A new resounding intervention from the “To Vima” conference was made by Antonis Samaras, appearing ready for his new political venture.
“Because I discern signs of decline, it is my personal responsibility and obligation to contribute to the homeland. Because for me politics is not a profession but a duty, it is a matter of conscience. A conscience that certainly does not submit to any political expediency. I consistently prefer the cost of conscience over the benefit of any applause”, he noted characteristically.
At the same time, he acknowledged that in the past, “I did not do everything right. But it is equally certain that I tried hard”.
The former prime minister referred to the “tired people,” the “society of fatigue,” noting: “You no longer see smiles. You see anxiety, haste, violence, despair. You gradually see it not only in the big cities, but also in the small town of the province. You are moved to tears seeing the increasing deserted villages in our Greece that until recently were alive. You see the vacant stare of many young children”.
“I believe we must put an end to this plain, vain, flattening, neoliberal management. A return to the politics of ideas and visions is required. It is more necessary than ever for our social cohesion, otherwise Greece will be endangered by a prolonged decline, but also by a dangerous national complacency. I will say only one word. Thrace”, he added.
He also warned that if the “materialistic and managerial perception continues, it will not only be the political leadership of the day that is questioned, but possibly politics as a whole”.
Antonis Samaras referred to three stories from the past, one of them, “the wrong troika program with the multipliers. It was Zappeio 1 for which I was so heavily criticized, I had the political system, journalists, and businessmen against me. Two years later, a famous economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) publicly and in writing admitted that we were right, that the first memorandum was wrong. Some even today accuse me that I did not vote for that mistake then, afterward we managed the second memorandum with Vangelis Venizelos”.
The former prime minister stressed that in 2013 “Greece achieved a primary surplus. The Eurogroup had committed that Europe would proceed with reducing our debt and yet Angela Merkel denied it to us. Because, as she told me, in view of the European elections in Germany the German polls did not allow her to help the Greeks, whom the Germans—as she told me—still considered lazy”.
Samaras closed his remarks with two admonitions to young people: “Never believe that the world will change by those who simply shout more loudly and never negotiate your dignity”.