ALDE Party Liberal Bulletin 02 2016

liberal A clear ambition to win

A new generation for change Interview with Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Ĺ imaĹĄius Standing up for freedom Interviews with Russian liberal leaders Emilia Slabunova and Mikhail Kasyanov The liberal approach to agriculture Interviews with Luxembourg Minister Fernand Etgen and Dutch MEP Jan Huitema

JUNE 2016

June 2016 01 liberal bulletin

calendar 4 June 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania ALDE Party Council meeting 10-12 June 2016 Seinäjoki, Finland Keskusta Congress

contents

11-12 June 2016 Turku, Finland SFP Congress

Editorial by ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen

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Feature The Liberal approach to agriculture

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Interview Remigijus Šimašius Mayor of Vilnius

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Interviews with Russian opposition leaders: YABLOKO leader Emilia Slabunova and PARNAS leader Mikhail Kasyanov

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18 September 2016 Legislative elections in Russia

Let’s stay #INtogether

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The European Women’s Academy

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9 October 2016 Parliamentary elections in Lithuania

Best from social media

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Movers and Shakers

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13-17 June 2016 Brussels, Belgium ALDE Party Ministers Pre-Council meetings 26 June 2016 General elections in Spain

29-30 October 2016 The Netherlands D66 50th anniversary Congress

Save the date ALDE Party Congress 2016 1-3 December Warsaw, Poland

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party is the party representing liberal democrat values across Europe.

In conjunction with our liberal member parties throughout the European continent, we are translating the principle of freedom into politics, economics and across all other areas of our societies. The ALDE Party provides an increasingly vital link between citizens and the EU institutions and is continuously growing in size and significance.

The ALDE Party is made up of nearly 60 member parties and many individual members from across Europe. Liberal Democrats created their political family in 1976, ahead of the first European elections.

ALDE was established as a truly transnational political party in 1993.

Liberal Bulletin is a publication of the ALDE Party. It is published three times a year.

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Rue d’Idalie 11 – box 2, 1050 Brussels Tel. +32 2 237 01 40 – Fax. +32 2 231 19 07 Editors: Daniel Tanahatoe, Adriana Diaz, Andrew Burgess, ALDE Party Publisher: Didrik de Schaetzen, ALDE Party Layout: Mardi.be Printing: ZwartOpWit.be With the support of the European Parliament.

editorial All politics is local. The liberals of the ALDE Group in the Committee of the Regions know that. In recognition of some outstanding work of local and regional politicians, at the end of April, ALDE-CoR hosted the fifth Local and Regional Politicians’ Awards ceremony. I was privileged, together with the ALDE-CoR Group leader Bas Verkerk, to honour the winners of what is also known as the LeaDeR awards. They do hands-on politics to make their cities and regions a better place.

One of the winners came from Russia. Galina Shirshina received a 2016 LeaDeR award in the category of the President’s Special Award for her tireless actions for transparency in local government and her efforts to fight corruption. Doing politics in countries like Russia is not easy.

Hans van Baalen MEP ALDE Party President

Hans van Baalen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 17 June 1960) studied International Relations and International Law at Leiden University. He was drafted in the Royal Netherlands Army and has now the rank of Reserve Colonel.

He joined Deloitte in 1989 and became Managing Partner for Deloitte Public and EU Affairs. From 1999 until 2009, he served as Member of The Netherlands House of Representatives. In 2009 Van Baalen was elected for the European Parliament and re-elected in 2014. In the European Parliament he co-ordinates Foreign Affairs and Security & Defence on behalf of the ALDE Group. He is substitute member of the International Trade Committee. He is leader of the VVD Delegation in the EP. Between 2009 and 2014, he served as President of Liberal International, and is President of Honour of LI since 2014. Van Baalen was elected as ALDE Party Vice President at the 2014 ALDE Party Congress in Lisbon. At the last Congress in Budapest in November 2015, he was elected as ALDE Party President with 70% of the vote. His motto is: Liberals Must Unite!

Hans married to Ineke Sybesma who chairs the Board of the Victim Support Fund Netherlands. Their son Robert is 10 years old.

Perhaps you have read in ALDE Party’s weekly newsletter my repeated calls for Russia to comply with international law. I have insisted to immediately release the illegally detained Ukrainian activist and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Nadiya Savchenko and the PARNAS youth leader Mikhail Konev.

They are examples of how opposition politicians and parties in Russia routinely face intimidation for daring to act as and be a voice of opposition to the ruling powers in the country. I can recommend the interview with the leaders of our two Russian member parties, Emilia Slabunova of YABLOKO and Mikhail Kasyanov of PARNAS on the state of politics in their country.

On a more positive note, in December of last year, the ALDE Party hosted its first Ministerial Pre-Council meetings ahead of the Council of the European Union. They brought together the Liberal Transport and Telecommunications Ministers. Since these received overwhelmingly positive feedback, we have expanded to the liberal Agriculture Ministers who met ahead of the AGRIFISH Council in March, in April and in May. To highlight their work, I am pleased that in this Liberal Bulletin we can read about innovative liberal action in the field of agriculture from Luxembourg’s Minister Fernand Etgen and Dutch MEP Jan Huitema.

Last but not least, I look forward to meeting you at the ALDE Party Council in Vilnius. Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius and Acting President of the Lithuanian Liberal Movement (Liberalai), shares his views on the political situation in Lithuania ahead of the parliamentary elections in the autumn with one clear ambition: to win. That’s an ambition I’d like to see more of.

@hansvanbaalen June 2016 03 liberal bulletin

The Liberal approach to agriculture ARTICLE

In the last months, the ALDE Party has already hold three Ministerial Pre-Council meetings on the topic of Agriculture and Fisheries. The ministers discussed the agricultural crisis in the dairy and pig meat sector with one main goal: strengthening the Liberal position on agriculture in the Council of the European Union.

In light of the success of the AGRIFISH PreCouncils, we have interviewed some experts in the field to discuss the Liberal approach to agriculture.

In December 2015, the ALDE Party held its first ever Ministerial Pre-Council meetings ahead of the Council of the European Union which brought together the Liberal Transport and Telecommunications Ministers. The Transport meeting was chaired by ALDE Party Vice President Timmy Dooley TD and the Telecommunications meeting was chaired by ALDE Party Vice President Angelika Mlinar MEP. This meeting format allows Liberal ministers to network, and to discuss and better coordinate their positions in order to create a stronger Liberal position within the Council. liberal bulletin 04 June 2016

Since these meetings have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from ministers, they have been expanded to other formats where there is a strong showing of Liberal ministers.

For this reason, on 14 March, liberal Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers met ahead of the AGRIFISH Council in Brussels for the first ever ALDE Party AGRIFISH Pre-Council which was chaired by ALDE Party Vice President Ros Scott and hosted by Kimmo Tiilikainen, Finland’s Minister of Agriculture and the Environment. The ministers were joined by Jan Huitema MEP in order to discuss the ALDE Group’s work and position in the European Parliament. The ministers agreed to meet before every AGRIFISH Council and have since met again in Luxembourg on 11 April hosted by the Luxembourg Minister, Fernand Etgen, and in Brussels on 17 May. During the AGRIFISH Pre-Council, the participants discussed and exchanged views on the current agriculture crisis in the dairy and pig meat sector. There was a strong consensus about the immediate measures which need to be taken to deal with the current crisis in agriculture, and that much more needs to be done to make farming economically sustainable in the future.

Upcoming Ministerial Pre-Council meetings include: Transport on 7 June, Health on 17 June, and AGRIFISH on 27 June.

INTERVIEW

Fernand Etgen Fernand Etgen is the Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection of Luxembourg in the cabinet of Liberal Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. He hosted the April ALDE Party AGRIFISH Pre-Council in Luxembourg. In this interview, the Luxembourgish Minister gives us an insight on the current agricultural crisis in Europe and suggests what should the EU approach be to face this challenge.

Currently the EU is facing an agricultural crisis in the dairy, pig meat and vegetable sector. In response last year, the European Commission allocated a 500 million euros aid package and a series of measures to overcome the difficulties faced by farmers, stabilise markets and address the functioning of the supply chain. What’s the current situation, why has it come so far and what can we do about it?

The current difficulties in the dairy, pig meat and vegetable sector are a combination of various factors. One of them is the Russian ban, which created difficulties on the demand side in all three sectors and notably in the pig meat and vegetable sector. Concretely in the pig meat market, the production of pig carcasses has decreased since the beginning of this year, but remainders are still weak.

“The CAP made important changes in supplying goods in a more environmentally friendly way. We should continue in that direction, but we should not lose our focus on the objectives of increasing productivity, stabilising markets and guaranteeing food security.”

The dairy sector also suffers from the Russian ban since Russia was an important market for cheese, a product with high added value. While it has certainly not been possible to compensate all the losses, operators have found various new outlets. Thus, the dairy market is struggling from the strong supply of milk combined with a weaker demand in export countries like China.

Milk prices paid to farmers are weak, amounting to 29 cents per kg in February as an EU average, ranging from 21 cents in Latvia to 51 cents in Cyprus. Luxembourg’s milk farmers’ prices have also declined to an average of 28.5 cents per kg in March, below the EU average. Being aware of the recent discounter price drops, the milk prices are expected to further decline in the upcoming months. While the demand for milk products in important outlet countries like China or Japan is increasing from the beginning of the year, raw milk supply continues to increase up to 7.4% in the two first months of the year.

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I think Europe should continue to find new marketing possibilities inside and outside Europe. Thus, promotion measures have to be boosted. Luxembourg also supports the idea to analyse the possibilities of a common system for exports credits and export assurances.

And finally, I am of the opinion that with the Commission we should put all our efforts together to reduce Single Payment Scheme (SPS)-related trade barriers.

During a recent AGRIFISH Council meeting, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) presented ways on how to make better use of investment tools and financing opportunities to boost competitiveness, growth and jobs in the agriculture sector and in rural areas. In your view, how could these financial instruments be promoted and what effect will they have for the farming community?

The new investment tools elaborated in cooperation with the EIB give farmers the opportunity to get advantages in acquiring liquidity and give them a chance to increase their competitiveness and to innovate. However, some clarifications are needed regarding the details on how farmers could obtain easier access to these finances. Especially the interactions between the aid system in the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the discussed financial instruments proposed by the EIB have to be clarified and administrative burdens have to be eliminated.

In view of the current crisis, some in the Council call for Member States to help farmers with temporary support to ease their situation.

Don’t you fear that this will lead to a renationalisation of agricultural subsidies?

It is clear that an EU response in financial terms would have been preferred to address the current crisis and give all Member states the possibility to put in place support to alleviate its effect.

However, the Commission cannot provide any funds at the moment and prefers Member States to concentrate liberal bulletin 06 June 2016

“It is clear that an EU response in financial terms would have been better to address the current agricultural crisis and give all Member states the possibility to put in place support to alleviate the effect of the current crisis.” on the implementation of the targeted aid package, which was adopted under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council last year. We hope that financial possibilities will occur in the near future, when the budgetary situation is clearer.

The Commission made some openings in this regard. Personally, I do not think that this will lead to a renationalisation of agricultural subsidies and this is for two reasons: firstly, national aid can only be given to milk farmers in return of a counteraction from their side, i.e. maintaining or reducing their milk production. Secondly, we should not forget that direct aids are still disbursed to farmers in the European Union.

In the ALDE Party’s most recent manifesto for the European elections, European liberals call upon the EU to shift support from agricultural subsidies to modern and environmentally-friendly agricultural technologies to maintain food production and sustainable livestock farming while helping local communities. What’s your view on these proposals and do you see any developments in this direction?

Agricultural policy went through substantial changes during recent years and in particular during the last reform of the CAP 2013 with the introduction of greening and its requirement to dedicate 30% of direct payments to environmentally friendly measures.

The three requirements requested are the introduction of 5% of ecologic focus areas, crop diversification on arable land and maintaining permanent grassland.

In the second pillar of the CAP, a broad range of measures to enhance innovation

and sustainable agriculture are already at our disposal. It is up to the Member States to use now all these possibilities. I want to recall that during the health check of the CAP in 2009 we made one important step in the direction of boosting the rural development policy by transferring as from 2012 10% of the funds from the first pillar to the second pillar.

In a nutshell, the CAP made important changes in supplying goods in a more environmentally friendly way. We should continue in that direction, but we should not lose our focus on the objectives of the common agricultural policy defined in Article 39 of the Treaty lying in increasing productivity, stabilising markets and guaranteeing food security.

In April, you hosted in Luxembourg the 2nd ALDE Party Pre-Council meeting ahead of the AGRIFISH Council which brought together Liberal agricultural ministers.

While our conservative and socialist colleagues have organised similar meetings before, this is a new format for Liberal agricultural ministers. Do you see an added value in bringing Liberal ministers together to discuss and better coordinate their positions in order to create a strong liberal position within the Council?

I welcome the initiative of Ministers from European Liberal parties to meet before the Council in order to exchange views and coordinate positions. In my opinion, we should meet regularly before every Council meeting. Only through regular consultations, we can prepare a common position and exchange views before the Council to push forward our common goals.

INTERVIEW

Jan Huitema MEP

Jan Huitema is a member of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament (VVD, the Netherlands). He combines his parliamentary activities, notably in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, with his work at a dairy farm in the Netherlands. As an MEP, he offers us an overview about the Liberal approach to agriculture in the European Parliament.

You have stated that you want to represent the interest of farmers with a focus on innovative agriculture and entrepreneurship. What do you want to achieve for them as an MEP? Agriculture is one of the most dynamic economic sectors, although it is not often seen as such. Farmers are always developing new techniques and practices

in order to increase their productivity and make better products. However, European legislation is often outdated and not fit for purpose. There are many examples of new techniques that farmers cannot put to good use. For example, from animal manure it is possible to make ‘green fertiliser’ by refining it. This way, we obtain a pure form of fertiliser that we can use and will be completely

absorbed by the crops, which is the reason why we still use artificial fertilisers and not natural substitutes. This would be good for the farmer as well as for the environment, as we could save on artificial fertilisers that cost us a lot of energy and precious natural material to produce.

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“I believe it is very important that we use the power of agriculture and see it as a solution rather than a problem. There is so much to gain in terms of producing more and better while at the same time lowering the impact on our environment.�

You have recently stated that the EU is the Silicon Valley of agriculture and that the Dutch agricultural system is an example for the world.

Why is that? What are the main innovations in precision farming particularly in the Netherlands?

To start with, I think it is good not to confuse Silicon Valley only with ICT; although this is of course a very important aspect of it. The technique is not the only thing that matters, but also the whole ecosystem of researchers, spinoffs to other sectors and the willingness to implement new techniques. In the Netherlands there is a very high uptake of precision farming, almost 10 times more than in the rest of Europe, according to a recent Dutch study. By using better sensor technology and better big-data solutions, we can monitor the health of our crops and animals more efficiently and make more targeted interventions.

There are currently many companies working on this. An example of a Dutch agricultural innovation is a fully automated milking robot.

On 29 April, the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee adopted your own-initiative report on enhancing innovation and economic development in future European farm management. Why did you decide to draft this report and what are the main elements of the report?

I believe it is very important that we use the power of agriculture and see it as a solution rather than a problem. As I have just outlined, there is so much to gain in terms of producing more and better while at the same time lowering the impact on our environment. My report sums up a list of very concrete proposals in order to remove regulatory obstacles for farmers liberal bulletin 08 June 2016

today and provides guidelines for a truly competitive European agricultural policy of tomorrow. The latest innovations can have a huge impact, but our policies are still quite often outdated and this hampers progress and discourages farmers in their pursuit of better production models. Since 1992, we are trying to make the Common Agricultural Policy more market-oriented, but we should also help farmers to ensure sustainable production and improve their competitiveness.

Your report states that agriculture can provide economic and environmental benefits. What are these benefits and how can innovation in agriculture help achieve them?

The key issue for me is that people often think you have to choose between economic development or protecting the environment. However, especially in agriculture you can do both at the same time, provided you leave enough room for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Agriculture is a particular field because it works directly with nature. Some solutions are nevertheless contraintuitive. For example, tomatoes in green houses use almost four times less water than if they are grown in open field. This is not a plea for greenhouses, I am just saying that by making our production more efficient and effective, which is a very economic thing to do, we can also lower our impact on the environment.

In my report, I show many examples, such as precision agriculture, which uses insects to combat plant diseases and makes use of new protein sources that can help close the waste loop in farms.

We can choose to move forward and try new approaches in order to provide good food or get stuck in the past. I believe we need to move forward, fast forward.

SPON SOR ED CON TEN T

INTERVIEW

Alain-Dominique Quintart

Head of Government & Public Affairs EAME of Syngenta Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. As co-hosts of a panel debate on innovative agriculture at the ALDE Party Council in Vilnius, they explain to us why innovation is key to European agriculture.

The core goal of your business is to help farmers rise to the challenge of feeding a fast-growing world population. Could you tell us more about how you aid farmers to face such challenge in practical terms?

Helping farmers rise to sustainably feed a fast-growing population is part of our mission and strategy for growth. We do this by developing innovative crop protection products and high quality seed which are combined with modern farm practices and adjacent technologies such as precision farming solutions. These form the bedrock of The Good Growth Plan (www.goodgrowthplan.com). We cannot achieve our objectives alone, however, and we work with a range of partners including governments, international organisations, academia and NGOs all over the world.

Your Good Growth Plan particularly focuses on the challenges of sustainability. How do you envisage a sustainable future for agriculture?

We have a challenging target of increasing the average productivity of the world’s major crops by 20% without using more land, water or inputs and have specific targets to improve resource efficiency, rejuvenate ecosystems and revitalise rural communities. We only have one planet and unless we optimise yields and quality whilst delivering benefits to the environment, the natural resources that future generations will need for food production won’t be there. We are also working closely with smallholders, particularly in the developing world, to not only boost their productivity but to improve their livelihoods too.

At the ALDE Party Council in Vilnius you will co-host a fringe meeting on enhancing innovation in European agriculture. Why is it important to promote innovation within the agricultural sector?

Innovation in both technology and farm practices is key to making agriculture more environmentally sustainable and attractive for the young generation in Europe.

Syngenta invests around 1.2 billion euros a year in Research and Development, and is unique in combining chemistry, genetics, breeding and computational science to develop new products and solutions.

Several of our globally leading research centres are located in Europe. We believe Europe needs a robust, predictable and science-based legal framework to ensure that innovators can thrive and enable all stakeholders to share in the social, economic and environmental benefits that can be delivered through innovation.

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INTERVIEW

Remigijus Šimašius Mayor of Vilnius

Remigijus Šimašius is the Mayor of Vilnius and Acting President of the Lithuanian Liberal Movement (Liberalai), host of the ALDE Party Council 2016 in Vilnius. In this interview, he offers an overview on Liberalai’s political and economic positions in their 10 years doing Liberal politics in Lithuania and offers his tips on what to see in Vilnius during your stay.

“Our country has to be governed by the new generation of politicians. Only then we can expect faster positive changes.”

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This year Liberalai celebrates its 10th anniversary doing Liberal politics in Lithuania. What have been the most important moments for the party in these 10 years?

Later this year in October, Lithuania will hold parliamentary elections. What are the core messages of Liberalai ahead of this election campaign?

When we started to create the Lithuanian Liberal Movement (Liberalai) our biggest concern was about the future, there were some doubts whether the new political movement would find its supporters or whether we would receive enough votes to enter the Parliament. Today I am pleased to say that all these 10 years were just great for the Lithuanian Liberal Movement. We quickly became the most popular Lithuanian Liberal party, we have united Liberals in Lithuania.

With every election our number of supporters has grown and last year our party obtained excellent results at the municipal elections where I became the first directly-elected Mayor of Vilnius.

Half a year ahead of the parliamentary elections we are the second most popular political power in Lithuania. The Social Democrats who are still the number one party in Lithuania have recently started to see a decrease in their popularity, so we see a real chance to become the winners. Our electoral campaign is probably the most active currently in Lithuania. Since the beginning of the year, we are constantly visiting various regions and sharing a key message – our country has to be governed by a new generation of politicians. Only then we can expect faster positive changes, such as higher wages and lower unemployment rate. We stand for lower taxation in the labour market and less costly state administration.

Recently your party has proposed measures to increase the salaries of all Lithuanians inspired by Liberal-led government of Estonia.

Could you tell us more about Liberalai’s economic proposals?

The average salary in Estonia is around 1,050 euros per month, which is around 300 euros higher than in Lithuania.

This is because Lithuania is not yet enough attractive for foreign investors.

An important reason for this is that our profit taxation system is very stiff, there is not enough flexibility for tax exemption when the profit is used for business growth, further investments, or the creation of new jobs. If the Estonian model was to be introduced in Lithuania, we would become more attractive to foreign investors. Also we need to introduce a so-called “ceiling” for social security tax for salaries from 2,200 euros.

This would encourage us to become more attractive for better paid jobs.

Following Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, Lithuania has been concerned about geopolitics and security. What is Liberalai’s stand on this issue?

Russia is a menace for our country and for the whole region. Therefore, a compulsory military conscript has been restored in Lithuania last year and the defence budget was increased. Liberals stand for the permanent settlement of NATO troops in Lithuania, which would definitely make us feel more safe.

The strong demand for change from the voters was our success. The Lithuanian Liberal Movement brings a new generation into Lithuanian politics. We are young, but at the same time already experienced and honest politicians. It is important to mention that we were very successful in our door-to-door election campaign when our candidates were presenting themselves directly to people, knocking at their doors. This was an innovative initiative in Lithuania and thus very positively taken by our voters.

In fact, we will be using the same strategy for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Vilnius is a beautiful city wellknown for its Old Town, declared UNESCO World Heritage Site. What sights would you recommend to the delegates coming to the ALDE Party Council in your capital?

If you have time, I invite you to wander around the narrow streets of the Old Vilnius. You will notice that Vilnius is a calm city. It is a lively city yet not stressing, definitely a pleasant city to live in.

“Out of 60 municipalities, 11 Mayors belong to the Lithuanian Liberal Movement.”

Also, after the Council meeting, we invite colleagues to visit the Lithuanian old capital Trakai, which is just 30 km south of Vilnius. Trakai is well-known due for its island castle in the middle of a beautiful lake.

You were elected as Mayor of Vilnius in the latest municipal elections in 2015, where Liberalai obtained very good results. What do you think was the key of your party’s success on a local level?

At last year’s municipal elections, the Lithuanian Liberal Movement was the third most voted party, stepping on the toes of the Conservatives. Out of 60 municipalities, 11 Mayors belong to the Lithuanian Liberal Movement. We won not only in Vilnius but also in Klaipeda, the third largest city in Lithuania.

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Emilia Slabunova INTERVIEW

Chair of the YABLOKO party Emilia Slabunova is the Chair of Russian ALDE Party member YABLOKO as well as Member of the Parliament of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. After her election as YABLOKO leader in December, Slabunova became the first female stand-alone leader of a political party in Putin’s Russia.

In this interview, she talks about how YABLOKO is preparing for the upcoming State Duma elections and shares her view on election fraud in Russia and political relations with Ukraine.

How is your party preparing the campaign for the upcoming elections?

We are actively preparing for the forthcoming elections to the State Duma.

The key directions of our work include development of a general plan of our campaign, selection of candidates, drafting of a programme and raising public awareness of our party.

What are going to be the key messages from YABLOKO to Russian citizens?

Our key messages reflect liberal and democratic values held by our party.

For example, the state should work for the society, and not vice versa, as has been the case in Russia at present. It is necessary to overcome the systemic

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crisis that has affected all aspects of life inRussian society: economic, political, social and cultural. To overcome it, it is necessary to change the government peacefully. We also support the European trajectory of the country’s development.

Our election campaign will be built on these key messages.

Considering the reports of election fraud from the 2011 Russian legislative elections, how do you, as opposition party leader, foresee the degree of freedom and fairness for this year’s legislative elections?

We have no illusions that the election will be free and fair. The authorities have undertaken efforts to limit the scope of observers during the forthcoming elections. Electoral commissions do not always have representatives of the opposition parties, and there are all sorts

“The state should work for the society, and not vice versa, as has been the case in Russia at present.”

of obstacles so that these representatives would not get there. We are aware that there will be serious violations in the work of precinct electoral commissions: stuffing of fraudulent ballots may take place during provision of voting at home and transportation of the ballots.

There will be violations connected with registration of voters: mass-scale registration of voters in abandoned settlements has already begun in a number of regions. All of this can seriously distort the results of the voting.

The EU’s relations with Russia have become increasingly strained over a number of issues in recent years. Where do you think the European Union is doing well / not well enough in its relations with Russia?

I would like to wish for the European Union to continue broadening humanitarian contacts and building of joint work for solutions to such global challenges as combating terrorism and environmental problems. It would be good if the EU contributed to the removal of visa barriers, so that humanitarian contacts become a fundamental basis for the development of good neighbourly relations between us.

Despite the difficulties that have arisen in relations between Russia and the EU, it is necessary to promote mutually-beneficial economic cooperation.

At the ALDE Party Congress in Budapest in November 2015, the ALDE Party members recommitted themselves to promoting a European future for Ukraine, calling for the practical implementation of reforms taking into account international agreements and treaties signed by Ukraine. What future does your party see for Ukraine?

In our opinion, the future of Ukraine is the future of a sovereign state, which, after going through all the hardships will overcome the political and economic crisis and will develop effectively. We will make every effort to restore fraternal relations between Russia and Ukraine.

Moreover, we believe that the European trajectory of development of Ukraine where the latter has confronted so many obstacles, is mutually-beneficial for both.

The ALDE Party has many member parties and members actively interested in Russia. How could they help contribute to your forthcoming campaign?

“We have no illusions that the election will be free and fair.

Electoral commissions do not always have representatives of the opposition parties, and there are all sorts of obstacles so that these representatives would not get there.�

They can help through expanding coverage in European society of all the facts of human rights violations in Russia, and, certainly, by motivating European citizens to take a positive attitude towards Russia despite all the difficulties that we now have in our relations.

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Mikhail Kasyanov INTERVIEW

Party leader of PARNAS Mikhail Kasyanov is the party leader of Russian ALDE Party member People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS) and former Prime Minister of Russia. He is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. In this interview, he explains how PARNAS is preparing the campaign for the upcoming elections in Russia and talks about the intimidation opposition parties face in Russia and EU-Russian relations.

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How is your party preparing the campaign for the upcoming elections?

What are going to be the key messages from PARNAS to Russian citizens?

The Duma elections are to be held in September 2016. The campaign will start after the official announcement of the elections, which is to take place early in June. But we, PARNAS, have already launched our preliminary campaign.

We need this simply because being the main opposition force we, unfortunately, have no access to communication with people except the Internet and meetings in person. Everything else is closed for us – TV, radio, mass circulation papers. Our party was registered only three years ago and six months ago the recognition of our young party was only 5%, and now, after three months of preliminary campaigning, 22% of Russian citizens know what People’s Freedom Party is. We are ready for the official campaign that will start in June and we will increase our visibility and achieve more support. Currently, my support level as a leader of democratic opposition is 7%, according to the Gallup research. We must double the support level of our party.

Of course we are not just addressing the citizens with the offer to simply «tune things up a little.» The country has huge problems. The current authorities have turned the Russian Federation into a systemic crisis. It means that it is not just an economic crisis, but a crisis of the political system, the system built by Putin: managed democracy and crony capitalism. We will prove to the people that our team can lead the country out of this dead-end. First of all, we need a serious change of the economic situation for people’s income to stop plunging. This would be possible if the economic growth is restored, if the trust of the investors is restored. It means putting an end to the pressure on businesses and the daily corrupt dealings of our government. It means confirming the full protection of private property rights, which is constantly questioned nowadays.

Economic growth also means dramatically improving the relations between Russia and the West. To make the relations better, first of all, the sanctions are to be lifted. And this means adhering to the

Minsk agreement. We will insist on their immediate fulfillment, i.e. stopping the escalation of violence in Donbass and immediate transfer of the border control to the Ukrainian authorities and OSCE. We will restore good relations with the European Union – our primary partner, accounting for 50% of our foreign trade and 70% of foreign investment. Only we can do it. There is no other alternative to the Putin regime. We hope that the citizens will wake up and come to support us with their votes.

Earlier this year ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen MEP regretted that “opposition parties in Russia routinely face intimidation for daring to act as and be a voice of opposition to the ruling powers in the country.” Could you elaborate more on this situation?

Unfortunately, it is true. Our party –the alternative to the ruling powers– is under strong pressure from them. As of January, as leader of the democratic opposition, I have been subject to a whole series of various provocations, threats and pressure. In fact, there is a persecution campaign on the go: the sniper rifle crosshair videos on Youtube, the throwing of pies, eggs and other things, the installation of hidden microphones and cameras, physical threats – everything is there. And it’s not only me under this pressure, it is also happening to many of our regional leaders. There are criminal and administrative offence cases fabricated to put them on trial for extremism and make it impossible for them to take part in the elections. We did realise that it would be difficult, that the pressure would be strong, but what we got is even worse than we expected. But nonetheless, we will not give up, we will keep struggling.

All this suppression by the authorities only demonstrates that they consider and recognise us to be the real alternative.

Looking to the future after these legislative elections, the presidential elections before March 2018 are the next important date for Russian voters. You have already put forward your candidate for these elections. What are the possibilities

to challenge incumbent President Putin’s power and hope for a victory of opposition forces?

Speaking of the presidential elections, our plan is not only to enter the Duma and to build a faction, but to change the country’s political course. The current course is harmful and contradicts the national interests of the Russian Federation. To achieve this, we have the three-stage political fighting plan. This year, to get the support of the citizens and create a faction in the Duma. Then, there will finally be real opposition in the Duma. The second stage comes next year when one third of Russia’s regions have regional elections.

We are to take part in those and establish our presence in a number of regional parliaments. And the last stage would be the presidential elections, which can change the situation dramatically. My participation is a matter to be decided by our coalition, our party, based on the results of the elections to the State Duma in September 2016. According to the law, only the parties that are in the Duma have the right to put forward their candidates for the presidential elections. So the elections in September are the opening of the way for our three-stage plan and, in fact, to our primary mid-term goal: the change of the political course.

The EU’s relations with Russia have become increasingly strained over a number of issues in recent years.

What advice would you give to High Representative Federica Mogherini and where do you think the European Union is doing well / not well enough in its relations with Russia?

I would say that, unfortunately, today there are no friendly relations between Russia and the EU. When I was Prime Minister, our relations were at their highest level. We launched the 4 Common Spaces for cooperation - economy, security, culture and education, and freedom. Back then we called each other strategic partners. In 2003, we set up two important goals – creating the free trade zone and visa-free travel zone between Vladivostok and Lisbon. Since then, the situation has deteriorated drastically.

Now Putin is making an enemy out of the European Union, which is unacceptable and against Russia’s interests.

I think that the EU must keep a principled position when dealing with Putin’s regime. It means adhering to the values of human rights and political freedoms. Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and a member of the OSCE, and therefore human rights are not just an internal affair of Russia, but an international obligation of the authorities of the Russian Federation which are not fulfilled, and human rights are violated here constantly.

Secondly, the EU should stand on the principles of inviolability of the existing system of European security. It is impossible to let inadequate leaders violate this system and then to pretend that the relations are going back to the so-called «business as usual». The EU’s reaction to the war with Georgia made Putin think that the same can be done with other countries as well. It is one of the reasons why we have this situation with Ukraine.

I am sure that once we have changed the course, we will restore our relations and bring them to a principally different level. Russia is an integral part of Europe sharing its historical and cultural values.

We should doubtlessly have a higher level of integration with the EU. It is one of the goals of our party. We are the party of the European choice.

The ALDE Party has many member parties and members actively interested in Russia. How could they help contribute to your forthcoming campaign?

We would, of course, appreciate the moral support from our European sister parties in the ALDE Party in regard to the upcoming elections. We would expect the member parties to raise the questions of the responsibility of the Russian authorities and their obligations to adhere to the international standards for holding elections, the standards of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. So we are asking the member parties to raise these issues at all the forums where it is possible - in the European Parliament, in the PACE, in the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.

June 2016 15 liberal bulletin

ALDE Party Congress 2016 Warsaw, Poland

More info: www.aldeparty.eu

1-3 Dec.

2016

Let’s stay #INtogether Won’t you join?

On 23 June a referendum will be held in the United Kingdom to decide whether Great Britain and Northern Ireland should leave or remain in the European Union. ALDE Party member in the UK Liberal Democrats are united in making the positive case to stay in Europe, securing prosperity, peace, security and the environment for future generations.

Mark Rutte

Prime Minister of The Netherlands

Together the UK and Europe have created the world’s largest free trade area, delivered peace, and given the British people the opportunity to live, work and travel freely. History shows that Britain is better when it is united with Europe.

“A UK outside the European Union would lose influence, both in Brussels and in Washington.”

Tim Farron

Sophie in‘t Veld MEP

LibDems leader “We must remain as a leader on the world stage - this is Britain’s time to lead, not leave.”

“My party D66 and the ALDE Group will campaign with you, with Catherine Bearder, with Tim Farron. Shoulder to shoulder. To keep Britain in the EU, to make Europe stronger, and to bring liberalism back on top.”

Catherine Bearder MEP “By voting to remain in the EU we can secure Britain’s position as a world power and build on our role as a beacon of hope, freedom, tolerance and prosperity.”

Hans van Baalen MEP

ALDE Party President “I say no to a Brexit: The EU is stronger with the UK and the UK is stronger inside the EU. #INtogether deserves my full support.”

How can you join the #INtogether fight? ● ● ● ● ●

Join the campaign as a volunteer Find events organised near you Organise events inside or outside the UK Donate to the campaign Spread the word and use the hashtag #InTogether in social media ● Tell your UK friends and family to register to vote and to vote on 23 June!

Find all the details on how to support the LibDems’ campaign on their website: www.libdems.org.uk/europe.

It does not matter if you are British or not, join the Liberal Democrat campaign today, to remain #InTogether!

June 2016 17 liberal bulletin

The European Women’s Academy STANDING UP for female parliamentary candidates in Europe

In 2016 for the first time ever, the ALDE Party has created the European Women’s Academy (EWA), a programme aimed at providing a select number of female parliamentary candidates in Europe with everything they need to both be successful in elections and to succeed in office.

01

why was the programme set up?

“Women in politics still face a lot of obstacles and challenges. I have personally experienced that being a candidate, or even a frontrunner is not an easy task. However, I’ve gone my way and I want to advocate and speak up for young women to make it easier for them. Encouraging and motivating women is an essential step in the direction of achieving gender equality.

We need to inspire and connect dedicated women to support their strengths and talents.”

Angelika Mlinar MEP

ALDE Party Vice President

liberal bulletin 18 June 2016

«I do believe that politics need more women; female balancing in the decisionmaking process is often missing. But at the same time, I do not think women have to be there because they are women, they have to be there because they are good professionals, good politicians. That’s why we created the EWA.»

Women are often underrepresented in both national and European parliaments. It is a sad state of affairs but unfortunately it is true. Although we are slowly heading in the right direction, at this rate it will take 47 years to reach gender equality in global Parliaments – and the European picture is not so different. The European Parliament has a positive picture in terms of the number of female MEPs, but this is not reflected in the national parties of EU Member States, where women make up less than 30% of parliamentarians.

02

what’s stopping them?

Annika Arras

Director of the European Women’s Academy

Thankfully in Europe, the legal barriers to women entering parliaments is a thing of the past. But there are still barriers, such as: ● ● ● ● ● ●

low confidence, particularly in public speaking only those with supportive families run campaign fundraising the worry about gender discrimination the worry about negative advertising and loss of privacy the worry that no one will take them seriously

03

one seminar does not make a leader…

We believe that time and effort needs to be put in to getting the best results for our candidates. That is why our programme runs for nine months each year and includes: ● three 3-day conferences in March, May and August, where participants will learn from leading experts about strategy, image-building and campaign tactics and tools ● online work and mentoring in between

A final word from some of our candidates half way through the 2016 programme “I think the model of working in a rather closed and focused environment for some days is by far the best. It was perfect for not getting distracted and really focusing on what needs to be done/learnt.”

“There was a good balance between work, information and building our competence as well as motivating us and making learning fun.”

How YOU can help Does this sound like a programme you want to support us running?

If so, there are plenty of engagement opportunities including: making an individual donation of any size, or sponsoring a candidate and get a scholarship named after you.

Contact Laura Owen on lowen@aldeparty.eu for more information.

How the ALDE Party’s European Women’s Academy can help…

In 2016, the ALDE Party brings together a group of Europe’s aspiring female politicians with world-class experts on political campaigning, elections strategy and presentation to equip them with all the skills they need to succeed in politics.

The candidate can participate in the programme if: ● they are from a liberal community in the EU ● they are a candidate from a country where there will be a local or general election within two years from the date of graduation from the EWA – we really want the programme to be fresh in their mind when they stand!

June 2016 19 liberal bulletin

Social media highlights Facebook

liberal bulletin 20 June 2016

Twitter

Instagram

June 2016 21 liberal bulletin

Movers & shakers Ivan Vrdoljak Ivan Vrdoljak is the new President of Croatian ALDE Party member HNS. During his inauguration speech, Vrdoljak said that HNS will continue to be the strong liberal centre of Croatian politics when outlining his vision of the party’s programme in his term.

Ivan Vrdoljak is the former Minister of Economy of Croatia. For her significant contribution to the party, Vesna Pusić, Vrdoljak’s predecessor, was named HNS Honorary President.

Bart Somers Bart Somers is the Vice President and Rapporteur of the ALDE Group in the Committee of the Regions.

As Mayor of Mechelen in Belgium, a very diverse city of 124 nationalities, he has been taking the lead on implementing policies that can help local authorities preventing the process of radicalisation. His opinion on how to combat radicalisation and violent extremism at local and regional level has recently been successfully adopted within the ALDE-CoR.

liberal bulletin 22 June 2016

Sissel Kvist Sissel Kvist was elected as the new President of the European Liberal Youth – LYMEC, succeeding Vedrana Gujić.

Kvist, from the youth branch of Danish ALDE Party member Radikale Venstre, has been active in LYMEC for the past four years, serving as a Bureau member and Vice President.

In her first presidential speech following her election at the LYMEC Spring Congress in Vienna, Sissel emphasised that “we as young liberals must defend fundamental civil liberties, such as the freedom of speech, which we see are increasingly pressured.”

Mustafa Karadaya Mustafa Karadaya is the newly elected leader of ALDE Party member party in Bulgaria Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF). Karadaya, a member of Parliament since May 2013, had been serving as one of the party’s three interim leaders since December 2015.

He was also the first President of the Youth MRF. Upon his election, Karadaya said: “One of the goals of this change is to prompt the process of reform and modernisation of MRF with a clear vision for development based on our fundamental liberal values.”

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

More and more citizens think and act across borders.

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