European Left: “We must Europeanise our successes”

[DE | NL]

Walter Baier, President of the Party of the European Left, on the opportunities and challenges facing progressive politics in Europe

Interview by Uwe Sattler (17 April 2026)

Uwe Sattler: The Party of the European Left’s congress is taking place in Brussels this weekend. What political challenges do the left-wing and progressive forces in Europe face?

Walter Baier: We are focusing the challenges we wish to tackle on two points: on the one hand, the fight against the militarisation of the European Union and globally. In other words, the fight for peace and for a collective European security structure, which includes ending the war in Ukraine and rejecting the EU’s rearmament programme. And that actually leads directly to the second focus, namely the defence of the social and economic interests of working people in Europe. For the rearmament programmes swallow up enormous sums of money that are lacking in the social sector and in public services, including housing policy. Based on this, we will fight against the radical right, which is on the rise across Europe. We also say to the ruling Social Democrats and Conservatives: Ensure that people have decent, well-paid jobs, that there is affordable housing, that there are universally accessible public services! This will pull the rug out from under the demagoguery of the radical right. We want to address these interconnected issues at the congress.

US: Is the far right benefiting from austerity policies both at European level and within the nation states?

WB: That is exactly the case. A few days ago, I met an elderly lady who needed urgent surgery and was then told in hospital that she would have to wait six months. This experience of being put on the back burner, so to speak, and also of humiliation, of the disregard for people’s dignity and rights, coupled with fear of the future – that is the breeding ground for the radical right. To put it plainly: the fight against the far right is directed against its hate speech, anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism, and contempt for women – it is a fight for decency and culture. But it will only be won if people’s living conditions improve, if they are respected, and if they do not have to fear for the future – their own and that of their loved ones.

US: This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Ventotene Manifesto for a peaceful and socialist Europe. Has the dream of the anti-fascist Altiero Spinelli and his comrades been shattered today?

WB: No, because the escalation of social and political contradictions, which frightens many, is also a challenge and an opportunity. We can see that successes are possible. Take the progressive government in Spain, in which our member party Izquierda Unida is involved: a minimum income, a crackdown on precarious working conditions, and the strengthening of purchasing power, to name just a few examples of what has been achieved. And, in recent days, the legalisation of 500,000 migrants. At EU level, the success of the citizens’ initiative for the right to abortion, ‘My Voice, My Choice’. Our member parties have not forgotten how to win. Where they act with a clear agenda and a fighting spirit, much is possible. Here in Austria too, where local council elections are taking place in Graz in June, and the KPÖ has the chance to defend the mayoral position. We must take these successes to the European level; then the vision of Ventotene is far from over. Quite the contrary.

US: The successes mentioned are primarily national successes of left-wing and progressive forces in the countries themselves. What part does the European Left play in this?

WB: Every struggle in the member states is also a European struggle. Take the housing problem, for example. Not only does it affect literally every country. Whilst cuts are being made to public housing, the European Commission is earmarking hundreds of billions of euros for armaments. We must mobilise at European level against this. Europe is a battleground for political struggle, and the ability of left-wing parties to coordinate their efforts here is part of the political balance of power. The right-wing parties coordinate their efforts. We must do the same, and we must get better at it.

US: This is what the party congress in Brussels this weekend will be about. It is not just about electing a new leadership, but also about adopting a strategy for the coming years. What are its key points?

WB: We will agree on a common strategy, the focus of which will be the fight against rearmament plans and against the expansion of NATO. And secondly, the material representation of the interests of working people. We also have a fairly extensive programme of restructuring on the agenda. The direct election of the political leadership, in which we will have a majority of women. We want to streamline the committees and speed up decision-making processes to enable the party to organise transnational campaigns. We will continue to aim for maximum political consensus within the EL. But we do not want the pursuit of consensus to be understood as a right of veto, which amounts to a single party being able to block decision-making altogether.

US: One consequence of the criticism of the EL’s structures was the founding of the European Left Alliance as a second left-wing ‘umbrella organisation’. Is cooperation between the two major left-wing party families being sought?

WB: I consider the split in the Left to be a mistake. Faced with the advance of the radical right, we need cooperation, dialogue and unity. But I also take a pragmatic view of this. If the unity of the anti-capitalist left cannot be achieved within a single party, then it must be achieved through cooperation between the two existing European parties. In other words: we will continue to launch initiatives for joint action by the two parties.

US: Networking not only among left-wing parties but also with other progressive forces is an important task. The European Forum in Berlin this December will certainly provide an opportunity for this. What are your expectations of this forum?

This is truly an important meeting. And I am very pleased that the Left in Germany has taken responsibility for creating the organisational and political framework for this event. Firstly, I hope that the left-wing parties, the entire family, will be present at the forum. And secondly, I hope that there will also be a dialogue with the other progressive parties, the Greens, the Social Democrats, as well as with the trade unions and social movements. We have made progress in this regard. This is also evident, incidentally, at our party conference this weekend, where a broad spectrum of left-wing and trade union organisations and social movements will be present.