During this year, we reached out to party leaders of ALDE members from Italy, Iceland, Germany, Latvia and Hungary to hear about their perspectives on key challenges for Europe and also to get to know them personally.
Ferenc Gelencsér (Momentum, Hungary)
For Ferenc Gelencsér, party leader of Momentum in Hungary addressing the climate crisis is one of his policy priorities as newly elected party leader. “We clearly think and see that the climate issue is no longer just a problem of the future, but actually something that already has an influence on our daily life”, he said. Gelencsér also speaks about the challenges and best practices of transitioning a citizens’ movement into a political party.
Christian Lindner (Free Democratic Party, Germany)
Christian Lindner, party leader of ALDE member party FDP (Free Democratic Party) in Germany and Federal Minister of Finance, speaks about the rise of German liberals in the latest elections and how youth engagement, education and digitalisation are at the top of the party’s agenda.
Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir (Viðreisn, Iceland)
þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, party leader of Viðreisn in Iceland and former Minister for Education, Science, Culture and Sport, states that honesty, integrity and staying true to yourself are the key elements to be a successful leader. She shares how more people are becoming active within the party, especially young people and her hopes for a future EU membership of the country.
Benedetto della Vedova (Più Europa, Italy)
“It is necessary to strengthen the common European policies, to reiterate the need to defend and promote the rule of law everywhere in the world,” says Benedetto della Vedova, party leader of Più Europa in Italy. In this interview, he shares how he took part of the reignition of the liberalism in his country and how he is fighting for changing the perception of Italy's membership of the European Union.
Daniels Pavluts (Kustība "Par!", Latvia)
Daniels Pavluts, former party leader of Kustība "Par!" and Minister of Health of Latvia, believes that we are all going to win the fight against COVID-19 and come out as a stronger society. He shares how the country manages to stay strong despite of the pandemic and how important the European Union is to keep facing the biggest challenge of this century so far.