PES Newsletter n°14 – November 2006

Diversity YES Intolerance NO

Have you signed the PES Declaration for Diversity and Tolerance? Over 2,000 people have including Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Margaret Beckett and Massimo D’Alema and Belgian Socialist Party Leader Elio Di Rupo.
Please sign up and pass it on to friends and colleagues.

Socialist President in landslide win over extreme nationalist in Bulgaria

The Socialist President of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov, was re-elected in a landslide victory over his extreme nationalist challenger Volen Siderov.
 

Good luck Wouter Bos

The PES wishes every success to the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) and its Leader Wouter Bos for the Parliamentary elections on 22 November. 

PES backs energy saving

PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and the chair of the EU’s Finance Ministers Council Eero Heinaluoma issued a joint appeal for the strongest political backing for the strongest possible EU proposals for energy saving initiatives across Europe.

Heat on EPP over Hungary

In an open letter to EPP President Wilfried Martens, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen slammed the centre-right European political party for supporting Hungarian Opposition Leader Viktor Orban in his barely democratic campaign to oust the democratically elected Socialist Prime Minister.

Abortion rights 

Polish Social Democratic parties and NGOs received the backing and encouragement of PES Women in opposing further restrictions in Poland’s already strict abortion laws.  In a letter to PES member party Leaders in Poland the President and Vice Presidents of PES Women  wrote “We see the developments in Poland as part of a broader conservative backlash against sexual and reproductive health rights in Europe, and we pledge ourselves to continue to fight for a woman’s right to choose.”

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Congress

The biggest gathering of European socialist, social democrat and labour parties takes place at PES Congress on December 7-8 in Porto, Portugal.
Top of the agenda is New Social Europe – including 10 principles for the renewable of our welfare states. Also on the agenda is a PES Energy Policy.
From 7 December, you will be able to follow the discussions on the Internet with near-live streaming.

PES Ministerial meetings

PES Defence Ministers and Opposition Spokespersons Meeting – 12 November,  Brussels
Lisbon Network – 30 November, Brussels.
Education Ministers –  4 December, Helsinki.