Note from the LeftEast editors: with this text Left-wing activists working in/on East-Central Europe support the struggle of SYRIZA in Greece in the coming election on the 25th of January 2015. If you would like your name or that of your organization to be added to the list, please write to:lefteasteditors@gmail . com

The focus of international public opinion is on Greece as it holds general elections on 25  January. The predicted victory of SYRIZA, the party of the radical left, is a threat to the austerity regime imposed on the  country by the  ‘Troika’: the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Greek, European and global capital have for years imposed austerity on their populations in a concerted campaign to re-finance their banks. They have tried to pass the burden of paying for the crisis created by capitalism on to the working people. Their campaign based on fear and intimidation against the election of SYRIZA is based on their fear that its success will be emulated throughout Europe and the world. Any left  government in Greece will consequently face major economic and political subversion, both domestically and from abroad. The growth of the far right in the conditions of misery produced by austerity is particularly worrying.

We, the undersigned, believe that austerity produces mass misery and we call for a stop to it. We stand with all people in Greece and for their right to choose a government free from intimidation and external intervention. We pledge to organise solidarity actions to defend a   government of the left that rejects the illegitimate debt and the brutal austerity regime in Greece.

Moreover, we see the rise of the left in Greece as a cause for hope for the movements against capitalist globalisation. This is the beginning of the end of the narrative of the end of history, which has accompanied policies similar to those imposed on Greece by the ‘Troika’ elsewhere  in the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe for the last decade and a half.?We will continue to build a progressive alternative in our own countries as the best guarantee of an end to a world where profit is placed above human need.

Signatories:

Minel Abaz, Bosnia and Herzegovina?Milan Ambroži?, United Left, Slovenia?Raia Apostolova, Bulgaria?Filip Balunovic, Serbia?Janez Bertoncelj, United Left, Slovenia?Katarzyna Bielinska-Kowalewska, Poland?Ilya Budraitskis, OpenLeft, Russian Federation?Claudia Ciobanu, Bankwatch, Poland?Alex Cistelecan, CriticAtac, Romania?William Coker, LeftEast, Turkey?Nikola ?upas, Marks21, Serbia?Márton Czirfusz, LeftEast, Hungary?Robert Dumitru, Romania?Rossen Djagalov, LeftEast, Turkey?Emin Eminagic, Lijevi, Bosnia and Herzegovina?Vasile Ernu, CriticAtac, Romania?Alexander Feodorov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Mathias Fiedler, Germany?Srecko Horvat, Croatia?Vassil Genchev, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Rron Gjinovci, Left political activist, Kosovo?Adela Gjorgjioska, Macedonia?Nassya Grudeva, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Tsvetelina Hristova, Bulgaria?Momchil Hristov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Volodymyr Ishchenko, LeftEast, Ukraine?Mariya Ivancheva, LeftEast, Bulgaria?Vladimir Jevtic,Serbia?Daniel Johnson, Turkey?Nikolay Karkov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Gal Kirn, United Left, Slovenia?Stefan Krastev, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Stefan Kreft, Germany?Liljana Latinovic, Serbia?Jan Májícek, Socialistická Solidarita, Czech Republic?Martin Marinos, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Aleksandar Matkovic, Gerusija, Serbia?Georgi Medarov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Matija Medenica, Marks21, Serbia?Luka Mesec, United Left MP, Slovenia?Marko Miloševic, Workers’ Front/Radnicka fronta, Croatia?Madlen Nikolova, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Vladimir Nocic, Serbia?Tijana Oki?, Bosnia and Herzegovina?Roberto Ortiz Feliciano, Puerto Rico?Stanimir Panayotov, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Denis Pilash, Left Opposition, Ukraine?Florin Poenaru, LeftEast, Romania?Dino Priselac, Croatia?Aleksandar Radivojevi?, Croatia?Gavin Rae, Poland?Costi Rogozanu, CriticAtac, Romania?Boryana Rossa, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Arlind Qori, Organizata Politike, Albania?Andrei State, CriticAtac, Romania?Igor Stiks, Open University, Bosnia and Herzegovina?G. M. Tamás, Hungary?Mary N. Taylor, LeftEast, USA?Ana Tomicic, Croatia?Vesna Tomic, Serbia?Franc Tr?ek, United Left MP, Slovenia?Jana Tsoneva, Social Center Haspel, Bulgaria?Matej T. Vatovec, United Left MP, Slovenia?Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, LeftEast, Russian Federation?Bojana Zukov Gregoric, United Left, Slovenia?Andreja Zivkovic, LeftEast, Serbia, Center for the Politics of Emancipation (Serbia)

Commons: Journal of Social Criticism (Ukraine)?CriticAtac (Romania)?LeftEast?Leftist movement Solidarity (Republic of Macedonia)?Left Summit – Levi Samit (Serbia)?Marks21 (Serbia)?Parliamentarian group of United Left – Združena levica (Slovenia)?Social Center Xaspel (Bulgaria)?Solidary Bulgaria (Bulgaria)?S.T.R.I.K.E. (Serbia)?Workers’ Front – Radnicka fronta (Croatia)