Patrick Gaspard, 52, is the president of Open Society Foundations, the associative network set up by Hungarian-born American financier and patron George Soros. The latter launched its philanthropic activities in 1979, providing scholarships to black students during apartheid in South Africa. In the 1980s, he sought to promote the free flow of ideas in communist Hungary. The NGO is now active in 120 countries. However, it left Budapest following a violent campaign against its founder, led by the illiberal government of Viktor Orban.
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What do the protest movements that follow you all over the world inspire in you?
It’s a moment of radical optimism, unlike what we experienced in Russia in 2015 (year of expulsion from Open Society Foundations) or in Hungary in 2018 with the closure, for the most part, of our University of Central Europe. We are witnessing a mobilization of citizens who question the authorities, fight against corruption and stand up for justice that does not exclude anyone. They pave the way for new democratic practices, even within authoritarian regimes – like Hong Kong, against the law on extraditions (at the origin of the protest movement, this project to authorize extraditions to mainland China has since been withdrawn). The same is true in Armenia, Romania, Sudan, Ethiopia or Canada, on energy issues.
In these movements or in climate protests, does youth represent an avant-garde?
Young people play the role of pioneers and have qualities that my generation lacked. I grew up in the civil rights and human rights movement. However, even if I was an activist, I thought I would work for future generations, without being sure of having an influence. This generation wants justice and they believe that change has to happen here and now. They're going to be as provocative as they need to be to reset the counters. They firmly believe that power structures are against them and that they cannot just ask polite questions. Young people are mobilized with the impatience of social networks. It’s very different from how my generation understood things.
