Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou’s interview to the French daily L’ Humanité and journalist Rosa Moussaoui has been posted online with the title: “Austerity is breeding the rise of the extreme right”.
“Sia Anagnostopoulou is the [Greek] Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, responsible for European Affairs. For SYRIZA, the challenge of the European elections is to form a progressive front.
JOURNALIST: The signing of the Prespa Agreement between Athens and Skopje for the name of “Macedonia” led to demonstrations that were headed by the right and the extreme right. Does this signal a preamble to a permanent re-emergence of the nationalist side?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: The Prespa Agreement is an event of major importance for Greece and the wider area. It is the first time in decades that two Balkan countries decided to resolve their differences peacefully. There is a nationalist movement in Greece. As for its political weight as we speak? I hope it is limited. The European elections will tell. The problem is that the right wing has assimilated a part of this nationalist movement. Hence, the use of these reactions rejecting the Prespa Agreement by New Democracy in an effort to draw electoral gains. However, it seems to me that the Greek people are ready to accept this compromise.
JOURNALIST: In 2016, the Greeks welcomed the refugees from the Middle East with open arms. But they feel that Europe has left them to fend for their own in this crisis. Doesn’t this enrich the arsenal of the right and the extreme right?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: It was fortunate that this refugee inflow happened in 2015 and 2016, when the country was ruled by a left-wing government, determined to encourage and promote hospitality and solidarity towards the refugees, in a society traumatised by the economic crisis and austerity. The risk of nationalism and racism rising was high. The opposite happened, though. Naturally, the lack of solidarity on the part of Europe has bred feelings of disappointment and bitterness within the Greek society. The Greeks were under the impression that they bore a collective responsibility all on their own.
JOURNALIST: Greece has officially exited the memoranda. However, the creditors are continuing to exert pressure. Is there a political process that will free the country from their demands for austerity in the future?
S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Of course, some limitations are still in place. They are quite severe in the case of Greece, but they are also in place in other eurozone countries, starting with France. For the grip to loosen, the balance of political powers in Brussels must be reversed. Austerity, as a key element of European policies, does not work. It only causes the rise of the extreme right. The key message of these European elections is to build a progressive front, capable of tearing apart these policies.”
May 8, 2019