ALDE Individual members from South East Europe meet in Sofia

19/10/2015

Participants of the conference

The ALDE Party's individual members meeting entitled "Liberalism in the 21st century Balkans" was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 17 October 2015. It was the very first gathering of the individual members from the wider Balkan region - Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

The fruitful discussions featured a wide range of topics - beginning with the challenge to define liberalism in contemporary Europe, continuing with an in-depth discussion on the refugee crisis and its implications on the social and political environment in the region and ending with the firm decision to make the regional meetings regular on an annual basis. The participants outlined proposals for strengthening the liberal idea in EU.

Athena Drakou represented the individual members steering committee.

  

  

Pictures by Romeo Cholakov

Individual members launch Greek Chapter of ALDE GEN

Individual members during the launch of the local chapter in Greece

On Friday 25 September, the first local chapter of the ALDE Party Gender Equality Network (ALDE GEN) was launched by ALDE Party individual members in Greece who are eager to discuss, work on and promote ideas and policies on the topics of equality, equal rights and equal opportunities for women across Greece.

The organising committee of the chapter, Athena Drakou, Despoina Limniotaki,Eva Tsaropoulou and Katerina Papanikolaou, invited distinguished speakers to share their experiences and wisdom on a variety of areas relating to gender equality.

Eleni Kolosousa, psychologist, Head of the Athens Counselling Centre for Women, gave a talk on gender-based violence. Theodoros Zeis, lawyer and expert on equality issues, spoke of gender stereotypes and racism. He introduced us to Lauretta McCauley, President of the Association of African Women, who gave a moving speech on what it means to be an immigrant woman living in Greece today. Aggelos Fiskilis, Head of the Network of Social Enterprises, presented successful examples of women who cooperated and managed to turn the Greek economic crisis into opportunity. Irene Notias, Founder of Prime Petroleum Services and one of the few women CEOs in Greece working in the shipping industry, gave an interactive speech on the power and effects of personal choices and the courage that comes from within as a woman.

Questions and feedback followed the presentations. New relationships sprung out of the successful first meeting. It was the perfect start on a September afternoon for the liberal women and men of Greece to unite for an open and sincere exchange on the theme of gender equality.