ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen participated in a two-part roundtable organised by the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament and shared his perspective on the Eastern Partnership, societal developments and management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participating during the session held on 4 February, President van Baalen called for a stronger EU engagement with countries in the EU’s Eastern Partnership and proposed offering a Marshall Plan combining Green Deal, fight against Covid-19 and economic recovery.

.@ALDEParty and @RenewEurope should prevent Russia and China to politically and economically colonize the countries of the Eastern Partnership.
We should offer our partners a Marshall Plan combining Green Deal, fight against Covid-19 and economic recovery! pic.twitter.com/8NCuWdlepl

— Hans van Baalen (@hansvanbaalen) February 4, 2021

The discussions featured interventions from leaders of ALDE member parties from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Russia, as well from members of the European Parliament Dacian Cioloș, Petras Auštrevičius, Karin Karlsbro, Morten Petersen, Michal Šimečka, Ramona Strugariu and Dragoș Tudorache, European Commissioners Věra Jourová and Valdis Dombrovski, and Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

Exchanges of views were held on recent developments in the Eastern Partnership countries concerning societal, democratic, and security developments, as well as the rule of law, and also on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on societies and economies, economic cooperation between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as the opportunities of the European Green Deal.