ALTER SUMMIT
– Athens 7-8 June, 2013
Για μια δημοκρατική, κοινωνική, οικολογική Ευρώπη
For a democratic,
social, ecological and feminist Europe
Pour une Europe
democratique, ecologique, et femisiste
The Alternative Meeting of
the European Movements (Alter Summit) held in Athens on 7 and 8 June,2013 was a
great gathering of representatives from many countries of Europe, members of
national parliaments and the European parliament, union officials and
representatives of immigrant communities, members of the civil rights and the
peace movement, ecological and feminist organisations. Activists from all over Europe came to Athens to
express their support to the Greek social movement and to reassure their
commitment to “a democratic, social, ecological and feminist Europe.”
At the meeting, the Athens Manifesto was proclaimed, focusing
on the following key areas:
• dealing with debt, with a
demand for the immediate cancellation of the Memorandum, suspension of
repayments, and national borrowing directly from the European Central Bank with
lower interest rates
• reversal of austerity by
strengthening taxation justice, developing public investment programmes and safeguarding
social and environmental goods
• protection of human
rights, with a demand for restoration of the right to collective labour
bargaining, termination of social and wage dumping and adoption of an adequate
minimum salary for each employee, protection of the right to decent housing,
enforcement of equal payment between men and women and social and political
integration of migrant men and women.
• and finally, democratisation
of the economy under the state control of the private banking system, with a common
demand for reconsideration of the huge funding of private banks, imposition of sound regulations on banks and monetary
institutions, through democratic monitoring.
The manifesto expressed
the alternative proposals of the social movement against the crisis and
proposed a common agenda of actions towards building closer cooperation among movements
opposed to modern anti-social and anti-ecological policies, promoted through the
neo-liberal model of governance currently prevailing in Europe.
There was held a wide
exchange of experiences in thematic assemblies and workshops, discussing the key
issues concerning the European people, such as the spread of unemployment and
poverty in association with global developments, the rise of racism and
neo-Nazism, militarism, environmental degradation and the downgrading of
democratic institutions, the crisis of values and the plunder of natural
wealth.
A strong message emerging
from the works of the Alter Summit was that the neo-liberal simplex is not fatal
or inevitable and that “another Europe is possible.”
On Saturday, June 8, after
the end of the meeting, a big demonstration took place in the centre of Athens,
ending outside the Greek Parliament at Syntagma square, declaring in this way the
solidarity of the European civil society with the Greek people.
At the Athens Alter Summit meeting on the part of Nature Friends participated: the FRIENDS
of NATURE / NFGR with a kiosk in the exhibition area, the President of NFCZ,
Dr.Miroslav Prokes, and a member of the NFDE. For the thematic assemply on
environment and the plundering of nature two interventions had been prepared,
the President’s of NFGR Konstantinos Foteinakis titled, "The natural,urban and cultural environments are threatened by neoliberalism – it’s our dutyto protect them" and Christina Kourkoula’s on “Women as a factor ofinterception against nature’s plundering”, which, unfortunately, were not
presented due to time constraints. These interventions will be posted on the
site of NFGR and other relevant blogs.
More info at Alter Summit
- www.altersummit.eu
Christina Kourkoula - chrisikurki@yahoo.gr
Member of the Audit
Committee of NFGR and the Feminist Initiative for the Elimination of Violence
against Women
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