New Left are attacking Stefanos Kasselakis for his post about the "Islamabad agenda," accusing the president of SYRIZA that with his rhetoric, he "contributes to the legalisation and normalisation of far-right speech."
As the New Left sources emphasise, "at a time when the far-right is advancing and imposing its agenda across Europe, the duty of democratic, left-wing and progressive parties and citizens is to defend democracy, solidarity and rights."
Recalling that these days in France, Macron is legislating "the anti-immigrant and racist program of Le Pen and the French far-right", while "in Germany, the far-right AfD is constantly gaining ground as long as the Christian Democrats adopt its program," New Left sources note that "in Greece, the Mitsotakis government caresses the extreme and conservative audiences."
They add that "the prime minister, who became a politician by incorporating the harshest far-right agenda during the period of the Prespa Agreement, was the first to teach" and that "New Democracy based its strategy on the logic of moral panic and fear above and beyond the issue of migrant workers."
"The policy of Mr Mitsotakis has contributed the most to the deterioration of working conditions and the exaggeration of the problem of labour shortages in the region and in construction," they note.
In this context, New Left sources commented to Proto Thema that "the statement of Mr Kasselakis accusing the government of an "Islamabad agenda" and "500,000 Pakistanis" who will come to the country, instead of highlighting this critical perspective from the part of a progressive opposition adopts the methodology of Mr Mitsotakis and contributes to the legalisation and normalisation of far-right speech."
"The adoption of the logic of the ND, in the name of the opposition against it, and the alt-right agenda only succeeds in strengthening the extreme right formations," they conclude.
Kasselakis' tweet:
"Agenda Islamabad
"Since we have lost count of the clarifications and reconstructions of Georgiadis, I remind you exactly what has been done.
"The Minister of Labor, a few days before the immigration amendment, meets the Minister of State of Pakistan.
"The second expresses his enthusiasm for the meeting.
"It clearly says:
"1. Pakistan will focus on providing 500,000 workers for the construction sector.
"2. A Pakistan-Greece agreement WILL be signed - in the next few days.
"3. A huge number of jobs will be unlocked for Pakistani citizens.
"Let me remind you that we are talking about a country with a population of over 200 million! Which apparently can provide 500,000 workers.
"Are you saying that Pakistan's Minister of State came up with the number 500,000 himself?
"Or are you saying that he messed up his English, when he himself has studied in London, and he has in front of him "lantzeris in the cuisine" by Adonis Georgiadis?
"I repeat my question to the Prime Minister: Did his Minister discuss 500,000 workers with the Pakistani Minister, yes or no? Did he have permission to do so?
"- Lies to freelancers.
"- Lies about bowing to Erdogan.
"Now, Lies about the 'Islamabad Agenda' too."
Ατζέντα Ισλαμαμπάντ
Επειδή έχουμε χάσει το μέτρημα από τις διευκρινίσεις και τις ανασκευές του Εκκρεμούς Γεωργιάδη, σας υπενθυμίζω τι ακριβώς έχει γίνει.
Ο Υπουργός Εργασίας, λίγες μέρες πριν από την τροπολογία για το μεταναστευτικό, συναντά τον Υπουργό Επικρατείας του… pic.twitter.com/mOa2j8G4a2
— Stefanos Kasselakis - Στέφανος Κασσελάκης (@skasselakis) December 21, 2023
Georgiadis dispels Pakistani claims: “We only have labour agreements only with Georgia, India and Moldova”
Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Adonis Georgiadis dispelled claims made by a Pakistani minister that workers from the South Asian country can fill the void in Greece’s labour shortages. Greek social media was set alight on Tuesday after a Pakistani minister announced that his country was ready to help fill Greece’s shortage of labourers, revealing that half a million workers are being sought.
However, Georgiadis was quick to dispel the claim a labour deal with Pakistan would be signed “in the coming days.”
“Because many people ask me with which countries we negotiate Interstate Agreements for the importation of labour: Georgia, India and Moldova. It is followed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Armenia. Pakistan is not among them,” the Greek minister said on Twitter.
Επειδή πολλοί με ρωτούν ποιες είναι οι Χώρες με τις οποίες διαπραγματευόμαστε Διακρατικές Συμφωνίες για εισαγωγή εργατικού δυναμικού είναι οι εξής: Γεωργία, Ινδία και Μολδαβός. Ακολουθούν οι Φιλιππίνες, το Βιετνάμ και η Αρμενία. Το Πακιστάν δεν είναι σε αυτές pic.twitter.com/TSxBfswG7G
— Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης (@AdonisGeorgiadi) December 19, 2023
His response was prompted by a post made by Pakistan’s State Minister Jawad Sohrab.
“My meeting with the Greek Labour Minister Adonis Georgiadis was extremely productive in exploring strong collaborations. We’re focused on fulfilling Greece’s need for 500,000 skilled workers, particularly in construction. InShaAllah in the coming days we will sign a G2G agreement with Greece, which will unlock vast job opportunities in Greece for our Pakistanis,” posted Sohrab on Tuesday, causing an outrage on Greek social media.
My meeting with the Greek Labour Minister @AdonisGeorgiadi was extremely productive in exploring strong collaborations. We're focused on fulfilling Greece's need for 500,000 skilled workers, particularly in construction. InShaAllah in the coming days we will sign a G2G agreement… pic.twitter.com/OmD9zqqYjL
— Jawad Sohrab (@JawadSohrab) December 19, 2023
Clarifying the issue on December 20, Georgidis posted on social media, “Pakistan still wants such an agreement but it is not in our political priorities.”
“In order not to create misunderstandings in the Common Opinion as to whether we have signed or intend to sign an Interstate Agreement with Pakistan on the importation of labor from this Country I inform you of the following. A) an interstate agreement is not made in secret as it must pass through the Parliament to be valid. That is, it is not a paper signed by a minister. B) already from the previous political leadership of the Ministry of Immigration Policy, this country had expressed a keen interest in signing such an agreement, but nothing of the kind ultimately happened. After all, it should include the obligation of Pakistan to accept back those illegals from this country who have already come to Greece. C) my official meeting with my Pakistani counterpart was not done secretly but openly and I posted about it last week. D) Pakistan still wants such an agreement but it is not in our political priorities. The countries with which we are close to signing such interstate agreements were announced to the Parliament, which is also the only sovereign to approve or reject such agreements. Generally calm. I told you to trust us!”
Για να μην δημιουργούνται παρανοήσεις στην Κοινή Γνώμη στο εάν έχουμε υπογράψει ή σκοπεύουμε να υπογράψουμε Διακρατική Συμφωνία με το Πακιστάν περί εισαγωγής από την Χώρα αυτή εργατικού δυναμικόυ σας ενημερώνω για τα εξής. Α) μία διακρατική συμφωνία δεν γίνεται κρυφά καθώς για να…
— Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης (@AdonisGeorgiadi) December 20, 2023
Parliament approves amendment for non-EU seasonal workers in agriculture
An amendment by the Migration & Asylum Ministry on employing seasonal workers from non-EU countries in Greece’s agricultural sector was approved in a plenary vote on Tuesday.
It was approved by a majority of 262 MPs (in a 300-MP House), rejected by 32, while one independent MP voted ‘present’.
Opposition parties Greek Solution, Spartiates and Niki rejected the bill, as did former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and an independent MP.
Five other MPs (one from SYRIZA, one from PASOK and three from Spartiates) did not attend the plenary session.
