“We have to be more decisive if we want to survive as Europeans,” said Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, who expressed his concern about the rise of extreme political parties and populism in Europe. During his speech at the 4th Metropolitan Synod of Thessaloniki organized by the Economist in collaboration with Powergame.gr. for Greece, Mr. Gerapetritis said that one of the reasons it has stability today is that it survived the crisis in previous years and settled populism.

Mr. Gerapetritis participated in a discussion with the president of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and former president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, and in his introductory statement he pointed out the following: “I am not sure that we will have the United States of Europe, as Martin Schulz predicted , but we should reinvent Europe and try to find the basic principles on which Europe was built.

Europe is currently at a crossroads and right now we are called to take very strong decisions, we have to be strong, because we have very difficult choices ahead of us.”

He pointed out that we need to revisit the decision-making process and the use of the veto, because, as he observed, the decision-making process in the European Union is not always rational and many times we sacrifice substance on the altar of procedures, while the E.U. it has not yet acquired the level of autonomy it deserves.

The foreign minister did not hide his concern about the rise of extreme political parties in Europe, also due to the results of regional elections in Germany, and noted: “I am particularly concerned that there is a rise of extreme political parties, a rise of populism in Europe. The results of the regional elections in Germany were not good at all. There is a collusion between the far right and the far left, a shift towards more populist agendas.

We couldn’t imagine that the far left would be pro-Russia and anti-immigration. But we see that there is this and there should be common positions towards these extreme political beliefs, to have a more moderate political discourse, to join forces in a world that changes every day. If we remain inactive, that will be a very big disadvantage.”

When asked what Greece can offer to the European Union today, Mr. Gerapetritis answered as follows: “One of the reasons we have stability today is because we survived the crisis in previous years. We had to settle populism. We tasted populism and saw that it was difficult for us, we had a very difficult attitude of others towards us. Despite the economic crisis, it is true that we survived and we consider ourselves now experienced with endurance and stability.

We now have stability, the Greek people now know that populism is not the answer to any question and this is a very important political contribution for Europe. Also, Greece, due to its geopolitical history, can play the role of a North-South, East-West bridge. Bridges are a tool for improvement and sustainability.”