A diverse group of prominent politicians, academics, researchers, and activists from the United States, Greece, and across Europe will converge in Athens on June 10 for the second annual International Conference of the Alexis Tsipras Institute. The event will take place at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, in the Skalkotas Hall, and aims to serve as a transatlantic forum on the future of democracy and social justice.
Among the notable participants are U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, renowned political philosopher Michael Sandel, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, Spanish labor minister and leader of Sumar Yolanda Díaz, Harvard community organizer Marshall Ganz, German activist Ines Schwerdtner, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Elly Schlein, French filmmaker and MP François Ruffin, and student activist Leo Gerden.
The conference will focus on the challenges facing democratic institutions worldwide and the urgent need for progressive responses to rising authoritarianism, far-right movements, and deepening social inequalities. One major session will center on the creation of a new transatlantic movement for democracy and social justice, bringing together progressive voices from both sides of the Atlantic. In another, experts will examine the weakening of democratic institutions and the far-right’s growing influence in regions including the United States, Latin America, the European Union, the Balkans, and Turkey.
Speakers in this session include scholars from top U.S. universities, such as Michael Sandel, Jeffrey Kopstein, and Marshall Ganz, along with figures like Leo Gerden from Harvard’s student movement, Venko Filipče, president of North Macedonia’s Social Democratic Union, Humberto Costa, leader of Brazil’s Workers' Party, Christina Koulouri, rector of Panteion University in Athens, Nazli Akyuz from Istanbul’s municipal government, and Garo Paylan, the Armenian-Turkish former MP from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP party.
Another panel will address the intersection of democracy and digital transformation, with contributions from experts in digital policy, market research, public health, and civic technology, including Dora Kotsaka, Elisavet Linos, Kostas Gavroglou, Emily Tavoulareas, Konstantinos Kakavoulis, and Christos Porios.
A highlight of the conference will be the presentation of the 2025 Prespa Peace Award to four Palestinian and Israeli collaborators behind the award-winning documentary “No Other Land”, honoring their commitment to peacebuilding and cross-border solidarity.
The conference will conclude with a keynote address by former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who founded the Institute after leaving office.
Organizers describe the event as particularly timely. “One year after our first conference, the escalation of wars in Ukraine and Palestine, the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House, the militarization of European politics, and the rise of authoritarian regimes have all contributed to a dangerous consolidation of far-right forces on both sides of the Atlantic,” said a spokesperson from the Institute. “We are also witnessing growing inequalities and a clear threat to democratic norms.”
In response to these global developments, the Alexis Tsipras Institute has dedicated this year’s gathering to building a transatlantic movement rooted in progressive politics—one that seeks to safeguard democracy, reduce inequality, promote peace, and expand new social rights in an era increasingly shaped by digital transformation.
