Speech by Giorgos Papandreou
Greek Prime Minister, leader of PASOK
and Chairman of the Socialist International
the Social Democrats (SAP), 36th Congress
Stockholm, October 28, 2009
Dear Mona, Dear colleagues, Dear friends,
It is with much emotion, I stand here as a speaker at your party conference because it is the first time I attend a sister party congress since I was elected prime minister of Greece. The feelings I have for Sweden and the Social Democratic Party mean a lot to me. They mean something deeply personal and political. It was here in Sweden that I lived with my family during the difficult years when the junta was in power in my country. It was here that I learned that solidarity and socialist values are interrelated, and it was here I met and was inspired by personalities like Olof Palme and Anna Lindh.
As President of the Socialist International, I work today with your leader, my friend, Mona Sahlin, on our common goal of building a progressive, environmental and climate-friendly, a just society. Mona is a person whom I admire for her ability to go from idea to action. I am confident that Mona is the right person to find ways to realize our shared political vision here in Sweden.
On the fourth of October the Greek people launched a new chapter in Greek political history. They gave the Greek socialist party PASOK and me a mandate but also the heavy responsibility to lead Greece into a new era, an era where we stopped going back and start to move forward instead, and achieve something with our policies. A clear majority of Greeks supported us since they want reform, they want change. They want to believe in politics again. They are prepared to take the steps required to meet the challenges of our time. They know that there are challenges that we can cope with if we work together. They know that the policies we would pursue will help other countries.
Our victory, PASOK's victory, gave back to the Greek people a sense of hope. A hope for today. A hope for the future. I think I see, dear Mona, and all my friends within social democracy, that the Social Democrats in Sweden and your progressive red-green coalition also gives new hope to the entire Swedish population.
But today's socialists and social democrats give not only hope. We also deliver. We are both idealists and pragmatists, and we are fully aware of the difficulties and challenges that await us. Therefore, I chose from the outset, the day I was appointed prime minister to send a clear message to my fellow citizens: the only path to success is the path that we tread together. We must work collectively. If we stand up for each other then we will be victorious. I want to say to you too: let us work together to build a strong progressive majority in our countries. To create a progressive majority in Europe. To fight for a progressive agenda in the world. If the objectives are to be achieved then it can only be done through cooperation.
After forming the government, we presented a plan for the Greeks, a sustainable plan for our first one hundred days in office. What we give priority to is the restructuring of the entire political system so that it will provide for more participation, and show a greater understanding of the needs of our citizens. This is one of the biggest challenges for many countries today. To formulate policy proposals to bring about necessary institutional and ideological changes that put the individual at the center of all political, economic and social activities. For us progressives the term "citizen first" should be more than just a slogan. It has to be there as a guiding principle for all our actions, our policies and the proposals we put forward. Putting citizens first means that we give people opportunities and instruments to work towards the same goals as we do. To stand on our side. To achieve this, we are taking measures to decentralize the state and increase the autonomy and capacity at the regional and local level.
More than a year has passed since the financial crisis affected all of us and economic recovery is the most important thing now. That is what we all have to prioritize. I'm sure you all here in the next few days will be intense and fruitful discussions about this issue, which is at the top of the agenda for your Congress. Recent reports have recently shown that there are signs of a global economic recovery. But that does not mean the crisis is over. Not least because these signals are not universal. And not only that. When reports talk about recovery they mean the recovery of the financial sector. Even if the reports prove true on this point, it is not clear that it also applies for the jobs sector. Safeguarding jobs is the main issue for Social Democrats. It is the starting point from which we must tackle the economic crisis, just as you will be doing here in Congress. If we are to get new life into the economy, we cannot wait for the crisis to end, but we must begin working now with the reality we have and try to improve workers' ability to adapt to the market demand which is constantly changing. The crisis has been exploited by conservative governments to press down workers' wages and rights. As social democrats, it is our duty to defend the welfare state. Worldwide, the Nordic model has been a source of inspiration. It is a welfare model that we must protect and enhance.
One way to address rising unemployment is to create jobs in new and innovative sectors. To stimulate a green development. Green development is one of the core issues of the PASOK party program. It is the very foundation of change in the development model we have drawn up for Greece. Green development can lead to new investments, strengthen our economy and actually open up new avenues for reducing unemployment. For that reason, we give the matter top priority. We have already put forward concrete proposals on how we can create jobs; reduce carbon emissions and ensure growth. We want to invest in new energy-saving methods, clean energy technology and research into alternative energy sources.
Environmental and climate change are things that must be solved globally. To ensure co-operation with developing countries, we must be able to convince them that "a just world is possible." But a just world is possible only if we are all prepared to make the effort and sacrifice needed to get there. With PASOK in government, Greece will once again become an active global player. A constructive player in the European and international cooperation. We must join together with our partners worldwide to promote dialogue among peoples and contribute to building peace and I know that have Sweden on my side on these issue, I have been Sweden's Social Democrats on my side. So feel assured: Greece is back, Greece is on the side of peace, Greece stands for progress and development throughout the world.
As President of the Socialist International I along with our presidium and our party members worked hard so that we stand together in all these global issues. Of course, there is a clear link between global, national, regional and local issues. They belong together in a way that we cannot ignore. This is a new reality that we all share. We all have a responsibility to get our people to feel that they are not helpless, that their voice means something at the local, national, regional and international levels.
Very often the feeling of powerlessness that people have depends on the one hand on the experience of the importance of global solutions. They are, for example, fully aware that global warming and various pandemics might affect their lives. But at the same time, they feel that their concerns do not appear to have any influence on the global stage. What can we do to change this? How can we win people's confidence in our ability to actually change reality? How are we supposed to show when it is time for action that we can actually change not only the conditions within our own country's borders but also across our world?
To achieve this goal, we must change our way of looking at the world. We must work to achieve a change in global governance. We need to create links between the global and regional, through changes to the rules and procedures for the way the world is governed today and adapt our policies to local needs. Our ideas and experience our parties have must join together to enrich our thinking and our policies. This is something we have discussed many times with Mona. We have many ideas on how we could work on sharing and learning from our experiences at the party level.
There are those who argue that social democracy is in deep crisis in Europe. This is not true. Each country has its own national context and reality. The global economic crisis has created a need and an opportunity for change. I believe that the progressive forces stand on the threshold of a new phase of change in Europe. A dynamic phase. A new phase when we achieve our objectives. It is the progressive forces that have now taken over in Greece and before that in Portugal and Norway. We now see how the flood tide has begun to reach even to Sweden.
We are gathered here in solidarity this evening. We bring a message marked by optimism. Our values and priorities answer to what our people want. They will prevail. So what are we waiting for!