ALDE Manifesto: Our Ambition is that Candidate Countries Meet Accession Criteria by 2029

On March 21 the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which comprises over seventy member parties, adopted the ALDE 2024 Manifesto, at the party’s extraordinary congress in Brussels, which aims to ensure that Georgia and other candidate countries meet the EU accession criteria by 2029.

Zurab (Girchi) Japaridze, leader of the opposition Girchi-More Freedom which is an ALDE member party from Georgia, revealed that at the initiative of Girchi-More Freedom, another Georgian opposition ALDE-affiliated party- Strategy Aghmashenebeli, and Ukrainian delegates, ALDE manifesto included a a clause stating that ALDE party’s “ambition is to ensure that the countries of the Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are ready to meet all accession criteria by 2029.”

The Manifesto says that the ALDE Party fights for the EU enlargement as a tool for reform and security. “[We] reaffirm our commitment to an open-door policy for the European countries that fulfill the Copenhagen criteria and make sure that the EU sends strong signals that the compliance of the criteria and the benchmark achievements brings tangible results.”

Zurab Japaridze noted that the Dutch representatives ensured the inclusion in the Manifesto of the requirement for the candidate countries to not only meet the Copenhagen criteria but also to align their foreign and security policies with those of the European Union as a prerequisite for membership.

“Besides meeting the Copenhagen criteria, EU candidate countries should align themselves with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The EU will seek close cooperation on foreign affairs and security policies with like-minded European countries outside of the EU, like the UK and Norway,” the Manifesto says.

The Extraordinary Congress nominated Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the ALDE member FDP in Germany as the Liberal lead candidate for the European Parliament elections in June 2024. In addition to the ALDE Manifesto 2024 the Congress adopted the new ALDE Charter of Values, as well as three urgent resolutions.

Renew Europe, the third largest political group in the European Parliament, was established for the current parliamentary term as the successor to the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) political group as a result of forming of a new alliance with French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance. Key figures associated with Renew Europe include Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.

ALDE’s Georgian members include Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Girchi-More Freedom, Lelo for Georgia, Free Democrats and Republican Party of Georgia.

UPDATE: The Manifesto was released on March 22 at 11:35 A.M. and this article was updated accordingly.

Also Read:

• 21/10/2023 – ALDE’s Urgent Resolution Calls on GD Government to Fulfil 12 Priorities
• 28/05/2023 – ALDE Congress Adopts Resolution in Support of Georgia’s EU and NATO Integration

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