On 3th June, 2017 the European Party of Ukraine took part in the Party Council Meeting of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in Ljubljana (Slovenia). The party was represented by the Chairman of Mukachevo regional organization of the party Tatiana Bilak.
The official opening of the meeting was held by the ALDE President Hans van Baalen in the hotel “Grand Union”. “A year ago it seemed that European citizens suffer from the European fatigue, but good results of Liberals in Austria, the Netherlands and France balanced the situation, – said Hans van Baalen in his speech. Hans van Baalen also said that former Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas will lead the process of forming the ALDE manifesto for elections to the European Parliament in 2019.
In their speeches, the Prime Minister of Slovenia Miro Serar and the President of the ALDE group in the European Committee of the Regions Bart Somers focused on the values of citizens, liberal values, freedom of speech, rule of law and democracy.
The European Commissioner for Transport Violetta Bull stressed that politicians should change projects that do not work or work inefficiently. She said it was the Liberals who should work with investments. Europe is full of opportunities.
The Luxembourg Prime Minister and the leader of the Democratic Party said: “The best way to deal with populists – is to tell the truth and maintain our liberal values”.
During the ALDE Party Council Meeting there were also discussed the issues that were important not only for Europe but for the whole world. Thus, after the decision of the US President Donald Trump on the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate, the ALDE Council believes that the European Union should increase its influence and Member States should take more responsibility. American mayors and governors who challenged President Trump need more support from European cities and regions in implementing the Paris charter.
Members of the Council stated about their responsibility to protect universal access to sexual and reproductive health rights. On 23th January, 2017 President Donald Trump resumed so-called Global gag rule. This is the rule that prohibits foreign funding of organizations that deal with the question of abortion. On 28th January, 2017 in response to the global gag rule, the project “She decides” started and launched a fundraiser for the program. The ALDE Council considers that support in this direction is crucial, despite of the reduction of the US financial assistance, to avoid negative consequences, reduce the number of women who die. Council members urged the ALDE members to support the project “She decides”, be proactive and work on involving the state budget support.
Attention was also paid to defending democratic rights in Venezuela. Dozens of deaths in Venezuela, hundreds of protesters sent to military courts, violation of human rights and physical violence, uncontrolled economy of Venezuela and humanitarian crisis attracted worldwide attention. The ALDE Council urged all the EU member states to gather their ambassadors for the meeting. The European Commission, together with all the EU member states should apply maximum pressure on the Venezuelan government until it changes its attitude, starts to respect the legal power of the National Assembly in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution and releases all political prisoners.
Members of the ALDE considered the question of civil society and genuine democracy in Hungary. Hungarian authorities have promoted a bill aimed against education funding from abroad. The Central European University, founded by a billionaire and a philanthropist George Soros in 1991 is in a group of risk and can be closed. The bill was introduced in the Parliament by the Minister of Human Resources Zoltan Balog, who recommended adopting it on the grounds of “national security” to ensure that universities answer “foreign policy priorities”.
The bill proposes to tighten the rules for universities from countries outside the EU, forcing them to closure if they do not have a bilateral agreement with the country of origin.
The Council urges the members of the ALDE party and representatives of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe to condemn the deconstruction of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary. The ALDE Council calls to support civil society and the liberal opposition in Hungary.
Press service of the European Party of Ukraine