Why does Dourou argue the left can return to majority status?
Dourou placed the recovery of a progressive majority at the centre of her address, describing it as a historic responsibility rather than an electoral slogan. She said citizens themselves are asking the parties of the left and centre-left to converge on a clear social plan. The route she outlined rejects secret agreements and artificial mergers in favour of programmatic alignments reached in public. Dourou recalled that SYRIZA survived a period of sharp decline because members stayed, kept local organisations active and continued social struggles. She stated the party now stands on its feet again with greater certainty about its identity and its social base. A few hours earlier the party’s general secretary Nikos Pappas had answered media questions at the customary press conference. Dourou stressed that the party continues as the only party of members and values, the party that keeps flying the flag of a modern, renewing, radical left. She underlined that the party endured because people remained, worked, kept organisations upright and kept fighting inside society. Today serious work is being done in the party, in the organisations, in the sectors, in the parliamentary group and in the European group. She said the party does not claim to have solved all its problems but can now state with greater certainty that it stands on its feet again. The left is here to resist and disprove its opponents because today it is stronger and more united after regrouping and continuing clearly, left-wing and steadily left-wing.
How does Dourou define SYRIZA’s core values?
She presented SYRIZA as the sole party that continues to fly the flag of a modern, renewing, radical left. The values she listed include collective functioning, solidarity, peace and equality. These principles, she said, are under attack both inside Greece and internationally by a coalition of the far right and the mainstream right seeking a broad revisionist shift against democracy and progress. Dourou accused the current government of treating international law as a scrap of paper and of pursuing an expensive, personalised foreign policy without a national strategy. She underlined that the values of ethos, collectivity, comradeship, solidarity, peace and equality are being battered inside and outside Greece. She noted that the left is here to resist and disprove its opponents because today it is stronger and more united after regrouping and continuing clearly, left-wing and steadily left-wing. The party that keeps flying the flag of a modern, renewing, radical left is the unique party of members and values, the flag that some tried to lower. Today these values are under attack from the far right in cooperation with the right, attempting a major revisionist reversal against democracy, peace and progress.
What foreign-policy alternative does SYRIZA propose?
Dourou contrasted the government’s approach with the active, multi-dimensional policy she said SYRIZA followed in office, positioning Greece as a pillar of peace and stability. She presented the party’s seven-point Peace and Security Plan for the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Key elements include a ban on arms exports to the region, a just resolution of the Palestinian question on the basis of United Nations decisions, resumption of inter-communal talks on Cyprus and stronger ecological security in the Mediterranean. She also criticised the absence of a coherent strategy toward Turkey, citing the case of Kasos and the electricity interconnection cable with Cyprus, and questioned the government’s stance on recourse to the International Court of Justice. The government invests in costly armaments programmes without national defence-industry participation and follows a dangerous, personalised foreign policy in an uncertain international environment. Dourou rejected the foreign policy of the given and predictable ally and called instead for an energetic and multi-dimensional approach that had made Greece a factor of peace, cooperation and stability during the previous SYRIZA government. She stressed the need for an active and multi-dimensional foreign policy instead of the dangerous, one-person foreign policy applied for seven years.
What criticisms does Dourou level at the rule of law?
Dourou described transparency, accountability and equality before the law as unknown concepts under the Mitsotakis government. She pointed to corruption, decay and cover-ups of scandals, mentioning wiretapping revelations, the OPEKEPE subsidy scandal and unresolved questions surrounding the Tempi rail disaster. She also criticised the weakening of institutional checks, the practice of direct awards without tender, favouritism and challenges to judicial independence. Transparency, accountability and equality before the law remain unknown words for Greece under Mitsotakis, she said. She spoke of the devaluation of institutional counterweights, direct assignments, favouritism and doubts cast on the independence of justice. The government is accused of corruption, rot and cover-ups of scandals, with transparency, accountability and equality before the law treated as unknown concepts.
Why did Dourou invoke Giannis Pasalidis?
She drew a parallel with the post-civil-war leader of the United Democratic Left (EDA), who united scattered left forces and turned the party into the official opposition. Dourou stressed she was not seeking easy historical analogies, but underlined Pasalidis’s lesson that left strength lies in synthesis and unity rather than isolation. This legacy, she argued, remains relevant for the task of creating the conditions for a broad meeting of progressive forces and citizens. The strength of the left lies not in entrenchment but in its ability to synthesise and unite, she noted. She described the creation of conditions for the great meeting of progressive forces and progressive citizens as a historic responsibility, achieved not through secret agreements behind closed doors or artificial mergers but through programmatic convergences on a clear plan for society coming from society itself. The force of the left is not found in entrenchment but in its capacity to compose and unite.
Conclusion
Closing her speech, Dourou addressed SYRIZA members and friends directly. She acknowledged the party had passed through difficult times and that some had rushed to write it off, yet it had endured. She attributed this resilience to the people who stayed, worked, kept organisations standing and continued social battles. She said much serious work is now under way and that the party can state with greater certainty that it stands on its feet again, knowing who it is, whom it wants to represent and for which Greece it fights. The party is here and has much still to do, steadily, clearly and left-wing. We are here and we have much more to do, steadily, cleanly, left-wing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main message of Rena Dourou’s speech at the 2026 Thessaloniki Fair?
She called for the left to regain majority status through open programmatic alliances rather than closed-door deals, while reaffirming SYRIZA’s identity as the party of values and members.
Which foreign-policy positions did Dourou criticise?
She criticised expensive arms programmes without domestic industry participation, the lack of a national strategy toward Turkey and the policy of being a predictable ally without initiative.
What plan did SYRIZA present for the Middle East and Mediterranean?
The seven-point plan includes an arms-export ban, a UN-based Palestinian settlement, renewed Cyprus talks and stronger ecological security in the region.
How did Dourou describe the state of the rule of law?
She said transparency, accountability and equality before the law are absent, citing scandals, wiretaps, direct awards and pressure on judicial independence.
What historical reference did Dourou use to illustrate unity?
She cited Giannis Pasalidis, who united left forces after the civil war and led EDA to become the main opposition party.
