuring works by a wide range of international artists who share the vision of a democratic Europe.
Auction preview: January 30 – February 4
Bidding period: February 5 – February 19
Link to the auction: https://paddle8.com/auction/diem25
Click here to see the auction catalog featuring all the works of art.
- Emi Avora
- Jack Burton
- Gioula Chatzigeorgiou
- Phil Collins
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Brian Eno
- Callum Leo Hughes
- Nikos Kanarelis
- Miltos Manetas
- Raoul Martinez
- Sam McGuire
- Christina Mitrentse
- Nikos Papadopoulos
- Artemis Potamianou
- Dan Rees
- Oliver Ressler
- Elif Shafak
- Nedko Solakov
- Jonas Staal
- Hito Steyerl
- Danae Stratou
- Daniel Sturgis
- Mark Titchner
- Costas Varotsos
- Mark Wallinger
Europe now has a Green New Deal and it's coming to a ballot box near you in May
“Start cooking, the recipe will follow”, said Brian Eno during the first launch of DiEM25 in February 2016.
And now the recipe has come. On that very day we stated that DiEM25 would be a movement led by ideas. No old politics, no horse-trading, no empty slogans. After months of collective work with all the partners of European Spring, our transnational alliance, and after going through hundreds of comments and proposals received by our members, we are finally there.
On Friday January 25 the Council of European Spring officially approved the Green New Deal for Europe: our groundbreaking, pan-European programme for change.
From a green investment programme to drive through the world’s ecological transition to clear action on ending the scandal of tax havens; from humane and effective migration policy to a clear plan to tackle poverty in our continent; from a Workers’ Compact to a European Convention on Women’s Rights and much more, the Green New Deal is the go-to document for anyone wishing to break the dogma of “There Is No Alternative” and bring back hope to our continent.
The best news? Most of the policies contained in our programme are immediately implementable. They could be reality tomorrow. And they could change the lives of every citizen of Europe from the day after.
All that is needed is political will. And this is where you come in again. The European establishment has pursued policies so unjust and so dysfunctional to have triggered the great nationalist and xenophobic backlash of our days. We think the current European leadership needs to be replaced if we are to save Europe from itself.
That is why we decided to use the upcoming European elections to bring our programme and our ideas all across Europe in the first real transnational political campaign. Help us make this a reality!
After decades where politics became little more than technical administration and business as usual, the time has come to reclaim the visionary potential of ideas and of people power.
“All historical experience confirms this – man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible.” So said Max Weber in a famous address to German students in 1919.
DiEM25 and the European Spring have set about an ambitious course to demonstrate just this. Be part of making the impossible possible.
Our whistleblowing laws must change
The world has never needed more whistleblowers more. And yet whistleblowers have never face greater fear and uncertainty for speaking out against governments and corporations.
One of the most high-profile whistleblowing cases, that of Julian Assange, is regarded by a wide range of UN experts as unlawful persecution. Assange cannot access his fundamental rights for fear of immediate extradition. This is despite an ostensible detente between Assange and the new Ecuadorean government.
This horrifying precedent stands against the history of the ‘Samizdat’ press, an underground publishing network that held critical opinions on Soviet policy and eventually stoked the atmosphere for Glasnost and Perestroika. Their fearless journalism, published at the risk of their lives, shone a light on the moral abyss of the totalitarian state. While official media like Pravda indicated that everything was OK, the Samizdat press spoke to the needs and concerns of ordinary people that they were forbidden to acknowledge in public.
The long shadow of the Cold War has led many pundits to believe blindly in the superiority of US press freedoms, encouraging complacency among their public audiences.
Assange’s case must be a wake-up call. With an IMF bailout upcoming, the ratification of Assange’s citizenship and asylum is coming in to review, and forcible expulsion and extradition is likely to come in to force.
DiEM25 believes that censorship has no place in international journalism and that all dissenting opinions should be tolerated and supported in democratic society, be they in support of government policy, or not. We call on all nations to honour UN commitments to abide by human rights as a matter of utmost urgency.
Don’t extradite Assange! Sign our petition
Democracy is a global struggle
The fight for democracy in Europe cannot be uncoupled from the struggle for justice around the world.
As members of DiEM25 and co-conveners of the Progressive International movement, we want to express our deep condolences to the people of Kenya for all those who were killed, injured, or otherwise impacted in Tuesday’s attack at the Dusit hotel complex in Nairobi.
We also extend our condolences to the people of Colombia impacted by the car bomb attack in the Colombian capital, which risks a fragile peace process and brings to the memory of many the hardest times of the war.
The situation is not better in Zimbabwe, where scores of activists are in hiding and a campaign of censorship is being deployed to silence the demands of people and hide the violent crackdowns. When former revolutionaries torture their own people struggling for peace and fairness, the spirit of change is doubly tainted.
Peace and solidarity are nearly impossible to achieve without a shared vision of democracy, prosperity and sustainability to protect people from senseless violence and the military industry that feeds it. Our movement will firmly stand and support those struggling against violence, inequality and needless wars. We will find a voice, a hand, support and solidarity from our friends around the world.
Austerity, Xenophobia, Euro and Environment – DiEM25 and European Spring event, Berlin 24/1/2019
With xenophobic and authoritarian forces rising across the EU, economies not yet back to pre-2008 levels, Eurozone ‘exits’ becoming more likely and climate catastrophe on the horizon, it’s time to stop what we’re doing and rethink.
The EUROPEAN SPRING, that will be contesting the May 2019 European elections in 11 countries, brings together politicians and activists to give a new, European perspective on these critical issues.
Program:
- Introductory speech by Yanis Varoufakis, co-founder of DiEM25, Secretary of Greek party MeRA25, and lead MEP candidate for Demokratie in Europa in Germany for the EUROPEAN SPRING
- Panel 1: Migration and xenophobia
- Panel 2: Poverty and austerity
- Panel 3: The Euro and ‘exit’
- Panel 4: The environment
- Conclusion
Confirmed panelists:
- Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, leader of the Polish party Razem
- Baltasar Garzón, star judge, founder of the Spanish party Actúa
- David Adler, member of DiEM25´s Coordinating Collective and coordinator of the Progressive International movement
- Daniela Platsch, director of the Austrian party Der Wandel, lead MEP candidate for Demokratie in Europa
- Franka Kretschmer, member of the board of the German party Demokratie in Bewegung
- Isabelle Thomas, member of the European parliament for the French party Génération.s
- Lorenzo Marsili, Italian writer, founder of European Alternatives, member of DiEM25´s Coordinating Collective
- Rasmus Nordqvist, member of the Danish parliament for Alternativet
- Rui Tavares, former MEP, founder of the Portuguese party LIVRE
- Yanis Varoufakis
Moderator: Bianca Praetorius, MEP candidate for Demokratie in Europa
Sharing stories of political struggles in their countries as well as innovative solutions, our panelists will ensure that everyone gains a deeper understanding of what’s ailing Europe at the start of 2019…. and how we can fix it.
Join us!
Our location is a 15 minute drive from Alexanderplatz, Berlin. It’s the old stock exchange Marzahn, Zur Alten Börse 59, 12681 Berlin. Doors open at 19:00; the event starts at 19:30.
Buy Early Bird tickets here. There will be a limited number of regular-price tickets sold at the event itself.
MEP Candidate and MeRA25 leader Yanis Varoufakis unveils political programme for Greece and Europe ahead of elections
During a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, MEP candidate and MeRA25 leader Yanis Varoufakis announced his party’s political programme for Greece. In coalition with the European Spring transnational alliance, it shall offer a progressive agenda for Europe: a New Deal for Europe.
Varoufakis appeared before the media with members of the European Spring coalition alliance, Isabelle Thomas and Guillaume Balas (Génération.s), MeRA25’s Sofia Sakarofa, as well as Irish MEP Nessa Childers. Varoufakis outlined his political programme’s key proposals, including a plan for 2.5 BN euros of green investment over the next five years and a plan to restructure public debt through the European Central Bank.
“What is missing are institutions which do things that institutions have failed to do in the past, with proper democratic processes in decision-making and recycling measures for savings, for surpluses but also for deficits at a pan-European level. This is vitally important if the Eurozone is going to stop being a generator of crises, which are hurting Europe, damaging Europe and choking countries such as the ones represented here, and feeding racists in government, like Salvini and Kurz“ said Varoufakis.
Sofia Sakarofa, who recently joined the MeRA25 ranks, said: “Today when the European economic elite is putting out a phony dilemma, we must fight for solidarity, fair development, high level of employment and social protection, increasing standards of living, economic and social cohesion in all the member states.”
Guillaume Balas underscored the importance of a transnational progressive alliance in the next European Parliament elections, “which has to involve many groups to get a majority, [a] new group needs to bring together the democratic ambition we have, that Europe cannot stay as it is, that citizens needs more power, that Europe needs to be more socially fair and it needs to protect citizens rather than increase competition.”
Isabelle Thomas outlined the European Spring alliance’s ultimate goal: “Our ambition is to convince Europeans that we totally need to change Europe; we need to refuse the trap which is being offered, between neoliberals which have destroyed the European dream and the nationalists. There isn’t a binary choice between neoliberals and nationalists. There is an alternative: European Spring.”
Nessa Childers pointed to European Spring as the only way forward to properly tackle the Union’s woes and path to disintegration: “We can see from the Brexit debate. There won’t be a quick reform of anything when it comes to the European Council. […] European Spring is, in my opinion, the last hope for reforming Europe.”
Watch the press conference here.
Get involved, join us! europeanspring.net