I read some of the names on the list of MEPs who represented Greece in the period 1984-89: Evangelos Averof, Paraskevas Avgerinos, Ioannis Boutos, Efthimios Christodoulou, Dimitrios Evrygenis, Marietta Giannakou, Manolis Glezos, Leonidas Kyrkos, Panagiotis Lambrias, Georgios Mavros, Spyros Plaskovitis, George Romaios, George Anastasopoulos, Ioannis Tzounis. Of course, there were candidates with a list. Obviously, because I can’t imagine some of these accomplished Greeks being able to go through the process of hunting the cross.
On the other hand, they were people who could stand very comfortably in Europe and support Greek interests using European arguments, not internal consumption arguments.
I am not particularly nostalgic for the past of the Greek political system and I am well aware of how much the patina of time can deceive the unsuspecting. People who look like giants today may have been little people in reality saved by the lack of communicative pseudo-intimacy in their time. It certainly helps to compare with what we are discussing today and who will sit in the chairs where they sat… Because in the past, even when well-known artists were chosen, we were represented by Xarchakos and Mouschouri.
I understand that our society has changed and that we live in the age of TikTok in politics. However, I wonder if the decision taken in 2014 to elect MEPs by cross was absolutely correct. Yes, it is much more democratic, healthier, more, more… On the other hand, in today’s relentless communication environment, what chance does the worthy local lord, volunteer, academic, diplomat, self-made entrepreneur or technocrat stand against personalities and athletes?
Europe will make extremely critical decisions in the coming years. Decisions that will be decisive for Greek interests, because they will concern defense, the EU’s international relations. and other vital issues. The European Parliament is no longer a rubber-stamp body. It plays a very important role in decision-making and control of the Commission. As a country, you want MEPs who have training, an opinion on general issues and can develop relationships and alliances with their colleagues. Under no circumstances do you want, for reasons of purely national interest, those who wait for Thursday to go back and whom you only find with Greek interlocutors in Greek hangouts in Brussels or Strasbourg.
A mixed list and cross system could possibly have been found and agreed upon, something like a State ballot for the European Parliament. This would have ensured the representation of the country by someone who knows the issues in depth.
What’s done is done, however, and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for anyone in the future to change the MEP election system. But since the issue is serious, it is up to us to at least do our duty, as voters. Let’s read no biographies, put aside who we “know” and give our cross to those we would trust to represent us in Europe. In other words, to ensure that some who under normal circumstances have no hope of being elected are saved from the ensuing communication storm.
