The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) met at an extraordinary Congress on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 March to adopt its manifesto for the European elections, to officially present German FDP MEP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (see EUROPE 13368/7) as the party’s head of list and to renew its ‘Charter of Values’.
Elected by a large majority as the party’s ‘spitzenkandidat’, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann also becomes a member of the trio of candidates on the ‘Renew Europe Now’ platform presented on the evening of 20 March (see EUROPE 13375/16).
She reiterated her attachment to the European project and issued a call to “stand up against autocrats and populists of the world, outside and inside the EU”.
“The best way to counter them is to offer a new version of Europe: a Europe that makes it easier, not harder, for its citizens, that opens opportunity to investment”, she said.
ALDE members then adopted their official manifesto for the European elections, entitled “Your Europe, Your Freedom: Delivering change for you”, the result of a year-long consultation between party members, civil society and stakeholders.
Priorities include stimulating economic growth in the EU, reducing dependency, involving citizens in the democratic process and strengthening security and defence capabilities, with a particular focus on Ukraine’s victory over Russia.
The 76 ALDE parties have also co-signed the ‘Charter of Values’, a modernised version of the 1976 Stuttgart Declaration.
“This key document has been years in the making, and once again reaffirms the liberal commitment to defend and promote individual rights and freedoms as part of an equal, open and democratic society”, states an ALDE press release.
Finally, on the first day of the Congress, the members voted and adopted three emergency resolutions on guaranteeing military support for Ukraine, responding to the rise of the far right and denouncing the murder of Alexei Navalny and the recent presidential election in Russia.
The second day was devoted to defining the liberal agenda for the next five years and beyond, with a series of thematic panels.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian democratic leader, also gave a speech highlighting Liberal support for democratic resistance against the regimes of Vladimir Putin in Russia and Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus.
“For many years, the ALDE Party has been a strong voice that supported Belarusian democracy in the European Parliament and beyond. You were among the first that supported us because you understood that the Belarusian fight for freedom is also a fight for Europe and its values”, she declared.
To see the manifesto, go to https://aeur.eu/f/bg6
To see the ‘Charter of Values’, go to https://aeur.eu/f/bg7 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)