Massive protests in Europe, "Day against austerity" April 12, 2014,

Published on Friday, 02 May 2014 12:57

Angela Merkel’s visit to Athens coincided with a chain of protests across the European South. Tens of thousands of protesters in France, Italy, Greece and Spain mobilized showing their support for the Left, and demanding an end to austerity and the neoliberal policies choking Europe. Alexis Tsipras,  the President of SYRIZA and candidate of the European Left for President of the European Commission, commented that, "Merkel's arrival in Athens, the capital of the Memoranda, highlights the drastic results brought about by those who've turned Europe into a tool of the market."
While Merkel and her allies celebrated the success of the Memoranda in Greece, and the austerity-spurred reforms across Europe, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protested on April 11, 2014 in Paris, Rome and Barcelona condemning austerity and calling for the governments of Samaras (Greece), Hollande (France), Rajoy (Spain) and Rentzi (Italy), that continue to employ the “German” solution to the economic crisis, to step down.
In Paris, Alexis Tsipras, marched alongside Pierre Laurent and Jean Luc Mélenchon after the opening of the campaign of the Front du Gauche. Chanting, “Contre l’austérité, pour l’égalité et le partage des richesses” (against austerity, for equality, and sharing wealth), protesters marched from the Place du Republique carrying banners stating, “Enough with Hollande”. "Our Europe is the antithesis of neoliberal policies and authoritarianism, it is the Europe of democracy and social protections," stated Tsipras.
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In Rome, protesters took to the streets to protest the decimation of benefits, high housing costs and unemployment that have plagued the Italian economy, and are poised to worsen under the neoliberal reforms Renzi is seeking to implement.
Further angering and confounding protesters, both Hollande and Renzi are center-left politicians who are allying themselves with the policies of Merkel and the conservatives, rather than those of their socialist traditions. In Barcelona, the conservative Rajoy government found itself once again at the epicenter of protesters’ anger. The Spanish have repeatedly mobilized against unemployment, loss of pension and other benefits and bank foreclosures that are forcing thousands from their homes.
The drastic effects of austerity on society are unifying people ahead of the European elections this May. The protesters are uniting behind the Left, and its commitment to ending austerity and creating a Europe for the people, not special interests. Channeling the energy of people across the European south, Alexis Tsipras stated, "The European Left seeks to foster a progressive Europe that values citizen's rights, culture and growth. In the last several years, we've seen mass mobilizations and resistance to the policies of the elites, calls for direct democracy and the end of the Memoranda, Troika and the fickleness of the markets. We're committed to defending the public sphere and public assets from speculators."