Dienstag, 16. Juni 2020 von 18:00 bis 19:30 Uhr
The Corona-virus has hit the EU unprepared, but in different ways and with different effects depending on the countries. Most tragic were the effects on those countries whose healthcare and social systems have been emaciated by decades of austerity policies. Thus, the pandemic has increased inequalities not only inside the states but also between the Member States of the EU. This presents the parties of the radical left with a challenge and calls for a re-examination of their strategies.
Transform! europe is hosting a series of web interviews with leading personalities of parties of the European Left. The 8th interviewee will be Luka Mesec, MP and Coordinator of Levica (Slovenian Left Party) on Tuesday 16/06 at 18:00 (CET).
The interview will be in English.
Click here to register ::::
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iPLFOsACRLC73RtV_kFWWg
The event will be interactive – after an initial interview the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions of our guest.
The main focus of all discussions will be the impact of the pandemic on the economic, social, political, and cultural life of particular countries. We have seen that the EU’s failure to address the health crisis and provide support to the most affected states has changed the way the Union is perceived in parts of Europe. To what extent and with what consequences does this apply to the countries whose parties our interviewees represent? How can the left cope with the economic and social crisis and the recession that is very likely to come in its wake? How do the left parties connect their national strategies to global problems, in particular the influx of refugees and the answers urgently required by the global environmental crisis.
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Luka Mesec is a Slovenian left activist and politician. He’s been involved in (student) movements that formed a party called Initiative for Democratic Socialism in Slovenia and coalition called Združena levica (United Left) in 2014. With Luka Mesec as a spokesperson, coalition was elected in parliament in 2014 and Slovenia became the first post-socialist country in Europe with new left party in Parliament. He’s an MP from 2014 on and from 2017, when coalition unified into the party Levica (The Left), he’s a coordinator of the party.
interviewed by:
Dagmar Svendova, works for transform! europe, being responsible for Central and Eastern European Strategy. Previously she worked as a Political Advisor and Assistant to Vladimír Remek, Member of the European Parliament (GUE/NGL, CZ Delegation) dealing mainly but not limited to Space (GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite System), Energy and Consumer Protection.
and
Walter Baier, an economist in Vienna, was National Chairman of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) from 1994 to 2006. He was an editor of the Austrian weekly Volksstimme and from 2007 has been Coordinator of the network transform! europe.
