ELDR President and former LI President Annemie Neyts was delighted to learn about the unanimous election of Hans van Baalen at LI’s 56th Congress in Cairo and commented “European Liberals will give full support to Hans to further strengthen and expand the network of liberal forces across the globe.

” In the words of the newly elected President it is time to stop playing tennis but to play more rugby. Liberals must put forward more proactively their message that it is only the Liberals who equally are staunch defenders of civil liberties of the individual human being and believe in the principles of the market economy as the best means to achieve social and economic prosperity. Conservative or socialist adversaries are always ready to sacrifice one of the values over the other.

For the first time ever, liberal parties convened in the city that is at the heart of the Arab World and Africa’s largest city. Hans van Baalen pledged LI’s full support to Arab Liberals saying they will be able to make the difference: “The Arab region has so much to offer to itself and the world. Don’t let others use the Arab-Israeli conflict as pretext to avoid reforms. Set your people free, introduce the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, and defend equal rights for all.”