Gysi ist neuer Präsident der Europäischen Linken

Der neue Präsident der Europäischen Linken ist @GregorGysi! #elcongress2016 #changeeurope pic.twitter.com/xSJSHKyUQf

— DIE LINKE (@dieLinke) 17. Dezember 2016

Gregor Gysi, de @dieLinke, nuevo presidente del @europeanleft #LECongress2016 pic.twitter.com/P8pCSTxROp

— Izquierda Abierta (@iabierta) 17. Dezember 2016

EL Congress continues with intervention of parties delegations and international guests

The second day of the 5th Congress of the Party of the European Left (EL) started with the intervention of national delegations, in a debate that will dominate the works of a day that will culminate with the election of the new presidency.

International guests also have been taking the floor, such as Juan Valdés, from the Communist Party of Cuba, Mar Garcia, from the European Green Party, Declan Kearney, from Sinn Féin (Ireland). Around midday, the awaited Prime-Minister of Greece and EL Vice-President, Alexis Tsipras, also arrived at the Berlin Congress Center to speak at the Congress plenary.

Tsipras thanked the solidarity of the EL and its parties with the Greek people, which has been fighting against austerity policies and the Troika’s blackmail. A solidarity which was evident in a statement by Pierre Laurent released earlier in the morning, and where the EL President called for the end of the pressures and blackmail against the Greek government, revived with the pension’s payment.

The Greek Prime Minister stressed in his speech the necessity of solidarity as antidote against nationalisms and scepticism. The stereotypes of confrontations and competence among ones and others feed the development of the right populism and the far right. The way to eliminate that threat is precisely the cooperation and the creation of the annual forum proposed by this Congress. “This is the first step”, he said. "We must broaden alliances of the left and propose alternatives that are attractive and credible”.

The morning of this second day of the 5th EL Congress was also marked by a musical performance of the Refugees Choir of Berlin and the intervention of representatives from parties who are expected to see its accession to the EL ratified on Sunday morning, such as the ones from ‘L’Altra Europa con Tsipras’ (Italy), Der Wandel (Austria) and Left Unity (UK).

http://www.european-left.org/