Opposition parties reacted strongly to the fierce “attacks” against the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court in The Hague launched by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis on Parapolitika 90.1 during the “Apenanti Mikrofona” show with Vassilis Skouris and Sotiris Xenakis. The minister, responding to PASOK’s Mr. Mantzos statements about whether his views on the International Court represent the government’s position, said the discussion had taken place months before and that it is not the government’s position. “9 prime ministers, led by Denmark (which belongs to the social democratic party), have signed a letter to the European Court of Human Rights, asking it to revise its approach on migration, as it affects the principle of popular sovereignty, to legitimize pushbacks, etc. Greece wrongly has not signed this letter,” he emphasized. After referring to a “serious European initiative from 9 countries on migration,” he noted that “if tomorrow 1 million boats enter Greece, no one can stop them. I say ‘no’ to this policy.”
Mr. Georgiadis mentioned that “in the 1950s the US Supreme Court began to interpret the American Constitution expansively, this passed to Europe and to the International Human Rights Court, which decides whatever it pleases.” He noted that “the International Court, aided by Amnesty International (they are all leftists), decides that we cannot guard our borders.” He also said that “we correctly sent frigates, because for a period Libya stopped the boats, but they cannot do pushbacks.” Regarding the flows, he admitted that “in the last 4-5 days there has been chaos in migration,” following “Libya’s decision.”
Regarding the International Criminal Court of The Hague, after clarifying that his statement concerned this court (and not the other, to which Greece will appeal regarding Turkey), he emphasized that it has created many frictions, while when asked whether Greece should withdraw, “countries weigh their interests and act,” he declared. “Today, are Greece’s interests with Israel or not? If yes, obviously the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Netanyahu does not concern us.” “The same applies to Putin, if he closes an agreement that the Ukrainian people will also accept,” he said.
PASOK: Georgiadis and Plevrh positions are unacceptable
Dimitris Mantzos, head of Foreign Affairs for PASOK-KINAL, launched attacks against the government and New Democracy, commenting on Georgiadis’ positions. In his statement, Mr. Mantzos said: “International courts and international justice constitute an integral part of the international order based on rules, binding for states that have agreed to their implementation, including our country.”
Full Mantzos statement
“The unacceptable posts by ministers Georgiadis and Plevrh question Greece’s participation in the international system of interpretation and implementation of international law. They reveal something more: for a significant part of New Democracy, international rules and judicial decisions constitute a ‘luxury’ that must yield to the law of the strong. All this in a country that relies chronically on international law to defend its national rights and interests, in a country where recourse to international justice constitutes a strong strategic choice,” notes Mr. Mantzos and adds: “The question is one and clear and now concerns the Prime Minister himself: Does he agree with his ministers’ statements? Do they express his government’s position?“
Sakellaridis: It’s time to stop them
New Left Central Committee Secretary Gabriel Sakellaridis also posted a message on social media regarding the statements by Migration Minister Thanos Plevrh and Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis.
Full post by Mr. Sakellaridis:
“In the midst of Christmas we are witnessing a crescendo of far-right rhetoric from government ministers -indebted for this discourse- Adonis Georgiadis and Thanos Plevrh. Both are performing the role assigned to them by the Prime Minister, within an ideological battle that fits perfectly with the emergence of the Trumpist current. After all, they feel it’s their moment, the time to claim a world cut and tailored to their measures, where the law of the strong will swallow and crush those who speak of rights, freedoms, rule of law and international law.
T. Plevrh responds to Ch. Rammos saying that “the blood that has been shed” weighs “more than the ink” with which the Constitution was written, which recognizes international conventions on human rights, as if these two are in opposition. Only in the mind of a far-right extremist does such a thing happen.
Christos Rammos bothers them also because he did his duty as ADAE president, did not kneel before K. Mitsotakis’ regime and served his function, doing what he could to reveal the wiretapping scandal, the biggest scandal of the post-dictatorship era.
T. Plevrh doesn’t much care about being Minister of Migration Policy, as much as being a preacher of far-right sloganeering. This was also evident in the fiasco with African refugees in Crete, the failure of suspending the right of access to asylum, as well as his false promise regarding deportations.
And Adonis Georgiadis attacks the International Criminal Court and Amnesty International as “irrelevant leftist-controlled schemes.”
A word about Amnesty International. The world’s largest human rights defense organization, unfortunately for far-right extremists, does not refer to the Left, but its millions of members come from across the political spectrum, from people who set aside their political disagreements and focus on defending democracy, rule of law and rights. I was fortunate to meet many people from the right, center, liberal people, with whom we might disagree on how to have economic development, social justice etc, but there was a common understanding that to be able to freely disagree on the above, we must struggle for a common code on which to fight for our different views. And this code was none other than the defense of human rights, as a universal concept.
The Left is a political space that fights -or should fight- for human rights. It’s in its constitutional charter and value code. But it’s unfair to claim it has a monopoly on this. It’s wrong to identify this value struggle only with the Left and it’s certainly historically untrue.
The Right doesn’t deserve to have A. Georgiadis and T. Plevrh as its representatives in Greece, who diminish it as a poor copy of Trumpism. These and their likes ride the global current of far-right emergence, feeling they entered politics to serve this purpose. That it’s their moment and they respond to the call of a politician -Trump- who is the closest thing to fascism of our era. But it’s time to stop them“.
Democracy Movement: Unacceptable institutional devaluation of The Hague International Court and Amnesty International by Georgiadis
The Democracy Movement spoke of “unacceptable institutional devaluation of The Hague International Court and Amnesty International by Adonis Georgiadis” in its announcement.
The party’s full announcement follows:
“The Mitsotakis government’s institutional decline has crossed beyond borders. With a public intervention, Health Minister Mr. Adonis Georgiadis made an unprecedented and derogatory reference to The Hague International Court and Amnesty International, characterizing them as “irrelevant leftist-controlled schemes” and essentially calling for ignoring their work and institutional mission. This stance constitutes a serious institutional deviation. The Hague International Court is a top jurisdictional body of the United Nations, while Amnesty International is an internationally recognized human rights protection organization. Their public devaluation by an active Minister of the Hellenic Republic directly undermines: the country’s international prestige, the credibility of Greek foreign policy, and the institutional seriousness of the rule of law.
The attempt at ideological targeting of international institutions, because they don’t serve specific political narratives, undermines the concept of institutional independence and refers to practices that don’t align with a modern European democracy. Greece must respect and defend the international organizations it participates in and from which it draws institutional strength and international credibility. Statements like these don’t express Greek society or the country’s democratic tradition.
We demand:
Immediate removal of the -dangerous for the country minister- from the government. Clear reaffirmation of the Greek state’s respect for The Hague International Court and Amnesty International. Institutional responsibility is not a matter of ideology. It is a Democracy’s obligation“.
