German Left Party Co-president Lothar Bisky, who is taking part in the 15th International Conference on European Studies being held in Havana, reported on both the current situation and the perspectives of his political organization.

Lothar Bisky, the co-president of the German Left, feels satisfied with all of the social advances that have taken place in Latin America.

“In Europe, for a long time we have followed the Latin-America and the Caribbean movement, and we are very pleased to see the victories of the progressive forces there. Your successes are also those of the left in Europe.”

The well-known German politician accepted to be interviewed during a break at the opening session of the 15th International Conference on European Studies, which is being held in Havana through today. Mr Bisky responded to several questions posed by JR:

—Can you briefly state your opinion about the current situation of the German Left?

—It is positive.The Left is the third largest German political force, with a membership in the Bundestag (federal parliament) that ranges between 11 and 13 percent. In the upcoming elections, we hope to increase our deputies by ten (currently 53 hold office)

—Your political opponents have criticized the Left as being the heir of the former Unified German Socialist Party (PSUA). What do you think about this?

—It is true that many of the Left members belonged to PSUA, but the same has happened in other parties: the Christian-Democratic Party (CDU) and the Social-Democrat Party(SPD). It’s only that we are the only ones that have maintained socialism as a program. We have dealt with the mistakes of the past, and therefore we have gained members in the western part of Germany.

—Would it be possible to form a coalition at the federal level with the SPD, as occurred in Berlin after the 2009 elections?

—The relationship with the SPD is going well in Berlin, but in the Bundestag I see no possibility for this. As long as the SPD continues advocating the presence of German soldiers in Afghanistan, supporting the war in Iraq and implementing policies devoid of social programs, there will be no opportunity for this.

“We are waiting for the elections. We want is more equality in Germany, and not to have soldiers participating in a war led by the US, because they are not fighting terrorism in Afghanistan; on the contrary, they are fostering terrorism.”

Politicians and academicians from 19 European countries participated in the 15th edition of the Conference, held at the Ñico Lopez Higher Party School and ending today. Others participants from Venezuela, Mexico and Angola also attended the colloquium. The current situation of the “Old Continent” was discussed, as well as Cuban-European relations, the presently shaky European Union (EU) Reform Treaty, the post-Soviet space and the Balkans, and the relationship between the EU and the Third World.