The European Realistic Disobedience Front (), or MeRA25 (), (ÃÂýñÃÂÃÂõÃÂÃÂùúî ÃÂùúÿûÿóùúî ÃÂÃÂùÃÂÃÂõÃÂì) Radical Ecological Left, is a left-wing Greek political party founded in 2018. Its founder and General Secretary is former Syriza MP and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. MeRa25 is part of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), the European Spring, and the Progressive International. The movement sets the horizon for the year 2025 to draft a democratic constitution that will replace all the European treaties that are in force today. Yet, it failed to elect representatives in the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament election. A party of the same name (MERA25), allied with the Greek party, was founded in Germany in 2021.
MeRA25 was founded on 27 March 2018 by former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis. The party's formation was announced during a special event in Athens. In December 2018, former Syriza member and MEP Sofia Sakorafa joined the party.
The party contested the 2019 European Parliament election as part of DiEM25. It narrowly failed to win a European Parliament seat. In the 2019 Greek parliamentary elections, MeRA25 gained nine seats and 3.44% of the vote.
MeRA25 stood in the May 2023 Greek parliamentary election as part of the "Alliance for Rupture", a coalition with fellow left-wing party Popular Unity, with "For the first time, rupture" as its primary slogan. The party received less than the 3% vote share required to obtain seats in the Hellenic Parliament, with party leader Yanis Varoufakis releasing a statement blaming Syriza's leadership for the conservative victory and stating that "Our own defeat tonight will be put under the microscope of our rigorous self-criticism". In the following June snap election, MeRA25's vote share declined further, ending with 2.5% of the vote, with Varoufakis releasing another statement blaming the result on the lack of a progressive front, claiming the result was "disproving the narrative that MeRA25 is falling apart" and stating that "Never have our people needed such a Left in Parliament more than they do now. And never will such a Left be missing more from Parliament".
MeRA25 stood in the 2024 European Parliament election, where it failed to elect an MEP or reach the 3% mark by an even larger margin than the 2019 election but with a slightly smaller margin than the June 2023 election.
Without capitalization, the letters of ÃÂÃÂáÃÂ25, (mera), spell the Greek word for "day", mirroring the Latin ' and thus showing the party's connection with DiEM25.
The party presents itself as an alliance of "Left, Green, and Liberal Greeks", standing on the grounds of European internationalism, economic rationality, and social emancipation. It plans to introduce a "European Green New Deal" to solve the postmodern version of the Great Depression.
MeRA25âÂÂs framework outlines the partyâÂÂs current programmatic priorities as follows:
The ODYSSEAS (ÃÂÃÂÃ¥ããÃÂÃÂã) plan is a public initiative proposed by ÃÂÃÂáÃÂ25 to manage non-performing loans in Greece and protect primary residences and small- to medium-sized business properties from foreclosures and auctions. It is designed to replace the existing âÂÂHerculesâ scheme, which allows private funds to buy distressed loans at low prices and profit from property seizures. ODYSSEAS (ÃÂÃÂÃ¥ããÃÂÃÂã) aims to prevent the extraction of wealth to international funds while safeguarding households and small businesses from losing their homes or workplaces.
Under the plan, a new public debt management company would take over non-performing loans, freeze interest, and provide permanent protection for borrowers. Property owners would pay a monthly fixed fee, capped at 20% of net income, with the option for lower payments for low-income households. The plan ensures long-term, socially fair management of debt, preserves ownership rights, and eliminates excessive surcharges and compound interest.
DIMITRA (ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂäáÃÂ) is a proposed public system for free digital transactions in euros, enabling payments between citizens, businesses, and the state. It aims to reduce transaction costs imposed by banks, providing households and small businesses with a low-cost alternative for everyday payments. Users would access the system via an account linked to their tax identification number (ÃÂæÃÂ), with a secure PIN for transactions.
The system allows instant, fee-free transfers and also offers targeted social policy measures, allowing the state to credit specific groups, such as low-income households or the unemployed. DIMITRA (ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂäáÃÂ) is designed to reduce the impact of potential banking crises by providing an alternative payment network.
The plan proposes a multi-sector industrial strategy focused on green energy and sustainable development. Central to this vision is hydrogen, which produces only water when burned and can be generated using renewable electricity and water. Northern Greece, anchored on the ports of Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki, is positioned as a major Mediterranean hub for hydrogen production and distribution, using offshore wind farms that avoid disrupting fishing areas or local views.
The plan includes domestic production of offshore wind turbines, large-scale battery storage systems, carbon capture in decommissioned mines, and emerging renewable energy storage technologies. It emphasizes public oversight, local community participation, and joint ventures with international companies to create high-quality jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan calls for a modern, independent, and democratic trade union movement free from party control and small factional interests. It critiques current issues such as fragmentation, political influence, bureaucratic procedures, employer-controlled unions, declining participation, and the exclusion of vulnerable workers such as the unemployed, immigrants, and informal laborers.
Proposed reforms include rotation and term limits for representatives, use of technology for transparent communication, participatory decision-making for collective agreements, integration of unemployed and retired workers, and reduction of redundant union layers. It also promotes universal basic income, fair wages, minimum living wage, linking work hours to automation, and participatory ownership structures funding basic income initiatives.
The plan presents a vision for local and regional government that is democratic, participatory, public, green, inclusive, and independent from party control. It addresses challenges from prolonged economic crises, centralized governance, underfunding, bureaucracy, and concentration of power in committees and development agencies rather than elected councils.
Key proposals include strengthening municipal and regional councils, implementing participatory budgets and citizen legislative initiatives, maintaining public services under public control, protecting public green spaces, promoting circular economy and sustainable urban planning, supporting social and cultural inclusion, and emphasizing gender equality and anti-racist, feminist, and anti-fascist principles in local governance.
Several prominent individuals have publicly expressed support for MeRA25, highlighting its progressive agenda and anti-austerity platform.
Naomi Klein, Norman Finkelstein, and Roger Waters have endorsed MeRA25, particularly emphasizing its stance on social justice and European democracy.
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has been a vocal supporter of MeRA25 and its affiliated movement DiEM25, advocating for the nullification of his U.S. extradition request.
Slavoj à ½ià ¾ek, the Slovenian philosopher, has publicly expressed solidarity with MeRA25, emphasizing its mission to challenge the political status quo.