European Spring lands in Warsaw
On Saturday we were at the Kino Wisła in the heart of Warsaw, as part of the annual congress of our Polish partners Razem. The goal? To launch European Spring — our common list for the 2019 European Parliament elections — in Poland. (Check out the draft European Spring programme!)
The day kicked off with a press conference. Standing alongside our partners Razem, led by Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Razem’s National Board member, our co-founder Yanis Varoufakis said: “The greatest threat to the people of Poland, Greece, Germany is the fragmentation of our common home because of policies from Brussels and the nationalist international that is tearing Europe apart.”
Then the event started, with a host of speakers from European Spring friends from all corners of Europe: Génération.s from France, Alternativet from Denmark, MeRA25 from Greece, Razem from Poland (naturally!), and others. On the agenda, as one participant observed: a seven-hour workday, a healthier environment, and the wholesale rejuvenation of Europe.
Isabelle Thomas of Génération.s said: “We want to offer a new vision of what Europe could be.” Expanding on this, she added that “European Spring will propose a standardisation of the 35 hour week. This should be the standard across Europe.”
Then our co-founder Srećko Horvat took the stage. “Fascism never died,” he said. “There is a civil war going on in Europe, with neoliberals on one side and right wing populists on the other. They are two sides of the same coin, and they’re against us: people fighting for open borders and democracy”.
A strong theme of the day was women’s rights. Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk said that “Women rights are at the core of European Spring and Razem, while her colleague Florentyna Gust added: “There can be no democracy without equal rights for women. This is exactly what our European Spring common policy programme offers: a progressive vision for Europe that puts women rights at the centre of our struggle for a better world.”
Then Rasmus Nordqvist of the Danish party Alternativet took the stage, and spoke passionately about environmental issues. “I’m proud to be a part of European Spring,” he said. “We have a new Green New Deal for Europe that answers the planet’s call. Let’s create the best Europe for the world and for the transition we need to make together.”
Maciej Konieczny, Razem’s National Board member, took the floor, and discussed inequality. He said: “The Europe that we have now is one where millionaires thrive, not the majority of citizens. The Europe of the Establishment is not delivering. We must change it or democracy will continue to be in danger.”
Yanis Varoufakis spoke about the rise of the far right. He said: “Fascists don’t come to us wearing brown shirts, terror and violence, they come to us with promises.” He added: “No one in Europe can flourish if others in the European community are subject to oppression.”
Lastly, an open debate was held about ‘open cities of Europe’, and the event wrapped.
As before, the conclusions of this meeting will soon be made available online by all participating organisations.
Want to get involved? Contact us.
The freedom of "the pack" outrages Spain
The Provincial Court of Navarre has decided to release on bail the five men it considers guilty of abusing an 18-year-old girl during the San Fermín festival in Pamplona in 2016.
The decision is a new blow to a society that is aware of the fight against male violence and once again, thousands of women have taken to the streets to show their indignation against a judicial decision that we feel is a new violation of our rights.
The case of “the pack” has shocked the whole country, especially feminism, which claims that it is not about abuse, but about rape. To the cry of No is NO, we women stand up to a patriarchal justice that is alien to our demands and obsolete in its laws.
The decision of provisional release is accompanied by a series of measures such as a ban on contacting the victim, entry to the Community of Madrid (place of residence of the young woman), withdrawal of the passport and a ban on leaving the territory.
And, you will believe that with these preventive measures, the victim can rest assured. But the image of the guilty enjoying a privilege that should never have been granted, of walking around freely in public as if nothing had happened, as if the life of a woman had not been destroyed in that dirty portal, is a devastating image because of the message it transmits to the whole of society.
The victim does not deserve this contempt for her pain, a pain that does not have a time ¨provisional¨ , nor is her life what it should be.
A patriarchal Justice that places man at the centre of the Universe and interprets it according to his gender: the same one that violates us, the same one that kills us, the same one that judges us, the same one that nullifies us, the same one that places us in a position of continuous vulnerability.
Patriarchal justice does not understand the weariness and pain of women. They still don’t listen, they don’t understand our voices that resound loudly in the streets and squares. We will continue to do so so that such terrible events do not occur and, above all, we will not remain silent in the face of the ignominy to which you, ladies and gentlemen, have condemned all of us, minimising our pain in this car which determines that the guilty parties can now avail themselves of a benefit that leaves them free.
It is the victim who has no provisional or permanent privileges. She is the one who has been deprived of her freedom, because fear paralyzes and prevents her from living freely, as all women should live freely and safely. It’s your responsibility, your responsibility, ladies and gentlemen.
Marina is a member of DiEM25’s Spanish PNC.
Photo by CANVALCA (under Creative Commons 4.0 license)
European Parliament Elections: launching the European Spring transnational list
Italy is stuck between terrible options. On one side, the League government has abandoned 600 migrants at sea and has promoted a flat tax to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich. On the other side, PD and Forza Italia offer only a discredited opposition. We need a new alternative.
DiEM25, the first pan-European political movement launched by Yanis Varoufakis and Lorenzo Marsili, aims to provide that alternative. In Milan, they presented their a New Deal for Europe policy programme that they will take to the European Parliament in May 2019.
With the active involvement of political parties from France, Germany, Portugal, Poland, and Denmark, DiEM25 will be at the forefront of the transnational “European Spring” list that will campaign for the European Parliament with a unified election programme and a single candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
This list also presents another element of great novelty: European citizens, through online primaries, will be the ones to choose the candidate for President. The call for candidates was started in Milan.
“For the first time we will return to European citizens a right that has been denied for too long: choosing who makes decisions in Brussels”, said Yanis Varoufakis.
The movement’s programme was presented during the press conference that followed DiEM25’s large public event. As a result of collaboration of world-renowned scholars – such as Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein – and over 3,000 contributions from the party’s members, the programme presents a series of concrete policies that – within the parameters of European Treaties in force – we could implement tomorrow in order to save the European Union. Among these:
- A 500 billion euros yearly Green investment and industrial conversion
- A European anti-poverty plan
- A universal basic dividend, covered by the dividend of multinationals
- An innovative common migration policy
“From now on we will not have to choose between Macron or Orban, Merkel or Salvini, between the establishment and populism. There is a third option able to offer a disruptive European political proposal. In May 2019 any citizen, in every part of the continent, will be able to vote for this third option”, wraps up Lorenzo Marsili.
DiEM25 calls upon all progressives to support Julian Assange’s bid for freedom!
Since the middle of February, DiEM25 members have been considering a statement of support for DiEM25’s Advisory Panel member Julian Assange proposed by the Greek National Collective.
More recently, our internal debate was overtaken by events in Ecuador and within the Ecuadorian Embassy (where Julian has spent the last six years, in the view of the UN, under conditions of ‘arbitrary detention’).
At first, Julian’s access to the outside world was cut off completely – prompting Coordinating Collective (CC) members, Yanis Varoufakis and Brian Eno, to begin a petition demanding that Julian’s access to the outside world (e.g. visitors and internet connection) be restored and his isolation ended. (Their petition gathered more than 80,000 signatures.)
Now, it is becoming increasingly clear that Ecuador, under immense pressure from US and UK authorities, is preparing to deliver him to British Police while the Trump administration is preparing an extradition request on spying charges – that will most certainly lead him, if his extradition proceeds, into the type of pre-trial incarceration and inhuman treatment Chelsea Manning was subjected to. It is also clear that any trial in the US will be political, sending him to a maximum-security jail for decades, as USA did in the past with other political prisoners.
With these developments in progress, it was incumbent upon DiEM25 to take a clear position and conclude our internal deliberation by means of an all-member vote. After a substantial period of internal deliberation, DiEM25 members have – with a clear majority of 80% – voted in favour of officially supporting Julian Assange’s bid for freedom.
Whatever differences of opinion one may have with Julian on particular issues (e.g. his support for Brexit, which DiEM25 opposed), we are proud to have one of the greatest champions of transparency on our Advisory Panel. Wikileaks has played a magnificent role in turning the spotlight onto Big Brother and allowing all of us to understand abuses and crimes perpetrated in our name. We shall not sit idly by while Julian Assange is persecuted for this and while he is facing the prospect of disappearing into the type of ‘justice’ system that Chelsea Manning came to know well.
DiEM25 expresses its solidarity with Julian Assange and Wikileaks and calls upon all progressives (individuals, movements, political parties…) to support his bid for life and liberty.
Germany’s government on the brink of collapse over migration policy
This week, the German government nearly collapsed over its position on migration, as Angela Merkel’s CDU-CSU stood off against the xenophobic far-right in Germany and across the European continent.
In the past year alone, the movement to entrench Fortress Europe has grown dramatically. In December 2017, rising star of the centre-right Sebstian Kurz entered into coalition with the far-right, anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPÖ). Two weeks later Victor Orban, the voice of unwavering close-door migration policy, paid a much-noted visit to members of Merkel’s Bavarian sister-party. It was a symbolic visit, suggesting unity in their tough stance on migration. Finally, in the beginning of this month, the Italian far-right party Lega entered government in Italy. Meanwhile, back in Germany, the opposition Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has been putting pressure on government to tighten its stance on migration.
This coalition of far-right forces appears as a “new axis” in Europe, united in the effort to stop migrants at the outer borders of Europe. The Aquarius, a vessel carrying more than 600 migrants was refused to enter Italy’s ports — despite the effort of Naples mayor and DiEM25 Advisor Luigi di Magistris to welcome them. Valencia jumped in last minute allowing the Aquarius to moor.
Sebastian Kurz now calls for a “coalition of the willing” comprised of Vienna, Rome and Berlin to keep migrants out of Europe. Germany’s minister of interior Horst Seehofer showed his full support and suggests to close the German borders to migrants already registered in other European countries. This is causing an internal split between Merkel’s softer stance on migration and Seehofer’s threat mutiny against her.
Seehofer’s successor and colleague Markus Söder — reigning over Bavarian politics — tweeted that “asylum tourism has to stop. Germany mustn’t wait for Europe indefinitely, but has to act on its own.” These words, it should be noted, accompany Seehofer’s close contact with Italian minister of interior Matteo Salvini, who is “fully in tune” on the issue.
In Germany, then, we have a showdown. Even if the matter looks settled for the moment, it is almost certain that this new “coalition of the willing” will strike again.
DiEM25 proposes mutual recognition of asylum decisions and swift transfer of protection statuses within the EU. We believe that we must do everything we can to fight the “coalition of the willing,” which plays politics with human lives, and stand up for solidarity. Join us.
DiEM25 supports de Magistris and other brave Italian mayors’ decision to #Let_Them_In | #Aquarius
When the Italian government shuts its ports to migrants it’s time for cities to disobey and keep them open. We celebrate the courage and principled stance of mayors of Napoli, Palermo, Messina and others for doing just that. We stand with you.
The new Italian government has announced it will shut its ports to all boats carrying migrants. The ‘Aquarius’, a vessel carrying over 600 people on board, including over 100 unaccompanied minors, is currently stationed off the coast of Sicily . Far-right Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, in cooperation with the Five Star Movement’s Infrastructure Minister, Danilo Toninelli, are preventing the “Aquarius” from entering port.
Several Italian mayors, including DiEM25 member, European Spring partner and Naples mayor Luigi de Magistris, as well as Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando, have announced that they will disobey the government’s actions and keep their cities’ ports open. DiEM25 praises and supports their action and courage. Because when the law becomes illegitimate, the law must be disobeyed.
We call on mayors all across Italy and Europe to follow de Magistris’ and Orlando’s example, and prepare to welcome migrants in defiance of national laws.
Where national governments fail the test of humanity, cities must take the lead in showing us how to remain human.
European Spring Council agrees political programme ahead of 2019 European Parliament elections
Following the second meeting of the European Spring in Lisbon last April, DiEM25 and its European political partners gathered in Paris for a third time on June 8.
Here’s what happened:
The council met at La Bellevilloise, where our Coordinating Collective (CC) members, Yanis Varoufakis, Agnieszka Wiśniewska, Paola Pietrandrea and Lorenzo Marsili, as well as representatives of all European Spring partners, discussed the progressive agenda that we will present to European citizens at the 2019 European Parliament elections.
“Le #PrintempsEuropéen est un mouvement qui grandit. Les mouvements qui le composent sont jeunes et se ressemblent. Transition écologique, droit du travail… Nous avons les mêmes visions, les mêmes solutions.” @benoithamon pic.twitter.com/IVjWlW9JO5
— Génération.s (@GenerationsMvt) June 8, 2018
The group covered a packed agenda during an 8-hour-long session, which included a vote that welcomed Demokratie in Bewegung to European Spring, conditional on their ability to form a coalition with our German political association: Demokratie in Europa.
The European Spring’s co-chairs, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk and Lorenzo Marsili, were voted in again as co-chairs of the council.
.@AgaBak from @partiarazem and @l_marsili have been appointed co-chairs of #EuropeanSpring! Congratulations and good luck! pic.twitter.com/yMO0QxAHuC
— Razem International (@RazemInt) June 8, 2018
The European Spring Council then passed the first draft of its ambitious and inspiring political programme which shall be opened to all the members of the partners of European Spring for amendments and a final vote.
The council also consolidated a proposal for a common campaign across Europe, starting in the summer of 2018 and running all the way until the European elections of May 2019, which will be published soon.
Finally, the European Spring Council concluded by renewing its open call to all progressives in Europe to join our common project in order to present a credible solution for the future of our cities, regions, nations and Europe itself.
“Nous sommes le seul antidote contre ceux qui refusent l’alternative et ceux qui proposent une alternative toxique.” @yanisvaroufakis #PrintempsEuropeen #HopeisBack pic.twitter.com/hZAdFmgyOj
— Génération.s (@GenerationsMvt) June 8, 2018
All decisions regarding the list’s programme will be tabled to all participating organisation’s members for consultation and eventual vote.
The European Spring’s continuing Open Call to Europe’s progressive forces
EUROPEAN SPRING was created to be a force of unity across Europe between progressives facing the historic duty to oppose, simultaneously, the regressive establishment and the xenophobic nationalists rising high due to the establishment’s failed, austerity policies.
EUROPEAN SPRING believes that for unity to be possible and effective, it must be centred on common actions and a common policy agenda that is credible, coherent and open to contributions from the many sources of excellent, progressive ideas. This is why EUROPEAN SPRING is working hard on a coherent, comprehensive New Deal for Europe.
To combine Openness, Unity and Coherence, EUROPEAN SPRING will move in the following ways over the next few weeks:
- Renew our Open Call at the European and national levels to the Greens, to the Left, to feminists and to all progressive forces linked to these blocks nationally, to forge a common paneuropean ticket on the basis of a common Policy Agenda and Manifesto
- As part of our renewed Open Call, the EUROPEAN SPRING will propose that the common Agenda will be put to the vote across all members of all participating movements, as well as independent citizens who wish to join in. In case of disagreements on specific aspects of the Agenda, all participating political forces accept that these disagreements will be resolved through this paneuropean vote
- The proposed open, primary process should proceed independently of which political forces decide to respond positively to the Open Call, be open to any member of any political party not necessarily participating in the EUROPEAN SPRING ticket and, indeed, to independent progressives.
The Council of EUROPEAN SPRING will pursue the above on the basis of our common understanding that:
- All discussions with potential partners will be coordinated by the Council of the EUROPEAN SPRING, to promote greater coherence of our transnational list and help build-up the EUROPEAN SPRING’s political capital and exposure Europe-wide
- Our candidates will compete with the EUROPEAN SPRING logo in every country, potentially with other partners’ names/logos as well
- All candidates in the common EUROPEAN SPRING ticket will support the common agenda that the primary vote will have produced.
Follow the European Spring's 3rd Council Meeting Live!
The European Spring has arrived in Paris!
After a first meeting in Naples in March and a second in Lisbon in April, DiEM25 and its European political partners are meeting in Paris to discuss the progressive agenda that we will present to European citizens at the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Tune in to the livestream now!