The discussion on the topic was of great interest “Democracy and the Future of Europe” which took place as part of its second and final day Regional Growth Conference her Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thracewhich is hosted on Democritus University.
The conversation turned to the rise of the Far Right in Europe, while the way countries and the European Union deal with phenomena of lack of rule of law, interventions in justice and control of the media and freedom of expression was also discussed.
The main positions of the speakers were as follows:
Stelios Kouloglou (former MEP, journalist, director of tvxs.gr): “Democracy in Europe is in serious danger. On the one hand the war in Ukraine and on the other the rise of the Far Right. We face issues in the rule of law, in countries of the former Eastern bloc, such as in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and in the Balkan countries, while we also have a problem with the independence of the media, transparency and freedom of expression. Social inequalities lead to the Far Right or the non-participation of citizens in the processes”.
Michalis Chrysomallis (Professor of European Law IFT): “You remember how much ink was spilled about the democratic deficit of the European communities. One would expect that the question of democracy in the EU has been put to the side and that the issues have been resolved. However, the issue of democracy is again strongly discussed. First of all, at the member-state level, where since 2012 we have been talking about the regression of the rule of law and the limitation of the independence of the judiciary. During the period of the memorandums we saw the technocrats deciding on the issues of the countries. Such situations fuel extreme anti-systemic voices and populism. The Union will either be democratic or it will not exist. The responsibility for me lies with the member states, not the Union.”
Georgios Siakas (assistant professor of Political Behavior DFT): “Democracy as a process includes voters and electors, party agendas, etc. Democracy as an outcome is what it produces. If there are institutions of accountability and institutions of transparency. All of this is affected by two countervailing forces of supply and demand. The supply comes from above, from the elite, and the demand from below, from the broad strata of society. Societies from below claim different things than those from above. Society’s cynicism and apathy lead to problems, such as lack of participation, reduced social capital and anti-systemic phenomena, which we cannot yet identify”
The journalist coordinated it Christos N. Konstas (NewMoney.gr, Banks.com.gr, TO XPHMA).
Organizers of the Conference are the Regional Policy Observatorythe newspapers “Peloponnese” and “The Time”with his co-organization Democritus University of Thrace and under its auspices Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and his Municipality of Komotini. The Conference is two days and on the website of the organization you can see the schedule and other useful information.
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