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Anastasia Balezdrova

The liberal political space is not very popular in Greece. At the national elections two years ago, the two main political forces which compose it, Drasi and "ReCreate Greece" joined forces with the participation of the Liberal Alliance, but failed to pass the 3% threshold and enter Parliament.

The two parties decided to participate together in the upcoming European elections and for this purpose they created the Gefires coalition (meaning “Bridges” – author’s note). It is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) - the third political force in the European Parliament, the candidate for leader of the European Commission of which is former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Ferhovstad.

Well known to readers of GRReporter Areti Georgilis is an MEP candidate of Gefires. She is a certified archaeologist, journalist and has an MBA. Until 2011 she was a manager of a large company for public relations in Bulgaria. In the same year, she opened the concept bookstore Free Thinking Zone in Athens, and continued to develop business activities in both countries. She talked to Anastasia Balezdrova.

Mrs Georgilis, why did you decide to get involved in politics?

I have been involved in with politics since the age of 14. I have always been politically active, I've been a member of a party, I have participated in party administrative authorities at university and in the neighbourhood where I grew up, and that is why I'm not in politics for the first time. Just now I decided to get involved with what we call the "front line" of policy, i.e. to ask citizens to vote for me.

I decided to do it because I think that this is a critical moment for the history of Greece, in which we all have our own responsibility. It consists of the following: If we think that something is not done properly and those who govern us have not done it well, we have to say how it should be done and take actions. Criticism is no longer sufficient.

That is why I decided to run with the Drasi party, which is part of the Gefires liberal coalition.

Why with Drasi and Gefires, and not with a larger party, which would have more chances of being elected?

I have participated in a large party. I think that parties which are considered "large" are currently not able to prove that they can get Greece out of the impasse in which it has been blocked. I believe in the catalytic role of smaller parties for the need of democracy and I do not believe that alternation of one or two major parties in the government of the country is good for it. I think that it is precisely this that has created the clientelist state in which we are currently buried. Some people divide parties into systematic and unsystematic ones. I divide them into clientelist and non-clientelist ones. And precisely the clientelist parties have established the clientelist state which caused the crisis. I believe in pluralism, polyphony and the existence of small parties contributes to polyphony.

My decision to be a candidate of the Drasi party and Gefires coalition is dictated by the permanence of positions over the past 10 years. Drasi is one of the few parties which name things by their names, without worrying about the political price. For example, it talks about the need to reduce excessive taxation, because citizens cannot withstand this heavy burden. It is not possible for a person who has bought a small apartment with a lot of efforts and a bank loan to pay much higher taxes as if the state is his or her partner. This and all such wrong policies need to be corrected. And the solution comes only with reforms and economic development. What we need are parties which are willing to get the knife to the bone in terms of reforms and not to be afraid and not to take any action for fear that the party could lose its clientele.

What is your vision about Europe in the coming years and what measures should be taken in order to reduce Euro-scepticism?

I do not think that there is Euro-scepticism. Most of the studies which are carried out in Greece and Bulgaria do not show such a thing. Everyone thinks that the need to be part of the European Union is important and indisputable.

The problem is that the current European model suffers from certain defects which need to be corrected. For example, all European citizens should be equal. I.e. the Greeks, Bulgarians and other nations should not feel like second-class citizens in comparison to the Germans, Swedes or French. Therefore, Europe must fight for equality and democracy.

I would also like to have a Europe with less unemployment and more activity and mobility among young people. Over the past almost 10 years I have been working in Bulgaria and I do not feel any difference. I feel at home both in Athens and Sofia. My feeling when I travel is not that I am going to another country, but to another place in Europe. This feeling should be made available to all EU citizens, including those who do not travel. This is my vision about Europe - a country with European citizens who retain their traditions, cultural differences and individualities as nations, but are equal and have equal rights.

Which political party in Bulgaria would you cooperate with in the European Parliament?

I do not think that such a party currently exists, but we are making efforts in order to establish the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in Bulgaria.

I know that the current member of ALDE is the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Maybe we liberals are making a fresh start in Bulgaria. The country has many citizens who support liberal ideas. Even a few days ago, I spoke to two 18-year-old girls who expressed their desire to help towards the establishment of the Alliance in Bulgaria because they believe in human rights, the need for people to have a mind, body and life like the ones they want, but there is no political power with which to express those ideas at the moment.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms attempts to do this, but there it still has a long way to go. There is also the Centre for Liberal Strategies, which does a very good job at a theoretical level for the acceptance of liberal ideas in Bulgaria. I think that we need to move on and implement liberal policies in practice, too.

How do you evaluate the role of the media in relation to the European elections?

This is a very serious matter. Unfortunately, we have not yet come out of the great conglomeration of centralization. For example, the Gefires coalition will not be entitled to broadcasting time on large TV channels, despite the fact that they have the required rate according to the law for small parties. And Gefires is the only, and largest, non-parliamentary party and should have relevant media coverage. Therefore, we have filed a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court.

In general, the role of the media is far from the one it should be. They do not give voice to political forces which cannot be heard, because they are smaller.

I think that the same is happening in Bulgaria. There is also a concentration of the media, which prevents smaller formations from being presented and heard.

What is your message to voters in Europe?

That at the European elections, we vote for Europe and are not guided by our internal issues. Large parties are trying to convince us that they are a referendum for the national elections. This is not true.

At these elections, we will vote for an equal and democratic Europe, a Europe which belongs to us all. This is an opportunity for its citizens to support smaller parties which have a European voice and a programme. While in Greece, we have not yet heard what the ideas of major parties in terms of the development of Europe are. None of them has said anything about how they see the future of Europe and what they want to change there.

Less than a month before the European elections nobody in Greece is talking about European problems, but only about national ones, and the difference is huge. But this is not happening in many countries, only in Greece. There are even parties which, according to polls, could be described as large, but have still not announced in which European party they will be involved. In this case, we should say that we have a democratic deficit. They want people to vote for them without being aware of which European political party they support.

Drasi and Gefires are members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, which is the third strongest political party in the European Parliament. It focuses on human rights, diversity, equal opportunities for all and the right of self-determination. I urge GRReporter.info readers to vote with European criteria for small parties which have a vision for Europe.

Watch GRReporter’s movie about the concept bookstore of Areti Georgilis Free Thinking Zone: