ECB Protester Josephine Witt: 'If Greece Falls, the Whole European Idea Has Failed'

Josephine Witt, the 21-year-old activist whose confetti attack frightened European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, talks exclusively to Greek Reporter about her protest, how she sees Greece and what she believes about Europe’s future. From our conversation, two things were clear about Witt: She knows what she is doing and her goal is to inspire others to do the same. Given all the positive responses she says she received, she probably succeeded.
“We are all political entities and each one of us can shape the world,” said the very well-spoken Philosophy major who wants “to remind people that we can change the system.”
She said she wants to inspire others to stand up and become activists across Europe, however, using only smart and non-violent methods of protest.
“I think that history has shown in Europe that violence is not a good way to react,” added Witt from her home in Hamburg, Germany.
Talking about Greece and how she and her peers see the “Greek drama” that has been creating headlines, she said that she wants Greece to stay in the Eurozone.
“I’m sure we will solve this problem because it’s unreasonable and there would be massive protests if a Grexit happens. I’m very sure that the European leaders saw my protest yesterday and they are actually aware that there is a big movement, a big group that is in favor of Greece and in favor of solidarity and strongly against the austerity that has been imposed on Greece.”
And the interesting conversation with the student who managed to frighten Draghi, the man who can frighten Europe and the world markets with his power, continued for another 15 minutes…
What exactly happened after your action?
The ECB security staff brought me down to the basement of the building and we were waiting for the police. Then they came and put me in handcuffs and drove me to the police station. It was not quite far from the place. I stayed there for two and a half hours. Maybe there is even going to be a trial because of disturbing the peace of the House. I don’t really know but the the ECB may press charges against me. They said they will notify me in that case.
What was the main message you wanted to communicate? 
I was quite inspired by the protest for the opening ceremony of the ECB in Frankfurt four weeks ago and what I actually saw was massive police aggression toward the protesters and it was basically the image that the ECB, a non-governmental, non-elected institution, is being defended with tear gas and water cannons against protesters who were actually making a legitimate point against the policies. This is something that I found very disturbing and inspiring at the same time. I was trying to get inside the ECB and I was very surprised that it all worked out. My main point basically was that they’re a non-elected institution but they are imposing a policy on the population of Europe that is drastic and has drastic consequences for many people. There has to be some criticism about that. This is what I was trying to bring across. Obviously, I never studied economy. I’m not an economist but I can see that inequality is growing, the gap between the rich and the poor is as big as it’s ever been and we have huge inequalities in the wage system. Wages in Europe and exports are all problems that can be solved by ECB experts and there are many smart people who are working there. They are just not working in the interest of the European population but in fact I feel that they are working against them.
How did people react to your action?
So far I only had positive responses from across the world, especially from people in Greece, which I’m very happy for, but also in Germany I only hear positive responses because the ECB policy is not helping the German population either. All our savings are now very weak and are not very safe. Not only did they mismanage the situation in southern Europe, they did the same here in Germany. So far I only got positive responses.
Do you think that the stance of Germany on the Greek debt is the right way to go?
I actually think that out of Europe’s big heads, Angela Merkel is one of the nicest persons to deal with Greece. Other people have popular negative slogans and what is actually hurting me the most is that also under the responsibility of the ECB, a bad narrative in Europe has been created that the southern countries are lazy and living on the expense of the hard-working northern countries, which is absolutely not true, but our media are showing this image and people actually believe it. People in Germany are now actually in favor of the Grexit, which I find bizarre because I was born in a united Europe.

I was born with the idea of no borders within Europe and a united monetary system, and having this racism and this discrimination that actually comes from the interest of a few people who make a lot of money with it, destroys the idea of the European Union’s unity.

It’s something that I find very, very sad and something that I strongly oppose and I’ve done a protest against this in February with my friends from FEMEN that was basically saying “No, we don’t want the Grexit. This is not an option at all.” I think our generation stands strongly for a united Europe, with the beliefs and the European values that I think are not very popular among the European leaders right now. We hope that the Greek problem and the debt will not be a problem for a long time, because we are actually aware of the fact that we’ll probably never get the money back because it wasn’t even invested in Greece, it was just going straight to the banks. I don’t think that the banks will pay us the money back because that is not actually what they are doing, right? So we actually see that it’s a discussion that seems to be distracting us from the real problem that exists within the monetary system of the euro. It’s just a narrative that is constructed.
What do you think is the general belief in Germany about Greece?
I can see that many people in Germany are buying those populist newspapers and are buying their lies. They actually believe that the Greek population is just lazy and drunk all the time, but on the other hand, we had the video of Varoufakis in German television that was very popular and people are actually trying to understand the Greek problem and I think with protests like mine, with means and images of solidarity, we can actually create a better climate within Europe and improve the relation between Germans and Greeks. Because I think Germans always loved Greece. We love Greek food, we love the country, we love the culture, we love the philosophy, we love to take holidays there, so there’s always been a good relation between the two countries and I think we shouldn’t have it destroyed by creatures like Mario Draghi. Seeing his face, so shocked with my protest, was something that I really think is also shifting the narratives now and we don’t see him anymore as the very powerful and untouchable man that is ruling over Europe, but as somebody that we can actually criticize and now we can show our critique in a peaceful but at the same time radical way.

Take a look at this face! #confettigate #ecb We own our own lives! pic.twitter.com/VyIcM0FaLe

— Josephine Witt (@josephine_witt) April 15, 2015

All the way around. Basically I discovered this when I travelled to South America and people asked me “Where are you from?” and I always said I am from Europe. Then they asked again “Where are you from?” and I said “I am from Hamburg in Germany.” I mean in Germany we are not very proud of our country, due to our history, because we f*cked up the whole European continent and the whole world with wars. So we are not very much patriots. This is another risk, within the narratives that are being portrayed now with like the good-working north, there are actually some fascist groups growing in Germany and becoming more popular. So this current narrative actually spurred the fascism that is growing in Europe and this is a very, very big problem. We have to oppose it. I am definitely an anti-fascist and I’m definitely not a patriot. I consider myself to be a human on the planet Earth and a European but I don’t really give a f*ck about my nationality.
Have you ever been to Greece?
No! But I would love to come!
What’s your opinion about the way ECB President Draghi is handling the Greek issue?
I think I showed him my opinion yesterday and I think it’s just a ridiculous discussion that is far away from reality and I actually don’t believe that debts are going to be paid. But what I can see right now with this new government in Greece is that, for the first time, Greece is actually trying to make a system, trying to make it grow, make the situation better for the Greek population and I think we should give the new government time. I think we should actually invest and I don’t know who it was but they said that after WWII in Germany we had a terrible economic situation but there was a “Marshall plan” that helped us grow and helped us have a flourishing economy. I think that we should try something similar in Greece. Because I think if Greece falls, the whole European idea has failed.
What do your parents think of your activism?
I come from a quiet family. They are worried about me and they would have liked me not to be getting involved. I don’t think they understand why I do it but maybe they will understand it in the future. I want to inspire people.
Do you believe that you can change Europe and the world?
I know that history has always been full of surprises. I believe that we are all political entities and each one of us can shape the world. Sometimes we forget that we can change the system!

The Wonder Woman @josephine_witt pic.twitter.com/KBHaDi2XNJ

— Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) April 16, 2015