Lies about immigration send them to Golden Dawn, said the professor of economics at the Panteion University Antigone Lyberaki, a candidate for deputy from the coalition between the parties Recreate Greece and Drasi, in an interview with Maria S. Topalova.
Mrs. Limperaki, what part of Greek society does the coalition between Recreate Greece and Drasi represent?
I am very glad you have noticed how different people are here. The people who are here today, men and women, are citizens, not customers. They do not think the parties can do with them whatever they want. On the contrary, they believe that they have responsibilities to the parties. They do not wait for services. These are people, creative in all occupations. Young people, middle-aged people, adults. We all share a common understanding - we do not want to live on the state, we do not want to live with loans, we want to live creatively.
What is different in the economic programme of your coalition?
What we suggest and what distinguishes us from the others is that we do not just generally say, "We want to remain in the euro and Europe" or "Reforms should be made." We say that the reforms will be difficult, will result in upheavalas. They will have a cost. Nevertheless, we will have to pay this cost and the sooner, the better. Other politicians promise to increase income, pensions. Unfortunately, there is no money. The more lies politicians tell, the more people begin to believe that there are magic solutions. Well, there are none. What we say boldly is that we can imagine a beautiful future for Greece within Europe, but we have to know what the difficulties are and must fight to overcome them.
As a specialist on immigration issues, what do you think is the solution to this, the biggest problem for Greece after the economy?
Immigration is a topic that is very misunderstood and a very negative climate has formed around it. However, it is unfounded if we consider how much immigrants have contributed to the development of Greece in recent years. Neither the Greek state nor a Greek party has ever clearly stated how important the support of this huge workforce is. These people have come to Greece to work and have worked a lot. Instead of openly acknowledging it, the parties believe they will win votes by creating fear and anxiety and hostility. The result is that the lies about economy send people to SYRIZA and lies about immigration send them to Golden Dawn. Both are unacceptable.
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