Chronicle.lu: In a context of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, plus taking into account Eurosceptic/anti-Europe narratives (talks of EU exits – and this being the first European election since the 1970s without the UK) and the fact that this is a “record” year for elections worldwide, why do you feel it is important that more people (not least potential first-time voters) head to the polls in June 2024?
Christos Floros: Voting is our civic duty. It’s how we shape the future of our society, at every scale, locally, nationally, internationally. In democratic societies, at least. Here in Luxembourg, citizens are required to vote.
If we could legally make every resident vote, I believe we would. Because in Luxembourg we really do see it as a duty, if you live and work in this country, we want you to take responsibility for it, too.
2024 is history in the making. The year they’ll point to in the future and say, “That’s when we stood up for democracy” or the opposite. The latter option, well, let’s just say Trump getting re-elected, makes it scarily possible. Remember, he was elected after the shockwave of Brexit, right?
This year, Europe should send a different kind of shockwave to the US. A nod to our American allies, a message that says, “Hey, we’re still building that post-WWII world together.” A wake-up call. And guess how we do that? Electing pro-EU leaders across our Union in June.
We gotta rekindle that commitment in Europe. Our peace, our freedom, our freedom of movement, our Erasmus, our shared prosperity, all these things, we’ve achieved together, we’ve got to remind every single European that this only works, when we work together and when politicians are also willing to take responsibility for what didn’t go as planned, what we didn’t get right. Otherwise, we are going to leave the field free for the far right… And those who scream “no more Europe” are basically condemning us all. We, as individual nations, can’t navigate this new world we are entering, alone. […] We live in a world of giants now, and going it solo for any of us is a recipe for disaster. We can and will continue to love and cherish our homelands, celebrate our traditions, and at the same time we must continue to aspire to build our bigger selves together. We need more Union today, than we needed in the 90’s or the 2000s.
This is not just an election, it’s a chance to shape history. It’s our opportunity to show the world that Europe is still a beacon of hope, collaboration, and progress […] And that’s why I want everyone to sign up to vote before 15 April, to vote on 9 June.
Read the full interview: https://chronicle.lu/category/politics/48625-change-for-luxembourg-founder-discusses-importance-of-european-elections
Christos Floros 