The secretary general of the PS, António Costa, defended this Friday that in order to defend democracy and freedom it is necessary to “give opportunities to the middle class”, as this social layer feels “helpless”, leaving “breeding ground” for the extreme right.
Speaking at the closing session of the social summit of the European Socialist Party (PES), which took place today at the cruise terminal in the port of Leixões, in Matosinhos, Costa recalled that “throughout history, the middle class has always felt insecure and abandoned, then the extreme right and radicalism managed to grow”.
“The middle class ensures the existence of democracy. It is when the middle class feels abandoned, helpless, insecure, that we have fertile ground for radicalism to develop, for populism to grow and for the far right to grow. threat,” said the prime minister.
Costa claimed that in Europe one cannot “look only at the weakest, only at those who are in a situation of poverty”, reiterating the need to “defend the middle class” in order to “protect freedom and democracy” in Europe.
“If we want to defend our democracy, our freedom, if we really want to fight the far right, we must give opportunities to the middle class and guarantee the new generations that they will have a better life than their parents,” he stressed. . .
The leader of the PS believed that this is “the hope and feeling for the future” that must be guaranteed for the new generations.
“Yes, we didn’t get there, we know it’s a long journey, but 200 years ago, when the socialist movements emerged, we were much further away than we are today,” he stressed.
In this speech, which he largely devoted to the response of the European Union during the Covid-19 pandemic, António Costa also considered that one of the lessons to be learned from that period is that there is “a permanent crisis stabilization mechanism” is needed.
“Fortunately, crises are not permanent, but we know that crises unfortunately return. And every time a crisis arises, we don’t have to spend endless hours meeting with the Council [da União Europeia] to try to find a common solution,” he said.
Costa concluded his speech by referring to an alleged quote from former French socialist president François Mitterrand, who is said to have said that “socialism is the youngest idea”.
“Many years have passed, but socialism is still a very young idea, so we have a long life ahead of us,” he said.
Prior to António Costa’s speech, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, praised in a panel titled “The Socialists Comply!” .
“Dear António, I think you have shown that there is a socialist alternative that works, because austerity didn’t work, neoliberalism didn’t work… What they produced was a lot of people out of work, in poverty,” said Nicolas Schmit, of the Socialist Party of Luxembourg Workers.
In contrast to austerity, Schmit defended that António Costa “showed that social democratic policies, solidarity and social innovation are not products of dreams, but concrete policies of socialists and social democrats”.
“The social policies that are being successfully developed in Portugal and Spain show that you can have a strong, innovative economy, based on solidarity and at the same time a social policy that tries to leave no one behind,” he said. . .
Source: DN
