On the occasion of the Europe Day, the EL continued its electoral campaign in Paris. In Paris 200 people joined the public debate at the “Europeen” theatre. The debate was moderated by Francis Wurtz, president of the group GUE/NGL at the European Parliament.
Invited guests were EL president Lothar Bisky, Marla Vamvourelli, representative of the youth of Synaspismos, Miroslav Ransdorf, deputy of the European Parliament of the Bohemia and Moravia Communist Party, and Sean Oliver, animator of the campaign “NO to the Lisbon Treaty” in Ireland.  Together with three representatives from France, the speakers presented their electoral campaigns in the different countries.
From France, the meeting was participated by Pierre Laurent, National coordinator of the French Communist Party, Yann Leroy from the communist youth movement (MJCF), which was massively present at the debate, and Patrich Le Hyaric, director of the French communist newspaper “Humanite’” and head of the Left Front list for the European elections in Ile de France constituency.

Lothar Bisky stated that 400.000 members of the European Left are engaged in the EL common electoral campaign from Estonia to Portugal, from France till Cyprus. The EL electoral platform was drafted by consensus with all its members and observer parties and demands: a re-regulation of the financial markets, public control over the European Central Bank, a socio ecological restructuring of our economy and the replacement of the Growth and Stability Pact by a new pact of solidarity focusing on growth, full employment, social and environmental protection. Bisky went on: “against the ideology of bourgeois politics we say: freedom and justice are two sides of the same coin. We want a society guaranteeing both freedom and justice for the people and united by solidarity: “liberte, egalite, fraternite”!”

Yann Leroy and Maria Vamvoureli stressed the importance of the struggle against precariousness which is mainly affecting young people all over Europe. Maria underlined the importance of the upcoming European elections: “European right wing policies have failed everywhere, they created precariousness for the youth, devaluation of degrees and the commercialisation of the education. The European elections are crucial for our future. They represent an occasion to transform our anger into a deliberate political act!”