ALDE Party member Radikale Venstre (DK) held one of its largest ever Congresses last weekend, with more than 600 people in attendance, including 120 new attendees.
The party wanted the Congress to reflect its recent successes. Having returned to government following a strong election result, Radikale Venstre is positioning itself as the party of young people; prioritising the next generation and building a government that looks beyond the present.
Party leader Martin Lidegaard spoke about this promise to the next generation:
“Four years ago, we decided to invest in a new generational contract in Denmark. We insisted on a shift in Danish politics, where we not only take responsibility for ourselves and for those who need to be lifted up today. We also take responsibility for those who come after us. They should inherit our opportunities, not our problems.”
That responsibility also extends to Denmark’s place in an increasingly uncertain world.
ALDE Party hosted a fringe event on national security in the Arctic, including a roundtable panel with members from Venstre (NO), Keskusta (FI) and Radikale Venstre (DK). The panel called for deeper regional cooperation and resilience amid fragile international alliances and uncertainty around Greenland’s position in the geopolitical landscape.
Bringing liberals from across the Nordic region together allowed for a productive discussion on how the region can respond to growing geopolitical tensions from both East and West.
Alongside the security discussion, Radikale Venstre adopted policy positions across a range of topics, held breakout workshops led by MPs and discussions in plenary, and re-elected national chair Anne Heeager.
But throughout the Congress, one message came through particularly clearly: hope should be at the centre of politics.
As Lidegaard told the gathering: “We want to give our children and young people every reason to believe in the future. We want a country that they want to dream about.”
For him, this means giving people reasons to believe that a better future is possible and offering an alternative to those who seek to mobilise people through fear.
“Maybe that's the most Danish thing of all? Not just uniting around where we come from, but in all the dreams of where we can go,” Lidegaard said, urging the crowd to believe that Denmark’s future can be shaped by liberals.
For Radikale Venstre, the answer to an uncertain world is not fear, but hope. Hope that the future can be better - and that the next generation can shape it.
You can watch Lidegaard’s full speech below (in Danish):