In an otherwise accurate report from Paris, Euractiv’s French correspondent mis-reported Yanis Varoufakis, DiEM25’s co-founder, as saying the following:

“Varoufakis plans to run for the 2019 European elections, even if he says the European Parliament “is not a real parliament.” But he wants to run in Germany, “to show that federalism is possible, and also that Germany’s current politics is harmful for Germans.”

This quotation is inaccurate (*). Varoufakis reiterated DiEM25’s intention to ensure that, in the 2019 European Parliament election, European voters are given an opportunity to vote for candidates, all over Europe, who have endorsed DiEM25’s European New Deal. Varoufakis also confirmed that DiEM25’s members are presently engaged in a debate on whether and how a transnational list of candidates, supporting DiEM25’s European New Deal, can be put together for the May 2019 European Parliament elections.
To explain the spirit and meaning of transnationality, Varoufakis offered as an example the possibility of, in the context of a single pan-European list, a Greek running in Germany, a German in Greece, an Italian in France etc. No announcement was made about any particular candidate in any particular country.
 
(*) Last week, Varoufakis gave many interviews to French media. He did not give an interview to Euractiv – perhaps this might explain their creative interpretation of Varoufakis’ words!
 

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