<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br><br><h1>Varoufakis launches Democracy in Europe Movement 2025<br></h1>Source: <br><a href="https://roarmag.org/2016/01/07/varoufakis-launches-democracy-in-europe-movement-2025/" target="_blank">https://roarmag.org/2016/01/07/varoufakis-launches-democracy-in-europe-movement-2025/</a></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><p>Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, or DiEM 25, is billed as an alternative to prevailing authoritarianism and austerity.</p><div><div><div><div><p>Hoping
to show Europeans they have an alternative to the prevailing system of
“authoritarianism” and austerity, former Greek finance minister Yanis
Varoufakis has announced a new cross-continent movement with a “simple,
common agenda:” To democratize Europe.</p><p>The movement, known as the
Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (or DiEM 25), will be launched on
February 9 at Berlin’s Volksbühne theater.</p><p>Varoufakis, who first <a href="http://espresso.repubblica.it/archivio/2015/12/22/news/yanis-varoufakis-a-febbraio-faccio-il-mio-partito-1.244652?refresh_ce" target="_blank">revealed </a>the plan late last month in an interview with <em>L’Espresso</em>, <a href="http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2016/01/02/united-european-democrats-we-stand-divided-we-fall-el-diario-interview-with-luis-martin/" target="_blank">said</a>
that he is hopeful this “activist movement” will connect progressives
across the continent and enable them to take back power from the ruling
elite and what he described as the “shadowy world of bureaucrats,
bankers, and unelected officialdom.”</p><p>“To counter this
de-politicisation of political decision making, which reinforces the
economic crisis and the crisis of legitimacy facing Europe, we need a
movement that rises up throughout in Europe, at once, with the same
agenda everywhere to re-politicize political decisions and to
democratize the decision making process,” he said in an interview with<em> El Diario</em> published on Saturday.</p><p>“There
is no other means by which to arrest the awful feedback between
authoritarianism and failed economic policies—a feedback that, left
unchecked, will wreck Europe and help ultra-nationalism triumph,”
Varoufakis added, referring to the rise of ultra-right and fascist
forces such as Greece’s <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/06/greek-minister-poison-troika-austerity-fueling-rise-nazi-party" target="_blank">Golden Dawn </a>party.</p><p>Varoufakis, who has been a <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/02/varoufakis-i-prefer-cut-my-arm-sign-deal-without-debt-relief" target="_blank">fierce</a> and vocal critic of austerity, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/06/no-yes-rejection-austerity-just-beginning-european-battle" target="_blank">stepped down</a> from his post within the Syriza government this summer amid tense negotiations with EU creditors.</p><p>The
launch of the DiEM 25 movement comes amid a growing leftist surge
across Europe. 2015 saw the rise of anti-austerity forces in both the
United Kingdom, with the election of <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/tag/jeremy-corbyn" target="_blank">Jeremy Corbyn</a> to Labour party leader, as well as in Spain, where the <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/tag/podemos" target="_blank">Podemos</a> party gained enormous power.</p><p><a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de/praxis/diem_25/%3Fid_datum%3D10015&prev=search" target="_blank">According</a> to the German socialist paper <em>Neues Deutschland</em>,
Varoufakis will be appearing at the launch along with “some of his
‘accomplices’ from all over Europe,” though the complete list of
speakers has yet to be announced.</p><p>Varoufakis said that the while
the exact organizational contours of the movement are still unknown, he
is hopeful that the grassroots, cross-border structure will embolden and
empower progressives across the continent.</p><p>“What makes me optimistic about a pan-European movement? That it will be pan-European!” he said.</p><p>“We
shall exert pressure on every Parliament, every government, every head
of state at once,” Varoufakis continued. “That when the troika is
squeezing, let’s say the Madrid government, it will know that the
electoral process in, say, Germany or France or Portugal will punish any
local politician who does the troika’s bidding.”</p><p>“It is a truly utopian undertaking,” he added.</p><p><em>Written by Lauren McCauley for <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/05/greeces-varoufakis-launch-pan-european-progressive-movement" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p></div></div></div></div></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br><br></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><div>- Strategic developer P2P Foundation. Director of content <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">commonstransition.org</a><br><br></div>- Co-founder <a href="http://guerrillatranslation.org" target="_blank">guerrillatranslation.org</a><br><div><br><br></div></div></div></font></span></div>
</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
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