International

This weekend I paid a flying visit to Berlin, but it was well worth the trouble to be able to appear at the Festival der Linken – the Festival of the Left - and so to have the opportunity to express our international solidarity. Throughout Europe people have had enough of neoliberalism. In Greece voters have indicated their support for a change in policy by voting for our sister party Syriza. In the Netherlands, the SP is set to make major gains in the elections on 12th September. Another, more humane Europe is not being forged in Brussels. That’s being done by the people themselves, including during a political festival of this kind where modern left parties meet to build together for a future of fairness and solidarity.

Political podium at the ‘Festival der Linken’ in Berlin

In Germany Die Linke (The Left) are having a difficult time. Principally as a result of internal wrangling their support has collapsed. But even here there are glimmers of hope. There are sufficient people in this party who don’t want this to happen and who are guiding the party towards a renewed unity. Because in Germany too, deep cuts have been imposed on welfare payments, wages have long been forced downwards and the gap between rich and poor has only grown wider. And so a modern left answer is more than ever needed.

The festival was very similar to the SP’s ‘Tomato Festival’, but even bigger. Countless stalls, performances by bands, discussions and workshops, you name it. A point of contact between committed people who want to build together another Germany, another Europe. Solidarity with ordinary Greeks was enormous, just as it was with ordinary Portuguese people, Spaniards, Italians and Irish people. People who are paying the price for austerity policies imposed by Brussels.

In Berlin we moved a step further in mutual solidarity, where ordinary people are not the enemy, even if they come from Southern or Eastern European countries, but where the common effort is directed at tackling the speculators who caused the entire crisis. Where we are of the opinion that it’s the turn of the major corporations and the rich to carry the heaviest burdens. And where we agreed to support each other in this. Almost everywhere in Europe the modern left is holding the winning hand and together we are even going to change Brussels from being the prey of neoliberalism into a centre of mutual solidarity.