Speaking with N. Papandreou: Europe, the intense proper and Putin – 2024-05-21 09:37:41

Nikos Papandreou and I stated to speak solely about Europe. To go away the home political agenda off the agenda. In any case, my first level was that Europe is absent from the pre-election debate. However he didn’t agree. There’s discuss of Europe, he noticed. Europe dominates our discussions in Thessaly. Sure, excessive rents, punctuality are on the agenda, however there may be additionally a dialogue about Europe. “What can Europe do to assist us?” is the query that dominates wherever we meet residents. And never solely in Thessaly which suffered biblical disasters or Lassithi in Crete which remains to be making an attempt to deal with the implications of the impression of Enceladus. “How can Europe assist us” or “what can Europe do for us, you hear it within the discussions in Ioannina that need to develop right into a technological hub of the Balkans, you hear it all over the place.

The far-right hazard

One of many points that preoccupy the discussions of those that insist on coping with Europe is the hazard of the intense proper. For Mr. Papandreou, Europe is already conservative. They’ve, for the time being, the “higher hand” conservative forces on which the USA exerts an ideal affect. This correlation shouldn’t be so favorable for our nation. No, as a result of the conservatives, particularly the northerners, in all probability nonetheless think about us a bit Balkan. However why do the insurance policies of conservative governments burden us with burdens, corresponding to immigration. Once they transfer on the logic that we’ll not settle for any immigrants then, they’re primarily shouldering the burden. We have now borders. Immigration is an actual and severe subject for all of Europe. Many consider that is the rationale for this shift to proper and far-right events. In any case, Mr. Papandreou factors out that the strategy to immigration can’t be finished with straightforward phrases and crowns of populism.

Ukraine, NATO and Trump

The warfare in Ukraine and the query of whether or not Putin is a possible risk to Europe introduced again to the desk the debates on the protection of Europe, the query of the existence and train of a typical protection coverage. Mr. Papandreou is in favor of a typical protection coverage. He considers the promotion of the unified protection trade a great step. And he believes that the discussions might change the sector within the occasion that Trump is elected within the USA and he actually needs to place NATO in bother. Trump is a pal of Putin and Erdogan and NATO is a crucial think about our relationships with Turkey.

The specter of Putin and Erdogan

Is Putin a risk to Europe? International locations like Finland and Sweden rushed to hitch NATO. Apparently, I observe, this has to do with how they weigh Putin’s future strikes. Mr. Papandreou stands by the change of borders. That is what Putin does. And by itself, we, as a rustic, ought to discover us diametrically opposed. “He will change the borders and appears to have expansive visions.” A Putin victory in Ukraine is bound to trigger nice concern in international locations that had been as soon as beneath Soviet affect. There’s a lot to speak about in a dialogue about Europe. From Erdogan “who will be reined in by Europe” to North Macedonia and the “unfinished” Prespa Settlement” as to whether Macron can, as he needs to, emerge because the chief of Europe.

The European social contract

However maybe a very powerful parameter is that of the European Social Contract. To forestall the retreat of the welfare state in Europe. As Mr. Papandreou factors out, the pandemic additionally highlighted the issues that, for instance, exist in all of the well being techniques of European international locations. This funding within the welfare state will be financed by a tax on the massive tech giants. A rustic alone is tough to do, Europe can.