Federica Sabbati will succeed Lex Corijn as ELDR Secretary General as of January 2007. She was appointed to this function during the ELDR Party Congress on 13th October, in Bucharest, Romania. “I believe in the concept of European democracy and in the emergence of a European public sphere. In partnership with the ELDR Leadership, our member parties and our elected representatives in the European Parliament and the Member States, I wish to make ELDR a true European political party with which people can identify and express their liberal values and beliefs, values, which are after all the foundations on which the European project is built” she said on the eve of taking her new position. Federica Sabbati will oversee the general daily management of ELDR. Her main objectives will be to: - strengthen the liberal, democrat and reform movement in the European Union and throughout Europe and seek a common position on all important matters affecting the European Union; - support and co-ordinate its members in the elections to the European Parliament;- develop close working relationships with and among its members, their national parliamentary groups, the parliamentary Group of the ELDR Party of the European Parliament, the Liberal, Democrat and Reform Group in other international fora and Liberal International.Federica Sabbati possesses a deep knowledge of the liberal democrat political family in Europe and the world, thanks to her previous function as Secretary General of Liberal International, the world federation of Liberal parties. Before joining Liberal International, she worked as assistant to the ELDR Secretary General from 1997 to 1999 and as Executive Director of the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) in 1997. Federica holds a university degree in International Relations from the University of Trieste, Italy, and a Master’s Degree in Russian and Post-Soviet studies from the London School of Economics.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For more information, please contact Robert Plummer (rplummer@eldr.org), 00 32 2 237 01 47.