JOURNALIST: Good morning, Sia Anagnostopoulou. You are the Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, responsible for European Affairs in Alexis Tsipras’ administration. Thank you very much for being our guest on the occasion of your visit to France. The European elections are scheduled for 26 May. There’s actual distrust in your country, Greece. Is it reversible?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: There’s a problem in Europe; in the way we can inspire the people, get them to vote and show their trust in Europe. To get them to vote because Europe is their own playground, where they can lay claim to their future. It is a difficult situation. Despite the crisis in Greece, despite the political austerity imposed by the European institutions as well, the Greeks are not so much against Europe as one would imagine. Around 50% continue to be pro-European. So we must increase this rate and inspire the citizens to come and vote for Europe.
JOURNALIST: That is a huge bet. I suggest now we take a look at an excerpt from TV5’s Les Haut-Parleurs, a show that focuses on the problems of young people in Europe. It is an excerpt from Greece. Listen to what they have to say about Europe.
[A story from Greece is screened as part of the show Les Haut-Parleurs on TV5]
“JOURNALIST: Europe places restrictions without offering anything great when we are in need. That’s how Alexandra feels.
ALEXANDRA: Another issue I cannot understand is how can I feel European when I cannot have benefits that are considered self-evident in other EU countries.
JOURNALIST: It is a bitter feeling shared by 50% of the Greeks. Only 54% believe that the country benefits from being a part of the EU. The rate is lower only among the Italians, who, anyway, have chosen to be governed by the extreme right.”
JOURNALIST: We’re seeing that the extreme right is quite powerful in your country. The Golden Dawn, a party resembling Marine Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, seems to be ahead in the polls. Is this another side of the reality in these elections?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Yes, certainly. It is a side of the reality in these elections and that is why they are crucial for Europe. On the one hand, there’s the austerity. We have to be done with the austerity policies in Europe; to become more of a social state in Europe. You heard what the young people are saying: Europe is not giving us what it should.
JOURNALIST: What Alexandra said in the story.
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Yes, Alexandra. Exactly. On the other hand, due to the austerity policies, due to the democratic deficit, the feeling of some that they cannot access Europe, that they cannot affect the European policies, the extreme right is on the rise. And this is something very serious. It is very dangerous because Europe has paid a high price due to the extreme right, fascism, Nazism. We do remember. It was not that long ago.
JOURNALIST: You’re saying that this threat is real even in these days; the threat of the Golden Dawn, of the National Rally in France. Are you correlating them?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Yes, of course. This real danger is actually in our backyard; it not a far-off danger. Seeing the rise [of the extreme right], seeing the British leaving Europe, this proves something. It is a warning sign. We should not shut our eyes. If I’m going to say one thing to the people of Europe is for them to vote this time around. Our future depends on these elections. The future of all the European people. If we truly want to have countries with a social state, social claims, we have to lay claims at a European level.
JOURNALIST: In France, for example, there’s the Yellow Vest crisis, we are eventually witnessing the doubts of the people of Europe. We are also witnessing our young people, who, in Greece for example, were subject to the austerity measures. We are witnessing Greece bearing the weight of the refugee crisis without necessarily getting the help it would have hoped for from Europe. Consequently, Europe did not respond to all the incidents, did not keep up its end.
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: That’s actually how it is. You said it very eloquently. Europe did not keep up its end with the citizens. Let’s look at the mass exodus from southern European countries, Greece, Portugal and Spain. The exodus of young people towards other European countries because they cannot imagine a future in their own country. Let’s look at the phenomenon of refugees and migrants. There was no solidarity on the part of Europe. As a consequence, the citizens are pulling away because they don’t see Europe by their side in their everyday lives. That’s what politics is: being there in the everyday lives of citizens. You mentioned the claims of the Yellow Vests. In recent years, there has been disappointment on the part of society because they feel they have no access to power. The people are saying that decisions are made in Brussels; they cannot intervene, so they pull away, as they say. So extreme right parties are emerging with a made-up rhetoric that did not exist in the past. They are talking about a powerful state, a powerful nation-state; this vocabulary did not exist in the past. So instead of building the future, through these extreme right parties we are seeing a past that was never there anyway, and we are missing out on the future. That's why I want to tell the people of Europe that a vote in favour of the extreme right parties is tantamount to abstention from the future, to turning our backs on the future. That past does not exist. They aspire to restore a past that only exists in the realm of fantasy, rather than lay claim to the future.
JOURNALIST: But Minister, we’re seeing that the issue of Europe has no place in a pre-election period when we are talking more about national issues. In France we are under the impression that it is a test for Emmanuel Macron. Europe is not interesting; it does not incite.
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Look, Mr. Simonin. It is normal to an extent. If we keep talking about Europe in extreme technocratic terms, how will we inspire the citizens to look at Europe? Europe has turned into an entirely technocratic rhetoric with incomprehensible language, instead of showing them that this Europe is our common ground for laying claim to our social life, our cultural life, our economic life and eventually our future. Consequently, there are difficulties. We, the politicians, must change the way in which we approach Europe.
JOURNALIST: Thank you very much, Sia Anagnostopoulou, Greek Minister of European Affairs, for being with us.
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Thank you very much.
May 7, 2019