Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-02-04

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] The people of Europe need a peaceful overturn of policy, Tsipras says

[01] The people of Europe need a peaceful overturn of policy, Tsipras says

Tsipras said he was pleased that Paris was one of the first stops of his Europarliament elections campaign and referred to France as the country "of big revolts and overturns", criticizing choices made by Francois Hollande's government.

"The European Union policy needs to have a overhaul of orientation. It needs a bid change of correlations, which will be the first step towards a radical turn, towards its re-establishment and its return to the values of solidarity, democracy and social cohesion," Tsipras said.

Tsipras termed the European Central Bank the "iron arm of neoliberalism" that has put up a new wall in Europe and had not contributed to the euro area's stabilization.

"Today, we have to re-establish Europe, to knock down the new dividing wall between the rich North - with the trade surpluses - and the poor South - with the trade deficits. Between the lenders and the borrowers," he said.

Tsipras called all forces of the Left to work on a "democracy-, society- and ecology-oriented Europe" focusing on six priorities: putting an end to austerity and annulling memoranda, re-establishing the euro area in a democratic way, holding a European Summit on debt, achieving a European 'New Deal' for Europe's balanced and sustainable growth, having an ecology-oriented productive process and reforming the European framework on migration.

Referring to Hollande's government, Tsipras said: "If Hollande's government were different, then the whole of Europe would have been different today. But Hollande's government instead of counterbalancing and preventing neolibarlism has become a political multiplier of (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel's government — and he apologizes for the harderst right-oriented policy ever implemented in Europe."

Addressing a large audience at the conference hall at the premises of the French Communist Party, Tsipras, who is also a candidate president for the European Commission, said: "Today, your presence has given hope to change. You have strengthened democracy, you have given prospects to the European Left. On May 25, we will make a positive surprise. We will have high election rates and take Democracy in Europe to new heights."

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