In the wake of his election Donald Trump in the presidency of the USA, the president of PASOK, Nikos Androulakisspeaking on his radio he noted that “Mr. Trump in his first term showed that he despises Europe and international organizations and this is problematic. Second, he has shown that he likes talking to revisionist leaders—and Putin
and Erdogan-. You remember that at the end of his term he also made a move with Kim Jong Un in North Korea. The way he handles some things, he certainly will
cause a domino effect in geopolitical issues and in the most critical one at this time, which is the massacre in Palestine, in Gaza, which is the most tragic thing happening at this moment in humanity”.

Elaborating further, Mr. Androulakis emphasized:

“In Western-style free societies, inequalities and the rise of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion create a huge reservoir for all those who express such characteristics, such as Mr. Trump. We have similar cases in Europe, of more or less the same rhetoric. It is an audience vulnerable to conspiracies and populism and we must immediately – at least we in Europe which is the space of our political action – strengthen the European social model, development for the many so that inequalities are reduced, there is serious health and education”.

He described the challenges opening up in the direction of a self-reliant and economically/productively autonomous Europe, underlining that “the story of the US-China conflict has been developing for several years”.

“Mr. Trump is indeed always pro-escalation, compared to the Democrats, but this opens a big window of opportunity in Europe in economic and geopolitical terms in relation to this confrontation. A few years ago when we were talking about a Euro army, everyone despised us. Now most governments point to the need for a complementary troop to NATO so that Europe can acquire its own autonomous forces. Europe, for better or for worse, will be forced to break the regime of unanimity on economic and fiscal issues, such as the big funds, the European Sovereign Fund, to invest in the productive base, bring back structures that have left for China and others countries, in order to have economic and productive autonomy. In other words, Europe cannot want 27 out of 27 votes – and Orbán blackmails us on one, Malta on the other – and we cannot establish a unified tax policy. So, there is a window of opportunity, there is a table that discusses these things pan-European, while they were once taboo. So let’s not be too optimistic, but let’s be optimistic.”

Mr. Androulakis pointed out the government’s “no” to PASOK’s initiatives, starting with the amendment to suspend funding for the Spartans as “a party whose leadership is in prison based on the decision of the Greek justice system, is a shell of an extreme right of a neo-Nazi criminal organization and was banned from standing in the European elections, he got a 1 million euro”.

“How many more “no’s” has New Democracy said that are undermining the everyday life of the Greek people? We filed a law proposal to establish a Single Consumer Authority that will inform which multinationals are profiting in Greece in relation to other European states. New Democracy said “no” to us. At the time when rents recorded a 50% increase during the four years of Mitsotakis’ rule and we called on them to abolish Golden Visa and disconnect it from short-term leasing, he put us in his old shoes by saying another “no”. More than ten times we tabled an amendment for the inclusion of health workers in the heavy and unhealthy ones and he told us “no”. The government refused the new EKAS for about 300,000
low pensioners, which now gives them a one-off benefit. He rejected the VAT cut on basic goods on the grounds that it would not be passed on to prices. Why are they now leaking that in 2027 they will reduce VAT? It wouldn’t pass in prices a year ago, but it will pass in 2027, which will be a pre-election period?” he added emphatically.

“Instead of the Prime Minister counting the no’s of PASOK, which are no to the benefit of our society, it is good to count the indicators of the country, which have worsened. Penultimate, -26th – in purchasing power in the 27 European countries, 26th in low wages, 2nd country in health costs for the citizen. In terms of poverty, we are fourth from the end,” he said.

“PASOK does politics and says the “no” it should say based on what is in the interest of society and our country and not what serves Mr. Mitsotakis and New Democracy. What does consent mean? Consensus means dialogue, proposal, agreement. Consensus does not mean choosing a choice and a solution whatever the Prime Minister wants us to follow” concluded the President of PASOK.

Finally, Mr. Androulakis reiterated that PASOK, within the framework of the constitutional review, will take an initiative with the opposition parties to change the way of selecting the leadership of the Judiciary.