AKEL on unacceptable statements by EU Commission President Barroso
At yesterday’s plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg during the presentation of the priorities of the Greek Government for the Presidency of the European Council, commenting on its priorities, the Commission through Jose Barroso stated, inter alia, the following: “We need to finish what we started…Consistent and continued structural reform is the way to do it…So don’t tell me structural reform is unnecessary or unproductive. We need structural reforms so that we can address the real problems of competitiveness in many of our countries, if we don’t want to be the losers of globalisation…Our focus on immediate measures to fuel growth and jobs does not in any way detract from the necessity of continued reform of the underlying European framework and our common economic policies.”
In addition, he was quick to point out that all the Member-states who have made structural changes and implemented Adjustment Programmes are today recording “impressive results”.
We consider the above references which provocatively ignore the pain inflicted on the Cypriot and the rest of the peoples of Europe and the real problems of people as unacceptable. Entire generations for the sake of profit are being sacrificed so as not “to be the losers of globalisation”, with the European Commission demanding yet new, more vigorous measures by announcing in the calmest way new austerity measures. In the name of boosting competitiveness, the Commission is demanding all kinds of reforms and measures necessary for big capital that will plunge even more working people and the already underprivileged strata of the people into poverty. The positions of the Commission not only cause concern, but signal a clear onslaught of anti-peoples measures against working people and small and middle businesses.
However, as if all this wasn’t enough Mr. Barroso, on behalf of the Commission, also went even further, attempting a dangerous and unacceptable equation of communists with fascist parties, stating that, “With the date of what is going to be possibly a tense election coming closer each day…we are seeing, in fact, a rise of extremism from the extreme right and from the extreme left. We must, however, make sure this campaign is an opportunity for more genuine debate about Europe, not a festival of unfounded reproaches against Europe.” That is to say, the neo-liberal extremism which the Cypriot people is suffering from to its very skin as a result of the austerity policies of the Memorandum and the Troika, which is being implemented impeccably by the Anastasiades government, must not be criticised since more or less anyone who disagrees with the policies of the European Union is an extremist and will be equated with the extreme-right and Nazi formations.
