“I want every Greek woman, every Greek man to feel proud and proud of his country. We can be a better society, we can be a fairer economy and I presented how that can be done and I want you to know that there is an alternative solution,” stressed Stefanos Kasselakis during the 3rd annual conference of The Upfront Initiative, at the Athens Conservatory, in a discussion he had with LIFO editor-in-chief Yiannis Pantazopoulos.

The president of SYRIZA-PS started from the “very sad fact that we learned in the last hours, that the European prosecutor says that she is being blocked from investigating the crime of Tempo». He emphasized that “at some point in our country this impunity must finally end”. He noted that “the Prime Minister’s theory that SYRIZA, the official opposition organized 330 MEPs to vote against Greece and the rule of law, is clearly being proven once again to be a hoax when the European Prosecutor herself says the state is blocking us the research”. “It is a shame for our state and it is immoral for the families who have lost their relatives,” he underlined.

Speaking of Civil Marriage Equality Bill he emphasized that “I am very proud that the official opposition with its votes was able to pass this bill and we never deviated from it”. He mentioned that in the meeting he had with the Prime Minister in November in the Parliament, in the discussion regarding the bill in question, he told Mr. Mitsotakis – on the occasion of his statements that he would bring it within a year or within four years -, that “there is no a matter of timing in human rights’ and that ‘timing is yesterday’.

In a question about the party discipline and Paul’s abstinence PolakiMr. Kasselakis said that “Pavlos will go up with me and at 400m altitude don’t have any doubt, deal with the other parties that have a third of the parliamentary group to abstain and allow such behaviors”.

“SYRIZA is never going to apologize for human rights”, he stressed, adding that “the former president of SYRIZA was the one who in the summer of ’22 had first signed our marriage equality law proposal”. “So I’m never going to apologize for our stance on human rights, let alone equality,” he said.

He claimed that “half of PASOK is centre-right, not centre-left, this is the reality, you see it with private universities too”. “There is a progressive democratic faction in the country and that is SYRIZA-PS, we are never going to deviate from what we are and all the people of the Center-Left can join our party and contribute and there will be a meritocracy”, he stressed. To the question whether “KKE is a homophobic party”, he answered: “It is. And shame on them for what they voted for.”

Asked to comment “about face control in the church due to the passing of the bill”, Mr. Kasselakis said that he is religious and believes in God, “I am an Orthodox Christian, at the same time I don’t think I need the permission of any priest to enter a church – and the first person who has proven this is the Ecumenical Patriarch who for me is a brilliant person who symbolizes love”. The president of SYRIZA announced in this context that he intends to celebrate Easter in Corfu, where, as he said, “the metropolitan over there is trying to leave out MPs who voted for marriage equality”. “I’ll go into the church and let him take me out,” he said.

He emphasized that the State-Church relationship needs to be regulated, that the church must serve its social purpose within its limits and allow all Greeks to feel like modern European citizens. “From now on, everyone has the right to their faith regardless of what they believe. This is what modern society means and this is exactly what we will do when we become government,” he said.

For the homophobic attacks against him

On the occasion of the verbal attacks he received in Thessaloniki, the incidents of violence and the “images of shame in Corfu with the burning of his effigy”, Mr. Kasselakis said that at least it is positive that on the occasion of his face this intolerance comes out of some parts of society so that we can deal with it. He pointed out that it is positive that institutions and societies have condemned these behaviors.

He said that what worries him most is the tendency towards violence seen in the teenage years. “I imagine covid confinement plays a part in that, economic deprivation plays a part in that, the fact that families are stressed that kids are hearing these things at the dinner table and obviously it’s also the lack of perspective that they feel in general in the country both for their parents and for themselves.” “So obviously there must be a new development model in our country that also gives perspective, and certainly visibility is a very important step,” he noted.

He added, among other things, that he is interested in “the ordinary citizen being institutionally protected, if he wants to be manifested, let him be, if he wants to take his time, at least he should know that there is a society that will embrace him, and I want this to be institutionally protected the person”.

For the army

Asked if he would feel as comfortable in the military environment if he was an unknown young man being drafted and not a well-known politician, Mr. Kasselakis said that he feels comfortable and that this is because he has lived and grown up in America.

“I can’t imagine if at 14 I hadn’t left and stayed here and went to the army normally and not for 20 days, I don’t know. What I do know is that the military and the police as organizations are more tolerant within themselves than we think,” he asserted.

He emphasized that “we are interested in society outside. Someone can, without having to justify their orientation, tell colleagues that I’m getting married to x person this summer and I want you to come to my wedding.” Asked to comment on a “vulgar homophobic” statement by Mr. Velopoulos on the occasion of his enlistment, he spoke of anger and commented: “I tell him to deal with the waxes he sells and his baldness. I got a haircut yesterday, I showed it to the whole world, I have nothing to hide…” When asked if he has ever thought of limiting Tyler’s appearances because he might lose votes, he answered: “No.” As for whether Tyler will get Greek citizenship, he said “ask him, I don’t know, I think he would like it”.

For the disabled

The president of SYRIZA emphasized that “people with disabilities are the first social priority that exists, they are our weakest fellow citizens and we must show empathy and start from there. From there, integration into society and not just inclusion is very important.” He noted that the responsibility he has is in the primaries for the SYRIZA European ballot, to give people who are starting from a more difficult starting point due to disability due to background and societal prejudices, to give them the platform to have an equal opportunity. He said that he went back to EEEEK Kallithea and that he is proud that the students and teachers have heating in their classrooms “thanks to the donation we made and the pressure we exerted to resolve the state bureaucracy”. “These are deficiencies that the State should have covered and not the generosity of everyone.”