Speaking on the decision of the Russian Central Electoral Commission to block Grigory Yavlinsky, former leader of the YABLOKO party, from running as a candidate in the 4 March presidential election, ELDR President, Sir Graham Watson MEP, yesterday urged EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to intervene and ensure Yavlinsky is allowed to participate in the election. Read more ...

"The tragic events of 1 March following the fraudulent Presidential elections of 2008 in Armenia must not be repeated in the upcoming elections this May", said ELDR Vice President Lousewies van der Laan during a visit to Yerevan, Armenia on 28/29 January 2012. ELDR member party Armenian National Movement (ANM) together with the South Caucasus Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty organized a seminar on political pluralism and international standards for free and fair elections that featured the ELDR Vice President as the key note speaker. Read more ...

On Friday 27 January 2012 the ALDE Group of the Committee of the Regions held a pioneering meeting inviting local liberal councillors of Brussels communes to meet ALDE-CoR members. The meeting served as a chance to discuss the current challenges faced by councillors in all districts of Brussels as well as to provide an opportunity for the Brussels communes to benefit directly from the presence of EU institutions in their city. Read more ...

Europe is at a dangerous juncture in its history. Without decisive policy action, Europe faces the prospect of a decade of economic stagnation, social hardship and political decline. Too little is being done at present to prevent that possibility from becoming a reality. We, the undersigned, therefore call on the European leaders meeting in Brussels next week to focus on the only credible path out of the current crisis: economic growth. Greater fiscal coordination, discipline and solidarity are all needed, but unless we tackle the underlying cause of the crisis - Europe's chronic lack of competiveness in the global economy - the present crisis will be the first of many more to come. Read more ...

Much has been said over the past weeks regarding the situation in Hungary and the actions of the ruling FIDESZ party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, primarily regarding the revision of the country’s constitution and its breaches of decent democratic standards and citizens of Hungary and beyond have been alarmed by the increasing influence of far-right rhetoric on and within FIDESZ – and the European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary for failure to observe European standards. Read more ...

On 26 January, the report of Liberal MEP Andrew Duff on amending the Act on Election of Members of European Parliament was backed by the Committee for Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) in the European Parliament (EP). Read more ...

Grigory Yavlinsky, former leader of ELDR member party, YABLOKO, has been officially barred from running in the upcoming Russian presidential election. The Central Electoral Commission announced yesterday that Yavlinsky's candidature is invalid as a result of perceived technical irregularities in the way the signatures of support, a requirement for participation in the election, were presented to the Commission. Read more ...

Martin Schulz, a German MEP and former Socialists and Democrats leader, was elected with a thin majority of 387 votes president of the European Parliament yesterday. Commenting on the election, ELDR president Sir Graham Watson MEP said: "Once again, the Presidents of the European Parliament for this mandate have been chosen in a small cabal behind closed doors." Read more ...

At the invitation of ELDR Vice-president Marc Guerrero, Catalan News Agency (ACN) correspondent in Brussels and London Ms. Laura Pous visited the ELDR Headquarters yesterday 16 January. Read more ...

Approximately hundred participants attended the first ELDR Liberal breakfast of 2012 on the priorities of the Danish EU presidency last Thursday. Mr. Morten Løkkegaard MEP is a Venstre Party MEP and is vice-chair of the Committee on Culture and Education and shared his views on the Danish programme and priorities for the EU. Read more ...