In October the Secretary General of the European Democratic Party, Sandro Gozi, and MEP Engin Eroglu visited member party Liste Fritz in the Tyrol, Austria.
The transit load in Tyrol has now reached proportions that are no longer acceptable for the Tyrolean population. 2.5 million lorries and 14 million cars pass through the Brenner bottleneck on the north-south axis every year. For Liste Fritz party leader and spokeswoman for traffic, Andrea Haselwanter-Schneider, this is an unacceptable burden for the Tyroleans along the transit route. “The Wipptal valley is under particular strain, as the evasion traffic means that nothing works in the municipalities either. Rien ne va plus,” says Haselwanter-Schneider, who also believes this jeopardises the safety of the population. “Medical emergencies will become a race against death, unthinkable if the weather doesn’t allow rescue flights.” For Haselwanter-Schneider, this is reason enough to finally take the problem to the European level. This is why Liste Fritz, which only joined the EDP this year, invited the German MEP Engin Eroglu and EDP Secretary General and MEP Sandro Gozi to a local inspection in order to make the Tyrolean transit problem visible to them on site. “I also made it clear to them that Tyrol will not budge an inch despite the threat of infringement proceedings by the Italian Transport Minister Salvini,” said Haselwanter-Schneider, who believes that the problem cannot be solved nationally, but only at a European level. “That’s why it’s absolutely necessary to network internationally at European level so that our concerns and needs are finally heard in Brussels!”
Sandro Gozi and Engin Eroglu pledge their support.
“After the site visit, MEP Sandro Gozi expressed his astonishment at the extent of the traffic over the Brenner Pass. “For me and the European Democratic Party, it is important to get to know the problems on the ground in order to gain the right impression and not simply make decisions in Brussels over the heads of the affected population,” said Gozi, who promised to work with his party colleague Engin Eroglu to promote the concerns of Tyroleans within the EU. Eroglu, MEP for the Freie Wähler, also wants to support the people of Tyrol. “I will also take the problem to Bavaria and sensitise our party leader Hubert Aiwanger, who is after all the Deputy Minister-President of Bavariaand Minister of Economic Affairs, to the Tyrolean concerns. However, the problem needs to be solved at European level, as three member states – Austria, Germany and Italy – are directly affected,” said Eroglu, who also wants to speak up for the people of Tyrol in Brussels. “Liste Fritz and we are not only allies in the European Democratic Party, but also have the same political approach. We are not committed to the parties or any ideologies, but to the people. Regionally and throughout Europe!”
“We have sought allies and found friends!” – Markus Sint, Chairman of Liste Fritz.
Markus Sint sees Liste Fritz in good hands in the European Democratic Party. “Without a network in the EU, we will continue to run into a wall within the EU in the upcoming years. And we have found a reliable ally in the EDP,” says Sint, who also knows that transit cannot simply be abolished. “But we can at least try to introduce new solutions at European level that are acceptable to everyone.” Liste Fritz will continue to endeavour to achieve good cooperation within the European Democratic Party and to promote greater understanding for the Tyrolean position within the EU.
Related member(s)
Sandro
Gozi
Secretary General
France
Engin
Eroglu
Executive Vice-President
Germany
Freie Wähler
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Sandro Gozi to Vučić: “Serbia cannot join Europe with repression and lies”
The Secretary General of the European Democratic Party and Member of the European Parliament with Renew Europe, Sandro Gozi, has published an open letter to the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with a copy to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The initiative follows Vučić’s letter sent to Brussels on 21 August, in which he accused Serbian students and demonstrators of violence, reversing the truth and blaming the victims of repression.
In his statement, Gozi denounces the hundreds of arrests of students and peaceful citizens, the use of a sonic cannon (LRAD) during the March protest in Novi Sad, the shocking video of students forced to their knees and filmed by police, the violent arrests of women and even minors, and the attack on press freedom with intimidation against N1, documented by OCCRP/KRIK.
Gozi stresses that it is not citizens who endanger Serbia’s European path, but President Vučić and his government. By resorting to repression, false narratives and attacks on fundamental freedoms, they are undermining the credibility and the European future of the country.
Open Letter
To the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić
with a copy to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
President Vučić,
Your letter of 21 August addressed to President von der Leyen is a masterpiece of hypocrisy. But facts, numbers and images tell another story.
In recent months, hundreds of people have been arrested in Serbia, including students and peaceful citizens. Many of them remain in prison today, facing charges that are essentially political. In practice, this undermines their freedom of expression and discourages democratic participation. It is not the citizens who are destabilising the country: it is your government, repressing the right to protest.
In March, during a commemoration in Novi Sad, a sonic cannon (LRAD) was used against demonstrators, A weapon, capable of provoking harsh pain, panic and permanent hearing damage. A practice that has nothing to do with the european standards you claim to embrace.
On 15 August, a video showed fifteen young people forced to their knees against a wall, filmed by police officers. An act of public humiliation, in total contempt for human dignity and contrary to every democratic standard.
And this was not an isolated case: in those same days, other footage and testimonies clearly showed worrying heavy-handed arrests, with students dragged to the ground, women and even minors treated without regard for their rights.
While students are beaten and arrested, citizens have witnessed violent groups apparently close to your party moving about undisturbed.
This selective tolerance raises serious concerns of rule of law.
Equally serious is the attack on freedom of information. N1, a news channel belonging to United Media (United Group), has been the target of a campaign of intimidation and pressure documented in recordings published by OCCRP/KRIK. You know perfectly well that silencing the last independent broadcaster means suffocating truth and pluralism.
President Vučić, it is not the youth, it is not the citizens, it is not the demonstrators who are jeopardising the European path of Serbia: Serbia belongs to Europe. But it is you — with your policies, your denyal your statements — which are undermining the credibility and the european path of your country.
Your accusations against Nikolina Sindjelić are embarrassing . The evidence shows that threats, unlawful arrests and violence have indeed taken place: personal attacks do not erase reality.
Your letter must therefore be sent back to the sender.
Serbian citizens deserve much better and Europe is something else: freedom, dignity, democracy.
EDP Hosts Transatlantic Dialogue on the Future of Centrist Politics
As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen international cooperation between democratic forces, the EDP recently hosted a transatlantic dinner discussion in Paris, bringing together key figures from European and American centrist politics.
Joint statement on the 30th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide
Thirty years ago, in Srebrenica, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered by the Bosnian Serb army. In 2007, the International Court of Justice ruled that the atrocities constituted genocide. The wider Bosnian War saw over 100,000 killed, thousands of women raped, and more than two million people forced from their homes between 1992 and 1995. On this solemn occasion remembering one of the darkest chapters in Europe’s recent history, the ALDE Party, LIBSEEN members in the region, ALDE in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Democratic Party, Liberal International, LYMEC, Renew Europe in the Committee of the Regions, Renew Europe in the European Parliament, and the Young Democrats for Europe are united in honouring their memory and issue the following statement:
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