The Progressive Alliance convention entitled ‘Shaping our future’ was held in Berlin on 12 and 13 March. PES member parties from the whole of Europe participated, together with socialist and democrat delegations from 80 countries – from Argentina and Australia through India and the Ivory Coast, Syria and Somalia all the way to the US, Western Sahara and Yemen.
The convention, hosted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was attended by:
- Sergei Stanishev, PES president
- Martin Schulz, SPD leader
- socialist prime ministers Stefan Löfven of Sweden, António Costa of Portugal, Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic, Paolo Gentiloni of Italy
- Gianni Pittella, leader of the S&D group
- leaders and high representatives of socialist parties from the rest of Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia, South and North America
PES President Stanishev said:
“With the decades-long domination of conservatives and liberals, and the rise of nationalism and populism, the world seems to be out of balance.
“But international cooperation and solidarity are socialist ideas at their core, and this was proven once again during the Convention today.
“We are here to find ways of countering the extreme right, conservative and neo-liberal rollback. And I am happy to see so many socialist, social democratic, democratic and progressive parties and organisations from all over the globe willing to participate in restoring political balance and social justice in the world.”
The Progressive Alliance Convention adopted its Charta – a document laying out shared common goals and values such as democracy, human rights, peace, freedom of the press, social cohesion and social justice, equal opportunities for education and preventing climate change.
Mr Stanishev added:
“The 21st century is marked by globalisation. We need social democratic ideas on a global scale to ensure that this process is fair, and that people’s rights are respected along the way.”
At the Convention, PES was represented also by secretary general Achim Post, deputy secretary generals Marije Laffeber, Giacomo Filibeck and Yonnec Polet, and members of the Presidency.
