By Antonis Anzoletou

Expansion to the center “through Brussels and Strasbourg” is attempted in SYRIZA and it is certain that in Koumoundourou a big conversation opens about the next day and the identity of the party. Kostas Zachariadis, Yiannis Ragousis and Thanasis Theocharopoulos stirred up the waters and essentially came to recall the commitment the party had taken at the 2022 Congress to expand towards the center.

They are asking, as SKAI had revealed since Friday, that the current official opposition “move” to the family of European social democrats and leave the group of the Left. In the intervention of the three leading officials, it is characteristic that it is mentioned that “the battle of the next European and national elections will not be decided on the territory of the radical Left, but on the territory of the Center Left. In today’s conditions, there is no justification for any delay in the necessary decisions, which deprives us of the necessary penetration into the world of the Center-Left, which is the majority in the progressive space.”

Speaking to ATHINA 9.84, Kostas Zachariadis said: “We are in a pre-conference dialogue and the proposal is twofold. One is for Europe and the upcoming European elections to register with the European Socialists and the second is for the party, through its conference procedures, to place itself in the space of the broad Center-Left”.

The three officials claim that their goal is to convince the Congress and not to stand against the party. Kostas Zachariadis, before the split, in the Central Committee of the summer, had expressed himself in favor of “moving” to the European Parliament. DIMAR in 2014, with Thanasis Theocharopoulos as secretary, had decided to join the Eurosocialists, while Yiannis Ragousis, who held leading positions in PASOK, as secretary and minister, was firmly in favor of enlargement. In order to make such a change, it is clear that a decision of the Congress is needed. It is not out of the question that the tones will be raised by February 23 when the meeting work of the top governing body begins.

How did they see this proposal in Koumoundourou? Not positively pointing out, however, that in any case at the Conference all the opinions that will be submitted will be discussed openly. Sources of the party underlined since yesterday that at the Congress of April 2022 it was unanimously voted that the party “belongs to the family of the European Left” (article 1), as well as that “SYRIZA-PS actively participates and supports in every way the initiatives of the European Left party Left (KEA) of which he is a founding member.

At the same time it seeks to acquire meaningful relations with all political forces everywhere in the world whose action and operation are governed by similar principles and aim at similar goals. As noted by Koumoundourou, SYRIZA-PS has contributed to the cooperation of the wider forces of the progressive space, taking advantage of its position as a member of the European left family and being one of its strongest electoral forces. From this position, he can and has a leading role in the relevant processes, as the president of the party has mentioned in his interventions. In fact, the same sources recalled that during his recent visit to Brussels, Stefanos Kasellakis stated that “SYRIZA-PS will intensify its fight and its cooperation with the progressive forces in view of the European elections, both as an active member of the Eurogroup of the Left, as and as a bridge with the Greens and the Socialists”.

It is a fact that the intervention caused an initial embarrassment to MPs and executives.

The MEP, Kostas Arvanitis, showed his disagreement: “I think that the proposal of the members of the political secretariat of SYRIZA to join the group of Eurosocialists is wrong. It would have been good if the existing MEPs had also been asked… Social democracy is a well-worn story.” Not even Nikos Pappas agreed with the proposal, who speaking to OPEN said: “SYRIZA already participates in the pre-meetings and procedures of the European socialists. The main thing is to make use of the excellent relations with the Left – Greens and Socialists, so that we can work together for the strategic autonomy of Europe.

“The statutory provision of SYRIZA states that its Eurogroup belongs to the Left,” pointed out Dionysis Teboneras to SKAI 100.3. Petros Pappas saw such a possibility positively, who emphasized that his personal opinion is that “ideologically, SYRIZA is closer to the European socialist party and that is where it should be”.