In support of SYRIZA

Note from the LeftEast editors: with this text Left-wing activists working in/on East-Central Europe support the struggle of SYRIZA in Greece in the coming election on the 25th of January 2015. If you would like your name or that of your organization to be added to the list, please write to lefteasteditors [at] gmail . com

The focus of international public opinion is on Greece as it holds general elections on 25  January. The predicted victory of SYRIZA, the party of the radical left, is a threat to the austerity regime imposed on the  country by the  ‘Troika’: the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Greek, European and global capital have for years imposed austerity on their populations in a concerted campaign to re-finance their banks. They have tried to pass the burden of paying for the crisis created by capitalism on to the working people. Their campaign based on fear and intimidation against the election of SYRIZA is based on their fear that its success will be emulated throughout Europe and the world. Any left  government in Greece will consequently face major economic and political subversion, both domestically and from abroad. The growth of the far right in the conditions of misery produced by austerity is particularly worrying.

We, the undersigned, believe that austerity produces mass misery and we call for a stop to it. We stand with all people in Greece and for their right to choose a government free from intimidation and external intervention. We pledge to organise solidarity actions to defend a   government of the left that rejects the illegitimate debt and the brutal austerity regime in Greece.

Moreover, we see the rise of the left in Greece as a cause for hope for the movements against capitalist globalisation. This is the beginning of the end of the narrative of the end of history, which has accompanied policies similar to those imposed on Greece by the ‘Troika’ elsewhere  in the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe for the last decade and a half.
We will continue to build a progressive alternative in our own countries as the best guarantee of an end to a world where profit is placed above human need.

Signatories:

Minel Abaz, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Milan Ambrožič, United Left, Slovenia
Raia Apostolova, Bulgaria
Filip Balunovic, Serbia
Janez Bertoncelj, United Left, Slovenia
Katarzyna Bielinska-Kowalewska, Poland
Ilya Budraitskis, OpenLeft, Russian Federation
Claudia Ciobanu, Bankwatch, Poland
Alex Cistelecan, CriticAtac, Romania
William Coker, LeftEast, Turkey
Nikola Ćupas, Marks21, Serbia
Márton Czirfusz, LeftEast, Hungary
Robert Dumitru, Romania
Rossen Djagalov, LeftEast, Turkey
Emin Eminagic, Lijevi, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vasile Ernu, CriticAtac, Romania
Alexander Feodorov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Mathias Fiedler, Germany
Srecko Horvat, Croatia
Vassil Genchev, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Rron Gjinovci, Left political activist, Kosovo
Adela Gjorgjioska, Macedonia
Nassya Grudeva, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Tsvetelina Hristova, Bulgaria
Momchil Hristov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Volodymyr Ishchenko, LeftEast, Ukraine
Mariya Ivancheva, LeftEast, Bulgaria
Vladimir Jevtic,Serbia
Daniel Johnson, Turkey
Nikolay Karkov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Gal Kirn, United Left, Slovenia
Stefan Krastev, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Stefan Kreft, Germany
Liljana Latinovic, Serbia
Jan Májícek, Socialistická Solidarita, Czech Republic
Martin Marinos, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Aleksandar Matkovic, Gerusija, Serbia
Georgi Medarov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Matija Medenica, Marks21, Serbia
Luka Mesec, United Left MP, Slovenia
Marko Miloševic, Workers’ Front/Radnicka fronta, Croatia
Madlen Nikolova, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Vladimir Nocic, Serbia
Tijana Okić, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Roberto Ortiz Feliciano, Puerto Rico
Stanimir Panayotov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Denis Pilash, Left Opposition, Ukraine
Florin Poenaru, LeftEast, Romania
Dino Priselac, Croatia
Aleksandar Radivojević, Croatia
Gavin Rae, Poland
Costi Rogozanu, CriticAtac, Romania
Boryana Rossa, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Arlind Qori, Organizata Politike, Albania
Andrei State, CriticAtac, Romania
Igor Stiks, Open University, Bosnia and Herzegovina
G. M. Tamás, Hungary
Mary N. Taylor, LeftEast, USA
Ana Tomicic, Croatia
Vesna Tomic, Serbia
Franc Trček, United Left MP, Slovenia
Jana Tsoneva, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria
Matej T. Vatovec, United Left MP, Slovenia
Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, LeftEast, Russian Federation
Bojana Zukov Gregoric, United Left, Slovenia
Andreja Zivkovic, LeftEast, Serbia

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Center for the Politics of Emancipation (Serbia)
Commons: Journal of Social Criticism (Ukraine)
CriticAtac (Romania)
LeftEast
Leftist movement Solidarity (Republic of Macedonia)
Left Summit – Levi Samit (Serbia)
Marks21 (Serbia)
Parliamentarian group of United Left – Združena levica (Slovenia)
Social Center Xaspel (Bulgaria)
Solidary Bulgaria (Bulgaria)
S.T.R.I.K.E. (Serbia)
Workers’ Front – Radnicka fronta (Croatia)