Yanis Varoufakis and Srećko Horvat will stand in next year’s European elections — in Germany [UPDATED]

Today we gathered in Berlin for reasons that, if we may say so ourselves, were pretty momentous. The event at Colonia Nova was the venue for:

The inauguration of our German political party Demokratie In Europa, set up jointly with Demokratie In Bewegung, as part of the European Spring coalition
The decision on who will be the ten women and ten men to stand as candidates for that party in the European elections in May and,
The decision on whether our co-founders, Yanis Varoufakis and Srećko Horvat, will be heading this list of candidates (they were nominated to do so) in a historic all-member DiEM25 vote last week

The event kicked off at 10am with the Party’s Assembly voting on the candidates that were nominated to form the list that will stand in next year’s European Parliament elections [you can read Demokratie in Europa’s programme here]. Ten women and ten men will represent Demokratie in Europa as candidates in May 2019.

The nomination of the two DiEM25 co-founders is of great symbolic significance: Yanis Varoufakis, first place on the list, and Srećko Horvat, third place on the list. Their candidacy marks DiEM25’s ambition to democratise Europe by gathering progressive forces behind the “New Deal for Europe” a joint political programme by Europeans, for Europeans.
At the press conference, Yanis Varoufakis said “Germany is experiencing a paradoxical crisis. Germany is, on paper, flooded by… money. The federal government is in surplus. A tsunami of foreign money is flooding German banks. Families are saving. And even corporations hoard huge amounts of savings. So, why is the political centre not holding? Why are the major parties bleeding? Why is discontent, xenophobia and precariousness on a triumphant march?”.

Varoufakis continued, “Demokratie in Europa seeks, and deserves, the vote of the German people for two reasons: first, we are the only party that has put forward a solid, comprehensive proposal of how to address systematically Europe’s systemic crisis. We call it a Green New Deal for Europe: a realistic, credible, rational and immediately implementable policy agenda for the whole of Europe.”

Jasper Finkeldey said, “…I searched for a political home outside of local associations for a long time and never found one. As an activist for fairer trade and a more humane migration policy, I lacked a political base. That is why I became a founding member of Demokratie in Europa and as part of a major movement, help to forge alliances to make hopeful proposals for Europe.”

Daniela Platsch said, “…if our generation has a common task, then it is called democracy in Europe. It is called: One human. One vote. This requires strict rules for corporations, a strong EU Parliament and, above all, people who are prepared to exchange their old borders for a new, common Europe.”

Bianca Preatorius said, “…today I am part of the European Spring with the aim of revolutionising the European Union and thereby saving my homeland Europe, by making it fit for the future.”

Do you want to be informed of DiEM25's actions? Sign up here

€10

€35

€50

€150

€350

Other