“In Greece, during the pandemic we won the great battle against the forces of populism, alienation and marginalisation,” Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed in his address in today’s online debate – hosted by the Institute for Democracy ‘Konstantinos Karamanlis’ – titled “Is democracy ‘vaccinated’ against the pandemic? From the delusions of populism to the fake news of the coronavirus.”
In his capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Alternate Minister highlighted that the Greek Chairmanship, very early on, focused on the restrictions the pandemic necessitated on the functioning of democratic institutions and on the exercise of fundamental rights. These issues will be addressed in the “Athens Declaration,” which Greece hopes to see adopted on 4 November, in Athens, at the 130th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Subsequently, Mr. Varvitsiotis made special mention of Greece’s management of the pandemic, noting the increase in trust seen between citizens and the state and the role of medical specialists in managing the crisis. He noted that Prime Minister Mitsotakis was wise to put specialists on the front lines of the battle, rather than politicians who could be accused of trying to “score points.” The specialists convinced public opinion, made critical decisions and continue to do so. In his view, he said, this approach ensured optimum protection of public health.
Further, having recalled that the Plague of Athens, 2,500 years ago, opened the way at that time to the threat of populism, the Alternate Minister underscored that we must not see ourselves as politically immune to pandemics. “It is very important for us, collectively, to fortify ourselves against fake news, which can call epidemiological data into question. The virus may be very dangerous to our health, but fake news can pose a very serious threat to democracy,” he said.
In the same context, Mr. Varvitsiotis stressed that the sharp rise in fake news “is not unrelated to the tremendous rise in populism we experienced in Greece in recent years,” concluding that “today, as we face the second wave of the pandemic, our goal is not just to protect public health from the coronavirus, but also to defend society against the fake news, fake dilemmas and delusions of populism.”
October 6, 2020