NEWS

New Democracy accuses Tsipras of associating with ‘extremist’ parties in European Left

New Democracy has accused SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras of aligning himself with “anti-euro” and “extremist” parties in Europe after it became known that the European Left had decided to nominate the Greek politician as its candidate for Commission president in Brussels.

“Parties that are marginal, Marxist, Trotskyist and fanatically opposed to the euro and the eurozone see Mr Tsipras as the person to best express them,” said New Democracy spokesperson Anna Asimakopoulou on Monday.

Her comments came in the wake of a similar statement from New Democracy’s secretary Andreas Papamimikos, who accused parties in the European Left of having been “accused of extremism”.

“After the extreme factions within Greece, Mr Tsipras is now investing in the extreme factions abroad,” said Papamimikos. “It would be extremely interesting if Mr Tsipras presented these parties to the Greek people.”

His comments prompted an exchange with SYRIZA MP Dimitris Papadimoulis on Twitter on Sunday. Papadimoulis pointed out to the New Democracy official that the conservative party had accepted former LAOS politicians Makis Voridis and Adonis Georgiadis into their ranks even though the pair had espoused extreme views in the past.

Tsipras’s nomination is due to be confirmed when the European Left, the collection of leftist parties represented in the European Parliament, holds its congress in Madrid between December 13 and 15. Leaders of Europe’s left-wing parties gathered in the Spanish capital on Friday to decide on Tsipras’s candidacy.

The leftists want the Commission president to be elected by European voters rather than nominated by the European Council and then approved by the European Parliament.

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