16.05 'European Days of Action' Fights for EU Democracy Amid Oppression
MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti), Nastassia Astrasheuskaya – A Europe-wide 10-day movement for solidarity and democracy, European Days of Action, started out by facing "heavy repression" from the authorities in Brussels during the European Business Summit on Thursday, a representative of the Transnational Institute (TNI) taking part in the event said Friday.
"We are clearly heavily repressed: 300 people were detained during our demonstration during Business Summit in Brussels, where activists from various European countries gathered to kicked-off the Action Days yesterday," Sol Trumbo, an economist and political activist at TNI told RIA Novosti in an interview.
The Transnational Institute promotes social movements and the struggle for economic, social and environmental justice.
Nearly 700 people attended Thursday’s demonstration, calling for change in European policy making.
"The way our policies are currently made, they only take care of the corporations. They lead to increased poverty, increased unemployment," Sol said in a telephone interview.
On Friday, at least 16 European left or radical left movements, organizations, groups and parties from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Denmark and Greece heard the testimonies of 11 different witnesses from several countries about the negative effects of the crisis, Sol said.
The conference was called to lay out a plan of action to promote the movement’s three core values: democracy, commons and solidarity. Demonstrators will take back to the streets on Saturday to focus on the upcoming May 22-25 European Parliament elections, where voters will elect 751 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to serve five-year terms.
May 17 marks three years since the signing of the Portuguese Memorandum of Understanding by the Troika, composed of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The document outlined financial rescue measures for Portugal during the Eurozone economic crisis.
"We want to have a say and show people how the current authorities faked the EU recovery, how they used the crisis to advance certain agencies. There are criminals among politicians," Sol said, adding that after the members adjourn on Friday, they will return to cities all over Europe to spread the message.
The movement has been active for several years, often working together with the Blockupy coalition, famous for cutting off access to the European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, and Alter Summit, which gained prominence during protests in Greece.
The activities of May of Solidarity, named after the May election, could show not only European citizens, but others, that public demands for democracy must be heard.
"We see the importance of a rolling map, and the role our institutions could play not only in Europe, but in Ukraine, as well, for example. We understand the importance of building a democratic society today more than ever," Sol said.
The current Days of Action concludes on May 25, but only to plan larger protests this autumn, when the EU will be electing the next president of the European Commission to succeed José Manuel Barroso. Among its major activities, TNI is already preparing a blockade of ECB headquarters.
