Aegina, November 2017 Mikael welcome back to Aegina. You haven’t been here for nine years, since the Capodistrias-Spinelli-Europe seminar in November 2008. Isn’t that right? That is right. You and I are both members of the pan-European citizens’ movement DiEM25. This week DiEM25 voted to stand in elections throughout Europe. Do you have any comment on that? Well actually I hope it will succeed as a pan-European movement. I don’t see how it can have a great success the first time it stands in elections but maybe it can make DiEM25 better known because for instance in Finland it is quite unknown I would say. But it was also decided that DiEM25 members don’t have to become involved in electoral campaigning if they don’t wish to. And it was decided to establish more thematic collectives. Four of us have already formed a nuclear disarmament thematic collective – you are a member of course – and we have submitted a draft platform to DiEM25’s co-ordinating collective. Are you happy with the content of our draft anti-nuclear-weapons platform? Oh yes. I am quite happy with that, and with the process we had discussing directly before we submitted it. Actually we have only … Continue reading
admin
It is a fantastic compliment for Yanis to receive this accolade from Catherine Austin Fitts. He has received similar compliments from the Saker. If only the admiration were reciprocated. YV may well not know who Catherine Austin Fitts is and how important these words of praise for him are for boosting his credibility in circles where it is not so great, to say the least. She is part of the right-wing that is ahead of the left in many respects. The part of the right that would be capable of the “historic compromise” on the terms of the Left that the Eurocommunists failed to achieve Wayne Hall “The danger is not that we shall aim too high and miss; the real danger is that we train our eyes on the floor and end up there.” ~Yanis Varoufakis By Catherine Austin Fitts I often say, “he who archives, writes history.” Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis kept impeccable records of Greek efforts to negotiate with European bank creditors, the IMF and ECB in 2015. (Proof that freedom fighters can use smart phones to record, not just the NSA) His good faith and technical competency in seeking a win-win negotiation creates a powerful … Continue reading
SOURCE This treatise on constitutional European government is linked to the first on the EU treaties: outlining the foundations for a transnational constitution as the keystone for a ‘second Reformation of Europe’. (Long – 13,000 words) The Altiero Spinelli Building, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium. Sojka Libor/Press Association. All rights reserved. With Europe’s current order in the spectacular débâcle that it is, a return to basics is in order to rethink the supranational construct, and the underlying idée européenne, from the ground up. For this, consideration must be given to the antecedents of the current European Project, particularly in Europe’s intellectual history, as well as some of the earlier suggestions for a political and, it is assumed, democratic, Europe. Furthermore, the concepts which make up the European idea need to be redefined and reconsidered. What I aim to argue is that Europe does not need a revolution, in the sense of the complete replacement of the very foundations of the European idea, but a reformation [1]. We are not here to destroy Europe, but to reaffirm our belief in it, through challenging the core articles of faith, dismantling the redundant pillars of the construct, and regenerating them into something new. For a … Continue reading
https://www.letemps.ch/monde/2017/08/24/egine-paradis-perdu-revolutionnaires-syriza L’île a longtemps été le lieu de villégiature préféré de la gauche radicale. Mais Alexis Tsipras et Cie ne s’y montrent plus guère depuis qu’ils ont ployé devant Bruxelles. L’écrivain Alexandre Kollatos a pris le parti d’en rire. Alexandre Kollatos, comédien et auteur franco-grec, prononce sur l’île d’Egine quelques mots à l’issue de la représentation de sa dernière satire, «Yanis et Alexis»: «Déçu par ce couple politique que j’avais pourtant soutenu et pour lequel j’avais voté, j’ai écrit ce texte pour faire rire.» Les deux principaux personnages de la pièce sont Yanis Varoufakis, ministre grec des Finances, et Alexis Tsipras, premier ministre. Au premier semestre 2015, le duo avait tenu en haleine toute l’Europe, tentant de mettre un terme aux politiques d’austérité imposées au pays depuis 2010 et de les remplacer par des solutions alternatives. Les négociations avec les créanciers du pays dureront six mois, avant de se solder, face à l’intransigeance de leurs interlocuteurs, par des résultats décevants: la signature d’un nouvel accord avec l’Union Européenne, la BCE et le FMI, qui impose à la Grèce de nouvelles mesures d’austérité, et la démission de Yanis Varoufakis. Cette période sert de trame à Alexandre Kollatos. L’auteur transforme le duo … Continue reading
SOURCE: MINTPRESSNEWS “Let’s face the problem of our colonial status. Let’s work to find a solution for it. Let’s decolonize our minds and spirits and become real citizens of Puerto Rico.” Rivera’s words were, of course, made in reference to Puerto Rico. However, it can be said that they are also applicable to many other nations, including nominally independent states such as Greece, a country which has been ravaged by almost a decade of stifling economic austerity imposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF); a country which could be described as a modern-day debt colony. Having been raised in the United States as a “third culture kid,” with one foot in the U.S. and one foot in Greece, allows me to see things in both societies simultaneously as a native and as a relative outsider. This has particularly been true during the past four-plus years, a period in which I have resided almost full-time in Athens as a doctoral student and journalist. Modern-day Greece: Fatalism, defeatism and hopelessness The extent of the demoralization of the Greek people is plainly evident through everyday conversations and encounters. Ordinary Greeks, upon learning that I came to the country to … Continue reading