News & press releases

Helmut Schmidt’s death is a great loss to SPD and to all European Social Democrats

The PES mourns the death of Helmut Schmidt, former German Chancellor and an historic figure of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Helmut Schmidt was born in 1918 and governed West Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Congratulations to Ferro Rodrigues

Versão portuguesa em baixo

The PES congratulates Ferro Rodrigues, member of the Partido Socialista, on his election as President of the Portuguese Parliament.
This election comes at a crucial time. The Portuguese President Cavaco Silva has given the conservative coalition the right to form a government. That clearly ignores the democratic will of the vast majority of Portuguese voters who gave a decisive majority to left-wing parties.

PES comdemns President’s Daul position on the formation of Portuguese government

The PES explicitly condemns the positions expressed by the President of the EPP and other members of the EPP leadership on the situation in Portugal.
The words of Mr. Daul are irresponsible, do not respect the basic principles of democracy and are an attempt to cause fear and to manipulate the public opinion.

Social Democrats gain in Swiss parliamentary elections

The Party of European Socialists (PES) congratulates the Social democratic Party (SP) of Switzerland for the positive results in the parliamentary election of 23 October. In a climate of general loss of voters among all the national parties, the SP remained the second party of the country and strengthened its position with 4 more seats in the National Council. The conservatives were the most affected by the poll results: the largest political party, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), characterized by its opposition to immigration and the European integration, lost 8 seats in the lower house.

Vienna Victory for Social Democrats

The Viennese Mayoral elections, held yesterday, was won by Party of European Socialists (PES) member party SPÖ.
Sergei Stanishev, PES President, congratulated them:
‘I warmly congratulate my colleague and comrade Mayor Michael Haeupl on his win in Vienna over the weekend. This summer, Vienna has shown Europe how to respond when people in need knock at your door. This success, against the right-populist party seeking to restrict immigration, is a triumph for social democracy Europe-wide and a vote of confidence for our open approach to the refugee crisis.’
‘Congratulations to the Austrian Social Democrats, their staff and all those volunteers who led them to this outcome. They did so for open and inclusive Vienna, and we celebrate with them today.’

PES ensuring SMER’s commitment to our values

Member parties of the Party of European Socialists (PES) today discussed the position of Slovakian member party SMER on the recent refugee issue with SMER First Vice-President Pavol Paška.