“ The death of Lord Russell-Johnston confronts us, for the second time in two weeks, with the loss of a beacon of integrity, rectitude and tolerance”, says ELDR President Annemie Neyts.” We will only gradually realise how much we have lost with the untimely demise of both Bronislaw Geremek and Lord Russell-Johnston “. When I shyly participated in my first international liberal meetings, Russell was a prominent participant and I always have looked up to him as one of my seniors. I vividly remember a conversation we had way back then during which he predicted the fall of Margaret Thatcher as leader of her party. Read more ...

 Former Bosnian-Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, one of the most wanted men in Europe who has evaded the Serbian authority’s attempts to arrest him since 1996, was captured on the evening of Monday 21st July and will now face trial in The Hague. “The European Liberal Democrats – Annemie Neyts, President of the ELDR party, said - call for a close cooperation between the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and the Serbian authorities a swift and fair resolution of the trial. Nothing will make us forget the 8,373 victims of the Srebrenica massacre caused by the forces affiliated to Karadzic and the three bloody years of war (1992-1995), but his capture represents the opportunity for Serbia to move forward and to take a step towards integration into the European Union”. Read more ...

 On Saturday 12th July 2008 Kristiina Ojuland, ELDR Vice-President, participated in the congress of the People’s Democratic Union (PDU) in Russia. In his address Mikhail Kasyanov, PDU Party Leader, deplored the democratic deficit in Russia and the lack of free media and a fair court system. Mr Kasyanov also stated that like minded opposition parties should sit around the same table to develop a joint strategy for preparing for upcoming local and regional elections. Read more ...

 Bronislaw Geremek was a convinced European and an active politician in the liberal family. He played a crucial role in Polish history, becoming a symbol of freedom in his country and abroad. “I am proud of having been able to work with him in the European Parliament and to count him as one of the leading liberals in European history. We will miss him" Annemie Neyts, President of the European Liberal Democrat ad Reform Party said. “Europe lost an eminent statesman.” Read more ...

 On Thursday 10th July, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg as the French take over the 6 month rotating presidency of the EU. The French presidency is likely to focus on the priority areas of immigration, climate change, European defence and agricultural policy. Rising energy prices are also likely to be an important topic for discussion with the Union’s leaders agreeing at their June European summit to launch a 3 month study that will look at ways to limit the impact of rising energy prices on Europe’s citizens. President Sarkozy is due to report the findings before October 2008. Read more ...

 ELDR welcomes the release of the French-Columbian politician Ingrid Betancourt, kidnapped by the left-wing Farc rebels (guerrilla) in 2002 and yesterday returned from “her journey to the past”, following six years of imprisonment in the southern jungle province of Guaviare, Colombia. Once fully recovered from her ordeal, we hope she will continue with her engagements in political activities, espousing the freedom of expression and freedom of thought. Ms Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002 while running as a presidential candidate in an area controlled by the Farc. Read more ...