DiEM25

Germany's far-right AfD just won two state elections in two weeks, and the chancellor's own party came fifth in one of them. The pattern is European: the far-right vote grows by about a third after a financial crash.
Yanis Varoufakis and Grace Blakeley on how Europe's centrists built that base, and what the left does now. Hosted by Mehran Khalili.
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Grace Blakeley (site): https://graceblakeley.substack.com/ 
Yanis Varoufakis (site): https://yanisvaroufakis.eu
Mehran Khalili (newsletter): https://mehrankhalili.com/subscribe
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On 6 September the AfD won 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt — the best result the German far right has ever had. The CDU, which had run the state for 24 years, was cut in half. Turnout jumped from 60% to 78%.
This wasn't apathy. Around 170,000 people who hadn't been voting came out to vote AfD. Half the self-employed backed them. Nearly half of salaried employees.
Julijana Zita, host of Counter Stream and based in Germany, joins Mehran Khalili to work through what happened, why the firewall isn't holding, why Die Linke had its worst ever result in that state, and what the left across Europe should take from it. 
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Julijana Zita: https://x.com/julijana_zita 
Mehran Khalili (newsletter on effective activism): https://mehrankhalili.com/subscribe
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Recorded at the 6th DiEM25 Academy in Prague, this fishbowl-style discussion takes on one of the most difficult questions facing our movement: how can DiEM25 speak credibly about peace, security and anti-militarism in Eastern Europe?
Since the escalation of Russia's war on Ukraine, DiEM25's anti-NATO position has faced deep suspicion across former Eastern Bloc and non-EU European countries, where NATO and EU membership are often understood not as abstract geopolitical choices, but as protection against Russian domination. Participants from Poland, Romania, Hungary, North Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Belgium and beyond bring their own histories into the room: memories of state socialism, the trauma of post-1989 neoliberal shock therapy, inequality, national humiliation, propaganda, and the lived experience of being caught between empires.
The conversation moves beyond the false binary of NATO versus Russia. It asks how the Left can reject both Putin's imperialism and NATO's militarised order without sounding naïve, indifferent or detached from the fears of people in the region. Speakers discuss "campism", polarisation, the failures of Western left messaging, and the need to connect anti-war politics to everyday struggles: falling living standards, social cuts, privatisation and the enrichment of elites on all sides.
What emerges is a call for a third option: not submission to NATO, not accommodation with Russian power, but a democratic European security architecture based on diplomacy, treaties, dialogue, class solidarity and the shared interests of people across borders.
A necessary, uncomfortable and deeply honest conversation about what anti-war politics must become if it is to mean anything in Europe today.

This week the UK banned Hasan Piker from entering the country, claiming his presence was "not conducive to the public good" — but it's clearly over his stance on Gaza. He was due to speak at SXSW London and the Oxford Union. Two years ago, Germany did the same to Yanis Varoufakis, banned around a pro-Palestine conference in Berlin.
Hasan and Yanis compare notes: liberal governments silencing people over Gaza, a free-speech right that goes quiet when the speech is pro-Palestinian, and what the left does about it. When opposing a genocide gets you barred at the border, what's left of "free speech"?
Hosted by Mehran Khalili 
FOLLOW THE SPEAKERS
Yanis Varoufakis (site): https://yanisvaroufakis.eu
Hasan Piker (Twitch): https://www.twitch.tv/hasanabi 
Mehran Khalili (newsletter on effective activism): https://mehrankhalili.com/subscribe 
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Join: https://diem25.org/join
Donate: https://diem25.org/donate 
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/DiEM25official

We're back with another live AMA with Yanis Varoufakis.
The floor is yours. From geopolitics and economics to technology, culture, and beyond — your questions drive the conversation, and nothing is off limits. 
Hosted by Mehran Khalili.
FOLLOW THE SPEAKERS:

Yanis Varoufakis (site): https://yanisvaroufakis.eu 
Mehran Khalili (newsletter on effective activism): https://mehrankhalili.com/subscribe 

SUPPORT US

Join: https://diem25.org/join ​
Donate: https://diem25.org/donate 
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/DiEM25official