NAPLES – As De Magistris increases in popularity as General Secretary of the DemA party founded earlier this year, despite his insisting he will not step down as current mayor of Naples before the end of his mandate to run in the 2020 race for Campania Region governor, he seems to have his eyes set on Europe.

  With Germans at the voting booths this past weekend to elect their political leader for the next four years, Italy wasted no time in interrogating itself on what kind of Europe is at the door.

  In her season premiere Sunday, In mezza’ora, now entitled Mezz’ora in più for this year’s supplementary broadcast time, host Lucia Annunziata moderated a varied panel discussion on Europe that included former Greek Minister of Finance Janis Varoufakis.

  Expressing a clear need for transnational democratic unification if Europe intends on securing a future for itself, the Greek politician mentioned Naples mayor De Magistris as a fervent embracer of his new political movement.

  With growing consensus, DemA party has been forging its way towards the convergence of local independent movements that in other parts of the world have been demonstrating there is indeed a different and effective way of conducting politics.

  Networking similar global movement beliefs, DemA adhered to DiEM25 movement founded by the Greek economist in 2016.  

  “Along with many other European travel companions, our political will to build a European list for 2019 is very strong,” stated De Magistris last week in reference to Varoufakis and his upcoming visit to Naples.  Scheduled for September 30 in the southern city, the mayor will meet with the former Greek Minister of Finance where they plan on laying the foundation of an administrative process. “We are going to form a list against the oligarchs and new forms of Fascism. It will be a people’s Europe based on rights, social justice, common good, the environment, peace and a Mediterranean area no longer stained with such a vast extension of blood,” he went on to say.

  This is not the first time Europe has heard the Greek politician’s words echo across borders. Varoufakis was nominated Minister of Finance under the Tsipras administration in 2015 and was a key figure in Greece’s fight against continued European austerity toward his country debts.

  At the time, he sustained that placing European partners under pressure would lead to more favourable conditions for Greece. While his openly declared “Grexit” failed to receive votes of confidence among fellow cabinet members and, in turn, forced him to step down, the Greek politician has continued his battle for a cohesive Europe.

  While Varoufakis would soon resign from his position in the Tsipras government, in order to facilitate degenerated relations between Greece and its creditors, he founded DiEM25, a political movement for the transformation of a democratic European Union, just a short time after in February 2016.

  To panel surprise during the show, Varoufakis announced that he would even welcome the fourth and final term of German Prime Minister Merkel, hoping in her driven desire to really unite the continent without imposition.

  With growing questions plaguing European people, big issues such as inequality, multinational tax evasion, migration and the launching of a new ecological productive system have gone much beyond national borders.

  As politics has been unable until now to cross such borders and respond with effective policies, DiEM25 has begun to invite Europeans to join together.

  From September 27 to October 1, the political movement takes its tour to Italy and will face some of the big questions present today and define a concrete way of getting out of the mire.

  DiEM25 plans on travelling to five Italian cities, stopping in Milan Turin, Ferrara, Bologna, Palermo and in Naples where the movement is scheduled to hold its first national assembly.

  “Transnational lists will give people the opportunity to vote for a true democratic Europe,” confirmed Former Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta, equally a guest on last weekend’s show. “Now European elections are held only on a national basis. Either Europe heads towards a cross-border democratic Europe and takes a step forward or it will remain at a standstill,” he added.
 
  With 70,000 members, DiEM25 has taken on the challenge, including mayors across the continent such as activist and mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau together with global public figures such as Brian Eno and philosopher Noam Chomsky already on the bandwagon.

  By the next European elections in 2019, the movement aims at successfully building a real rupturing force, capable of driving forward an innovative and breakthrough campaign from Portugal to Poland…passing through Italy.