Last time I was in Helsinki, it was about 10 years ago when I was a Young Liberal and had been attending the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) congress on the ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm. My memory of it is a bit patchy, admittedly…
A decade later, I was there as a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Council. Nae bad for a quine fae Aberdeen. Which reminds me, I’ve still got to share my memories with LYMEC ahead of their 50th anniversary next year. I’m sure some of you reading this might want to do the same!
After chatting to LYMEC, I headed into our delegation meeting. We had a robust discussion with the Secretariat and fellow non-EU parties – convened by us and Venstre (Norway) – about the latest developments on changes to the rules governing European political parties and foundations. Readers of Mark Valladares’ missives from ALDE Council will know that this has been going on for a while now. The final text is still to be published at the time of writing, and we still have some concerns about the exact terminology, but the ability of non-EU parties to participate in European political life has been – thankfully – protected, given the importance it has for the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and – of course – the UK.
Following this meeting, the election nerd in me was drawn to the key takeaways from our sister parties who had recently had elections – in Belgium, Lithuania, Iceland, and Ireland. Lots of our colleagues campaign differently than we do, but I can remember two things that stood out from our Icelandic friends in particular. One, the importance of talking about Europe in the context of what matters to people (rather than in an end as itself), and the other, the importance of enjoying yourself in the process.
We were then welcomed to Helsinki by ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn – a friend of mine from LYMEC back in the day – and the dry Finnish wit of Anders Adlercreutz, SFP party leader, and Antti Kaikkonen, Keskusta party leader. Our Council meeting coming hot on the heels of the 24-25 June NATO Summit, this was followed by a high-level panel on European security. We have been working hard as a delegation to contribute to this mutually beneficial cooperation – including our proposal for a Resolution on European security and defence.
The ALDE Council strongly supported us in this regard, committing to stronger partnerships between EU and non-EU countries, negotiations on access to the European Defence Agency, and backing our call for a “rearmament bank” open to EU and non-EU countries to help finance an increase in Europe’s defence capabilities.
We also welcomed three new members to our liberal family: Gibanje Svoboda (Freedom Movement), Slovenia, Moderaterne (Moderates), Denmark, and Prodŭlzhavame Promyanata (We Continue the Change), Bulgaria. This was followed by a brief presentation of the ALDE Party Strategy to 2029, drafted in consultation with parliamentarians and party staff across Europe. It constitutes an overarching vision for liberals to win ‘hearts, minds, and seats’, with the ALDE Party working to complement its members’ efforts in championing liberalism in their local areas.
There have been a number of changes to the structure of Council, with more photo-ops and engagement with local media in the host country, although the ever-dramatic urgency resolutions still took pride of place. Including our own aforementioned security motion, there was a real focus on defence cooperation and upholding the democratic and territorial integrity of countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood and Western Balkans.
Two issues took centre stage beyond security – our brave friends in Georgia’s fight against the Russian-backed destruction of their democracy, and our Hungarian friends’ stand for LGBTQ+ rights and democratic freedoms at Budapest Pride. The Council received a letter from Zurab Japaridze – the leader of our sister party Girchi-More Freedom – one of many political prisoners being held at the behest of the Georgia Dream regime, thanking us for our support for their fight for freedom.
In Budapest, many liberals from across Europe joined the march Victor Orbán tried and failed to ban. The UK Liberal Democrats were well-represented by our friend Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett (although it was sadly too hot for their iconic yellow velvet jacket!) as one of hundreds of thousands of people making a stand for civil liberties and to protect LGBTQ+ rights.
I would also like to thank our entire delegation and friends for their commitment and contribution to making Helsinki a success: Phil Bennion, Steven Linares, Peter Price, Eleanor Rylance, Rowan Fitton, Iain Smith and our outstanding, hardworking Bureau member Sal Brinton and delegation leader David Chalmers!
Next time, we will come together in Brussels on the 24-25 of October for a Council and Congress meeting. That means you’re all welcome to hop on the Eurostar and come to the beautiful land of frites, chocolate, and beer. We are still very much at the heart of Europe’s liberal movement, and we’d love to have party members come and experience that for themselves! Keep an eye out for the chance to sign up to join our Congress delegation in the next few months.
* Hannah Bettsworth is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Council for Europe, and the Liberal Democrat Federal International Relations Committee. Outside of politics, she works in European affairs consultancy on health policy.
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4 Comments
Surely there was discussion of horrifying things going on in Palestine at the present time – it is certainly a matter of hot discussion in the British media and Parliament every week. Are European liberals less interested?
John
European Liberals regard what is happening in Israel and Gaza as very important and of grave concern. Indeed at the ALDE Congress in Lisbon last October the LibDems submitted a motion based on the motion that had been previously debated and passed at our own recent Conference. We worked closely with many of our sister parties across Europe to come up with a text that represented the strong emotions on either side on this very important issue but which maintained the core message that we as party had debated voted on and wished to convey .
To get a motion like this passed in ALDE involves a great deal of late night last minute negotiating – I have the scars to prove it – but for me and many other liberal parties it is important that we come together and find common ground to pass a motion which is in effect making a statement on a topic of such huge importance. To not do so as reflected on your question is a failure.
In Helsinki the LibDems submitted a motion on the Defence and security of Europe – which involved a lot of negotiating to get passed and it was unanimously – but only after all reference to Trump as an unpredictable ally had been removed – such is the fear amongst Europeans of offering the Orange Blob. As it was a Council meeting in Helsinki there was only room for emergency motions which are restricted to 300 words and restrict amendments and as a delegation we have to be careful not to bring more than one motion forward- we can endorse others – so we left it up to other parties to produce a motion commenting on the recent developments in Gaza.
Progressive Slovakia took this task on and for whatever reason the process of negotiating a text that would have the full endorsement of ALDE went wrong and the motion was pulled at the last minute. I personally was hugely disappointed that liberal parties had come together and to all appearances seem to be ignoring one of the major issues of the day. Many other parties were equally upset and I have been approached by several of our sister parties since to help draft a motion for the ALDE Congress taking place in Brussels 24 and 25 October. Over the next few months I shall watch and listen intently to the debates likely to take place in Bournemouth, will consult with our foreign affairs parliamentary teams, AOs like yourselves and ultimately our delegation and sister parties to produce a motion reflecting the values of our liberal family.
It’s a long response to your question but I believe it deserved explanation.