François Bayrou in Athens: “If we want to build for the people, we must build with the people”
The birthplace of democracy provided a fitting setting for a message about its future. On 24 October, François Bayrou, President of the European Democratic Party (EDP), addressed the closing session of the party's Congress in Athens, calling for a renewed democratic commitment built on popular participation, freedom and collective responsibility.
The Congress, held under the theme “The Final Countdown – It's Time for Europe”, brought together more than 100 delegates from across Europe and over 300 participants from Greece. Throughout two days of discussions, political leaders, parliamentarians and defenders of human rights explored how to strengthen democracy in an increasingly uncertain world.
In his concluding speech, Bayrou returned to a fundamental question: who should determine the future of a society?
“The struggle for democracy is the same everywhere”
For Bayrou, democracy is not merely a European institutional model. It is a universal aspiration, shared by citizens struggling against oppression and defending their right to decide their own destiny.
“The struggle for democracy is the same everywhere, and it's not a struggle that can be avoided or sidestepped,” he declared.
His words echoed the testimonies heard throughout the Congress, from democratic movements confronting authoritarian power to citizens demanding accountability, justice and political freedom.
“Between those who claim democracy for themselves and those who are trying to save democracy at home, the fight is exactly the same.”
This shared struggle lies at the heart of the EDP's ambition to develop a Global Alliance of Democrats, bringing together political forces and civil society movements committed to freedom, democratic institutions and the rule of law.
“If we want to build for the people, we must build with the people”
At the centre of Bayrou's address was a simple but demanding democratic principle: citizens must never be excluded from decisions about their own future.
“If we want to build for the people, we must build with the people.”
Democracy, he argued, cannot be reduced to political leaders claiming to act in the public interest while denying citizens a meaningful role in shaping collective decisions.
The consequences of such exclusion can be devastating.
“Every time we try to exclude people from building their own future, we open the door [...] to corruption, to dictatorship, to oppression, to the exploitation of common wealth by those in power.”
This warning also speaks to the challenges facing established European democracies. Defending democratic institutions is essential, but so is making them more open, responsive and accountable to the people they serve.
Democracy cannot demand obedience
Bayrou also challenged the authoritarian temptation to offer solutions from above while expecting unquestioning obedience from citizens.
“All those who try to convince us that we can solve people's problems in their place by demanding obedience, sooner or later will discover that there is no future unless we make the decision to involve the people in their own destiny.”
His message was both a warning against authoritarianism and a challenge to democrats themselves. Political legitimacy cannot rest on promises alone. It depends on trust, participation and the ability to involve citizens in building a common future.
From Athens, where the democratic ideal first took shape, Bayrou's concluding words reinforced the central ambition of the European Democratic Party: to bring democrats together, across countries and continents, around a politics that empowers people rather than commands them.
Democracy belongs to the people. Its future must be built with them.
