Liberal Alliance (Greek Liberals) will attend the summit with other Liberal Parties of South East Europe

Liberal Alliance (Greek Liberals) will participate in a summit with the other Liberal Parties of South East Europe that will take place in Skopje, FYROM, on Saturday 19 April 2008 under the auspices of ELDR and LDP. The main subject of the meeting will be the worrying resurgence of nationalism and the increasing occurrence of incidents of extremism and populism in the countries of the region.

The Vice President of Liberal Alliance Mr Manoledakis, who will attend the summit, will highlight that only policies based on the liberal ideas can guarantee piece and co-operation between the countries of South East Europe.

Liberal Alliance supports that, justice, equality before the Law for citizens of every country, respect for the territorial integrity of every country, good neighbouring relations, freedom to express one’s national identity, rejection of any kind of secessionism, should form the basis for peace in troubled regions like the Balkans.

With regards to the resolution of the issue for a final name of FYROM, Liberal Alliance will support an agreement based on the proposals of the UN envoy, Mr Nimits, so that FYROM should become a member of EU and NATO as soon as possible.

Liberal Alliance respects the right of any citizen of the region to consider themselves Macedonians whether they are in Greece or elsewhere and expects that the same right exists and should be protected, for anyone who wants to define his or her national identity as Greek.

Only with the full recognition of the right for defining one’s national identity can minorities, living in any country, bridge cultural and political divisions, and in this way they can nullify any possible plans to take advantage of them, with a higher purpose to change borders of states.

During the summit, Liberal Alliance will reaffirm its position that the expedient accession to the EU, of the countries of Western Balkans, will entrench EU law and institutions in the region, forming the basis for the countries’ partnership and for the protection of the individual rights of every citizen.

Finally, in order to advance the above mentioned objective and to prevent future crisis, Liberal Alliance will propose the establishment of a permanent framework for common planning and dialogue between all the Balkan countries.

As a first step, Liberal Alliance will propose the co-ordination of all the Liberal Parties of the region towards the transformation of the Balkans from a source of instability for Europe, to a region of piece and prosperity for all.