On Saturday 15 June, VVD – one of ALDE Party’s Dutch member parties – held its annual festival in connection with the VVD Partnership Days, that brought together 35 different liberal political parties and organisations, 70 (international) guests and 30 ambassadors.

Malik Azmani, a recently elected MEP and leader of the VVD delegation in the European Parliament, ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen and ALDE Bureau member Timmy Dooley were among the participants.

Throughout the day, several panels on different topics such as liberalism, liberal women, democracy and the future of NATO on its 70^th anniversary, took place. The speakers included high-level personalities, such as Ministers and Secretaries of State. Representatives from European and African liberal parties and Ambassadors from partner countries were also present.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte closed the festival with a speech in which he congratulated the recently elected four MEPs and stressed the important role the Netherlands plays in Europe.

Moreover, he addressed social and economic matters, deploring that despite times of economic growth, “it’s only the salaries of CEO’s that really rise, and not the wages for ordinary people.”

Watch Mark Rutte’s speech in full here.

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