The PES 2023 Congress will take place in Spain by the end of this year, the PES Presidency decided today.
Following the opening of the application period at the last Presidency meeting on 23 March, our Spanish member party, PSOE, has submitted the only candidacy received by the deadline of 21 April to host the PES statutory congress this year.
The members of the presidency voted unanimously in favour of it. Meeting online, the members of the PES, chaired by PES Secretary General Achim Post, approved PSOE’s candidacy and wished the party good luck in organising the event.
“We, the European Socialists and Democrats are facing courageously the consequences of the pandemic, of the war in Ukraine, the energy challenges and we keep on fighting for fairer, more social, and more sustainable Europe and for a better future for the people and the planet”, said Javi López, MEP, representing PSOE at the presidency meeting.
“Since Spain will be presiding the European Union in the second half of the year, having our congress in this country is a great opportunity for the PES ideas to resonate deeply across Europe”, PES Secretary General Achim Post added after the vote.
The representatives from the PES member parties and organisations also discussed the current situation around ‘Georgian Dream’, a PES observer member party from Georgia. The PES is deeply concerned about the latest statements and actions by the Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvilil from Georgian Dream, who plans to attend a conservative forum in Budapest next week and to defend conservative values and share positions with Viktor Orbán.
“If a prime minister from a PES Observer member party wants to share values with Viktor Orbán and the American Conservative Political Action Conference, then we need to officially discuss the status of this party”, the PES Executive Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said.
The case with the observer membership of ‘Georgian Dream’ had been already raised by PES President Stefan Löfven at the previous presidency meeting in March and will be presented for discussion and revision at the next presidency meeting in June 2023.
Taking point from Orbán hosting an international ultra conservative event alongside an organisation close to Donald Trump, following the intervention of DK MEP Klara Dobrev, the Presidency expressed one more time deep concern about democracy, freedoms, and the rule of law in Hungary.
