ELF at ALDE Congress 2022

The ALDE Party Congress was a great forum, bringing together hundreds of liberals from all across Europe to Dublin, to tackle the biggest issues facing the EU, from the future of European security to energy independence. ELF hosted a number of exciting events!

Liberal Espresso

As part of our ELF Booth, each day of the congress we held Liberal Espressos with MEPs and subject experts on a variance of topics.

NATO enlargement for Finland and Sweden: This session hosted by Mats Löfström MP for The Swedish People’s Party of Finland and ELF Kerstin Lundgren, Member of Swedish Parliament for the Center Party, addressed NATO enlargement and how it can strengthen EU security from the perspective of new applicants Finland and Sweden.

“Finland has been driving the Rule of Law Mechanism very hard. But NATO is a matter of defense & security. Without peace there cannot be a democracy.” – Mats Löfström.

The goal is safety and strengthen security for all of us. By becoming members, we are filling a gap in NATO.” – Kerstin Lundgren.

EU Trade relations with the US: Albertro Zilio, Vice-Chair of the Digital Economic Committee, AmCham EU, joined ELF Executive Director Daniel Kaddik to host a discussion on strengthening EU-US trade relations.

“The TTC is important for the digital sector, but we can have it for agriculture or health sector too.” – Albertro Zilio.

ELF X Renew Europe Position Papers: Carole Ulmer, Head of Communications at Renew Europe Group and Dr Antonios Nestoras, ELF Head of Policy and Research presented the ELF X Renew Europe Postion Papers, as series of joint positions covering a range of important European issues.

“We need to circulate our positions more among the public. We try to communicate with the public with concise and clear positions. Our contribution to the public debate is appreciated by citizens.” – Carole Ulmer.

The ELF Liberal Awards 2022

With Friday came the second edition of ELF’s Liberal Awards, where we honour and provide a platform to European liberals who have gone above and beyond in their work. Here’s this year’s winners!

Outstanding Changemaker: Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine & Kira Rudik, MP and President of the Golos (Voice) Party, Ukraine.

Political DisruptorMarta Lempart, women’s rights activist and co-founder of the All-Poland Women’s Strike, Poland.

Rising Star: Pavle Grbović, President of the Free Citizens Movement, Serbia.

Learn more about our 2022 winners here.

This year we also awarded Values Champion, posthumously to the late ALDE President Hans van Baalen, a historical figure for the liberal movement. Han van Baalen left a strong legacy of building up EU-Taiwan economic and diplomatic relations. We were honoured not only to present the award, but also to announce a scholarship to carry his vision into the future.

Find out more about the Hans van Baalen Scholarship.

Staged Integration for the EU Enlargement

Our Panel Discussion on Staged Integration for the EU Enlargement, brought together experts from both within and beyond the EU to discuss the geopolitical rationale of the renewed EU Enlargement and the potential of staged EU integration as a liberal solution to the current stalemate.

This event facilitated very insightful discussions with speakers Vlora Çitaku, Former Minister of European Integration of Kosovo and Kira Rudik, Party Leader, Golos Party in Ukraine, Dr. Antonios Nestoras, ELF Head of Policy Research and Daniel Kaddik, ELF Executive Director.

“There needs to be a discussion both outside and inside the EU on what enlargement means. Enlargement is not an altruisric project, it is a geostrategic project. It is as beneficial to the candidates, as it is to the EU members.” – Vlora Çitaku.

Find out more about Staged Integration for the EU Enlargement.

For all the event photos, check out ELF Flickr.

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