Tsipras tells Libération he does not regret keeping Greece in the EU

A visit to Paris in solidarity with French protesters

Alexis Tsipras, president of ELAS and a former prime minister of Greece, gave an interview to the French newspaper Libération during a visit to Paris, published on 5 November 2026. He said the trip was meant to express solidarity with young people, trade unions and the French people, whom he described as defending labour rights, social cohesion, democracy and young people's right to a better future. He framed the visit as a moral obligation, saying France supported the Greek people from 2010, when Greece was at the eye of the crisis, and that the debt now needs to be repaid in solidarity. The interview accompanied his participation in demonstrations in Paris, in a period of strong social unrest that he linked to the cost-of-living crisis.

Meetings with the French left

Tsipras said he was not in France to meet the left's candidates for the presidential election, but the leading figures of the movement. He also caught up with old friends and met younger comrades to exchange ideas. He argued that left forces across Europe, particularly in Greece and France, should keep channels of communication and cooperation open, and called France a social and political laboratory for the continent. In his assessment the threat in France is twofold: the neoliberal policies of Emmanuel Macron, which he says erode social cohesion, and the prospect of Marine Le Pen and the far right taking power.

Comparing France with Greece in 2008 and 2010-2015

Asked to compare France with Greece in 2008, when young people rose up, or with the 2010-2015 debt crisis, Tsipras recalled that the unjust death of a young Greek man in 2008 sparked anger among young people, who demanded fairer living conditions. He said police responded with violent repression, a tool he described as used by authorities to divert public attention from the real issues in both Greece and France. For the 2010-2015 period, he said the policies of the time stripped workers and young people of their rights and their future, with wages cut. He described the common thread between today's cost-of-living crisis in France and the memorandum decade as the sharpening of inequalities.

The 2015 decision and the fight over Europe

Tsipras defended his decision to keep Greece in the EU while accepting the political cost. He said the alternative would have cost working people, young people and the popular classes far more, and pointed to Greece's exit from the adjustment programmes and the settlement of its debt. Against critics on the left who favour a power clash with the EU, he said the Left must demand a fairer Europe rather than the dissolution of the Union, which he tied to the aims of the far right. He accused the EU of pursuing a policy that deepens inequalities and leads to the far right, and blamed the leaders of the right and part of social democracy for the worsening situation. He also criticised European leaderships for the absence of peace initiatives.

Ready to lead again with a new programme

Asked about becoming prime minister again, Tsipras said he is ready. He said the main lesson of his first term is that a Left in power is always useful to the majority of Greeks, especially in hard times, provided it takes responsibility and supports the weakest, even with limited room to manoeuvre. He argued that under normal conditions a Left government could achieve far more than he could during a deep crisis. His priority is rebuilding Greece's productive base as the foundation for sustainable growth and an effective welfare state. He backed a wealth tax on the richest 1% for the benefit of the other 99% of Greek society, acknowledging that it would displease a minority, and said the Left must persuade people it can curb inequality and offer young people a future.