Our Freedom Is Under Attack: Book launch and discussion

About the event

For too long, Europe has sat back and relied on the US. Now antidemocratic presidents as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are working together to crush the EU, while Europe’s right-wing populists are serving as their puppets and sabotage us from within. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 marked a turning point. Gone is an 80-year period in which Western Europe could rely on the United States as a loyal partner in economic and social matters. Instead, a new autocratic axis between Trump and Putin is forming before our eyes, threatening to crush the progressive EU and its ideals – from outside as well as from within. With the help of compliant right-wing parties in Europe, they are dividing the values of freedom and constitutionality in an attempt to destroy the European alliance. The coming years determine whether the European project for peace and reconciliation, which was launched in the aftermath of the Second World War, will survive.

Program

18:45 Arrival of the participants

19:00 Welcome from the European Liberal Forum
Speaker: Alva Finn, Executive Director, European Liberal Forum
Speaker: Helga Pattart-Drexler, Director, NEOS Lab

19:10 Book launch and discussion
Speaker: Helmut Brandstätter, MEP, Renew Europe Group and President, NEOS Lab
Speaker: Nathalie Loiseau, MEP, Renew Europe Group
Moderator: Helga Pattart-Drexler, Director, NEOS Lab

19:45 Q/A with the audience
20:15 Networking reception
21:30 – End of the event

Helmut Brandstätter takes us behind the scenes of the European Parliament and reveals the
mechanisms Trump and Putin are using to exploit Europe’s right-wing parties as a gateway to
undermine the EU. He is convinced: Now is the time to overcome our differences and stand up for
our freedom. After all, it is more fragile than we think.

Nathalie Loiseau highlights the invisible threats facing Western democracies today. Disinformation
campaigns, cyber-attacks and interference in election campaigns and political life are on the
increase. How can we win these invisible wars and defend our values? These are the questions
that Nathalie Loiseau tries to answer in her book. focusing on Vladimir Putin and contemporary
Russia, but also on China and Turkey.