YABLOKO reported on its performance in 2010

Press Release, December 29, 2010

...The report contains 23 large-scale successes by YABLOKO both on the federal and the regional level. However, the list will be continued, as not all the regional branches have reported to the federal office yet. Due to YABLOKO’s efforts the Russian Government adopted several resolutions on transparency of natural monopolies, Presidential Administration initiated formation of commissions for anti-corruption audits of deputies and senators of the Russian parliament, and the State Duma introduced amendments into the law on the police and the law on secret services limiting arbitrary rule of these orgisations. In St.Petersburg the party managed to obtain a prohibition on construction of a skyscraper in the city centre by Gazprom. In Moscow YABLOKO stopped demolition of the Rechnik village and construction of garbage treatment plants in the city. In Ekaterinburg, Tula and the Republic of Mordovia YABLOKO managed to oust corrupted officials from the office...

YABLOKO's leaders on the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev

Press Release, December 27, 2010
One of the leaders of the oppositional YABLOKO party Sergei Ivanenko gave the following commentaty to the Interfax agency on the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. “The guilty verdict is logical for the system we have in Russia at present”. “This verdict demonstrates that there are no discrepancies in the ruling tandem. The bureaucratic, authoritarian and punitive system is maintained in our country,” said Ivanenko. “The Khodorkovsky case is not only a political case, it shows that the discrepancy between the reality and the decisions made by the authorities has become increasingly obvious to most of the people,” he added.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin told Interfax, "It looks like the verdict will be obviously unjust. Any guilt on such a charge is absurd in itself. It is unclear how YUKOS could steal oil from itself". "The first sentence Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev have been serving demonstrated some attempt to display at least a facade of justice, however, this was completely abolished in the second trial. It has already turned from selective application of justice into a means of reprisal,” Mitrokhin noted.

YABLOKO supports the decision to dismiss Mayor of Sergiyev Posad, the Moscow Region

Press Release, December 23, 2010

On December 23, 2010, the Council of Deputies of Sergyev Posad, the Moscow region, dismissed Mayor of the city Nikalai Maslov from his post. The decision was adopted by a majority of votes. Sergei Kryzhov, YABLOKO’s representative in the Council, also voted for this decision. According to Kryzhov, Maslov, who was elected Mayor about a year ago at non-alternative elections (Kryzhov was dismissed from election campaign four days before the election) conducted irresponsible policies. This resulted in a situation when all the political forces in the city, the ruling United Russia inclusive, refused him of their support...

Vice speaker of the Kaliningrad regional parliament to top YABLOKO’s list at the forthcoming regional elections

Press Release, December 27, 2010

Vladimir Vukulov, Vice Speaker of the Kaliningrad Region Duma (regional parliament), and present deputy of the regional parliament Alexander Shatskikh joined the YABLOKO party and topped the party list at the regional parliamentary elections that will take place in March 2011. The third top person in the list is Oleg Konshin, member of Kaliningrad Region Electoral Commission. Vukulov and Shatskikh have not belong to any political party, but were members of the Elder Generation organization and were also deputies of the United Russia faction in the Kaliningrad Region Duma...

YABLOKO conducted an action “A Happy New Year – a Year of a Fat Cat”

Press Release, December 23, 2010

On December 23 YABLOKO conducted an action against raising of tariffs in the monopolized housing and utilities sector. The action took place in the center of Moscow and was conducted in a form of children’s Christmas matinee under a slogan “A Happy New Year – a Year of a Fat
Cat” (2011 is a year of the Cat according to the oriental calendar which is popular in Russia). “We would like to draw attention to the fact that our people once again received a new year “present” from the Russian Government, the
parliament and all the monopolists from Gazprom an energy sector companies to regional municipal monopolies. They raised tariffs by 20 per cent almost on all the services: on utilities, electricity, gas, water and transportation,” Sergei Mitrokhin told to journalists.

Verhofstadt: Hungary must uphold media freedom

Press Release, ALDE, December 23, 2010

“The time of Pravda is over. This new law is unacceptable. Hungary must explain and the Commission must act.” said Guy Verhofstadt, Leader of the ADLE Group at the European Parliament commenting on the adoption by the Hungarian Parliament of a "Law on media services and mass communication", on 20 December, that according to him “is against all European Union standards”.
“Hungary is about to start its first EU Presidency. In that function it not only needs to accept and endorse but also defend all democratic principles that we commonly share, including freedom of information and press. No Member State can be allowed to put, in the name of undefined national security, restrictions to freedoms that lie at the heart of our Union of values.” “We have witnessed a shocking precedent, whereby critical media and public debate will be silenced, the free market economy will be violated and political independence will be denied. What must we expect of Hungary after this?” he concluded.

Expert Council on Economic Reform established by the New Economic Association begins work. Grigory Yavlinsky elected chair of the Expert Council

By Yuri Shein, special for the web-site, December 16, 2010

The New Economic Association (NEA) joining together the cream of the Russian economic science formed Expert Council for Economic Reform (EC). NEA Executive Board elected Professor of the Higher School of Economics Dr. Grigory Yavlinsky Chair of the Expert Council. The first meeting of the NEA Expert Council which took place in Moscow on December 14 discussed the guidelines and the rules of procedure of the Council. By this day 59 renowned researchers, academics and practitioners – key specialists on socio-economic institutions – had given their consent to join NEA headed by Yavlinsky...

YABLOKO conducted an action for peace between nations and ethnic groups

Press Release, December 20, 2010

Picket for peace between nations and ethnic groups was conducted in the centre of Moscow on December 20. The action was organised by the YABLOKO party in protest against multiethnic clashes in Moscow. The participants of the actions held placards “Let’s Preserve Peace between Nations!”, “Russia is a Homeland for 182 Ethnic Groups!”, “Let’s Stop Violence!”, “Feebleness of the Government [in opposing ethnic hatred] Leads to Public Violence!”, “Feud between Nations Leads to Russia’s Collapse!” The activists were joined by passer-bys. Despite of their true ethnic background, the activists held signs with the names of the Northern Caucasus nationalities and ethnic groups: “I am an Ossetian”, “I am a Darginian”, “I am a Lezginian”, etc. Police attempted to stop the action...

YABLOKO conducted a memorial action paying tribute to murdered journalists

Press Release, December 15, 2010

On Wednesday, December 15, on the Journalists Memorial Day, the YABLOKO party conducted a memorial action paying tribute to murdered journalists. YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and head of YABLOKO’s Gender faction Galina Mikhalyova also participated in the picketing.
The action took place by the Griboyedov monument at Chistiye Prudy. YABLOKO’s activists held photographs of murdered journalists with the dates when they were killed and placards “Univestogated murders = a disgrace for the state!” and “No one brought to account?” showing that the murders have been still uninvestigated. The murderers of P.Khlebnikov (The Forbes), I.Domnikov, Yu.Schekochikhin, A.Politkovskaya (Novaya Gazeta), A.Sidorov, V.Ivanov (Toliattinskoye Obozreniye) E.Markevich (Noviy Ref), Ya.Yaroshenko (Korruptzia I Prestupnost), V.Krivosheyev (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Lipetsk), Larissa Yudina (Sovietskaya Kalmykia) and many other have not been found...

Yabloko leader addresses the Russian Duma

LI News Bulletin No 213, December 17, 2010

On 10 December LI full member Yabloko together with two other parties without representation in the Russian State Duma were invited to address the parliamentary discussions thanks to a presidential bill giving registered parties not represented in the Duma or regional legislatures the right to speak at parliamentary sessions once a year. The discussion topic was however strictly restricted to labour issues. Addressing the Duma Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin related Russian labour problems to the country's lack of democracy and its dependence on natural resources. He also lashed out at the authorities for 'eliminating political competition (...) and creating a monopoly of one party' in the country criticizing the oil-dependent economy for causing a 'high concentration of property' in the hands of the elite and for an 'extremely high level of corruption.' Mitrokhin further linked issues, such as poor salaries and lack of rights for professional unions, to the dominance of an 'authoritarian, corrupt, oligarchic bureaucracy” stating that no progress is possible until the political system is democratized. The LI News can be found translated into Russian on the Yabloko website.

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Nationalism will not work!
Statement by the Regional Council of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO, December 16, 2010

The regional branch of the YABLOKO party in Moscow states that large-scale nationalist clashes in the capital be a serious threat to the country's existence. We consider the authorities' actions against the organisers and the participants of the clashes be inadequate to threat they pose...

An explanation lies either in extremely low professionalism of the police heads or their sympathy for the nationalists and their slogans, or even in both the reasons. If the authorities do not file criminal cases on "inciting of ethnic hatred" and "organisation of mass disorders", then there are grounds to speak about the collusion of the authorities and the nationalists. The authorities often see the nationalists as their allies. We are confident that among those who were engaged in the clashes in the center of Moscow there were representatives of nationalistically minded groups of football fans who attacked the defenders of Khimki forest. We know about the connection between these groups with pro-Kremlin youth movements, their creators and tutors...

On political reprisals in Krasnodar

Statement by the YABLOKO party, December 12, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO condemns unlawful actions by the police in breaking a peaceful demonstration in protection of nature which took place in Krasnodar on December 12, the Russian Constitution Day.

On the order of Administration of the Krasnodar Area the police detained members of [YABLOKO’s] Green Russia faction Andrei Rudomakha and Suren Gazaryan and environmental activists Dmitry Shevchenko and Dmitry Shabalin. The detention was conducted with grave violations of the law “On Police”, with the use of physical force and special means [of suppression]. Shevchenko and Gazaryan were unlawfully detained in the police department of Krasnodar for three hours until arrival of a lawyer and YABLOKO’s leader there. All this time Gazaryan was unlawfully held in handcuffs. Earlier on December 5, Rudomakha and Gazaryan had been also unlawfully detained by police during a peaceful march for protection of the Utrish [natural reserve]...

Krasnodar: police breaks a permitted demonstration, environmentalists detained

Press Release, December 12, 2010

...About 300 people participated in the demonstration under YABLOKO’s flags. The demonstrators held slogans “Utrish should live!” “Yes to the Utrish natural reserve!” “Utirish is a world heritage!” “President’s place is in the Kremlin, leave Utrish for the country!”However, the police broke the peaceful demonstration considering the demonstration unlawful despite of the fact that YABLOKO had timely notified the administration of the action. Later during a rally the police detained members of YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction Andrei Rudomakha and Suren Gazaryan and environmental activists Dmitry Shevchenko and Dmitry Shabalin. The detention was conducted with grave violations of the law “On Police”, with the use of physical force and special means [of suppression]...

3 Parties Speak in Duma for 10 Minutes Each

The Moscow Times, December 12, 2010

...Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin lashed out at the authorities for "eliminating political competition … and creating a monopoly of one party" in the country and criticized the oil-dependent economy for causing a "high concentration of property" in the hands of the elite and for an "extremely high level of corruption," Interfax reported.

Mitrokhin linked labor issues, such as poor salaries and lack of rights for professional unions, to the dominance of an "authoritarian, corrupt, oligarchic bureaucracy” and said no progress in this area is possible until the political system is democratized...

YABLOKO to conduct a memorial action paying tribute to murdered journalists

Press Release, December 14, 2010

On Wednesday, December 15, the YABLOKO party will conduct a memorial action paying tribute to murdered journalists. The picket will take place on the Journalists Memorial Day devoted to journalists who were killed in the line of their duty and conducted by the Russian Journalists’ Union. The action will take place by the Griboyedov monument at Chiastiye Prudy. YABLOKO’s activists will hold photographs of murdered journalists with the dates when they were killed. The activists will also hold a banner with a question “No one brought to account?” against a background of photos of the journalists whose murders have been still uninvestigated. Thus the murderers of P.Khlebnikov (The Forbes), I.Domnikov, Yu.Schekochikhin, A.Politkovskaya (Novaya Gazeta), A.Sidorov, V.Ivanov (Toliattinskoye Obozreniye) E.Markevich (Noviy Ref), Ya.Yaroshenko (Korruptzia I Prestupnost), V.Krivosheyev (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Lipetsk), Larissa Yudina (Sovietskaya Kalmykia) and many other. The activists will light candles in memory of the killed journalists...

YABLOKO starts work on updating of its programme

Press Release, December 10, 2010

A meeting of the working group created by the YABLOKO party for updating of the party programme took place on December 9-10. Heads of YABLOKO’s branches from Tumen, Saratov, Ekaterinburg, representatives from regional branches from Moscow, St.Petersburg and the Moscow region participated in the meeting...

The working group formulated the key approaches to the new electoral platform and updating of YABLOKO’s programme called “Democratic Manifesto”. The New Political Course adopted recently by the Political Committee and the Federal Council of the party will become one of the basic elements of the new programme. A special discussion was opened on the anti-crisis programme “Housing. Land. Roads” proposed by YABLOKO’s founder Dr.Grigory Yavlinsky. Grigory Yavlinsky also joined the working group...

Clear Visa Rules for Neighbourhood Policy

Press Release, ALDE, December 14, 2010

...On a related matter, questioning the Commission concerning recent evidence showing that the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement, in force since June 2007, is still not fully implemented in a completely reciprocal way, ALDE spokesperson on Russia Kristina Ojuland (Reform Party, Estonia) said "we fully support the visa waiver agreement as a measure to enable Russian citizens to travel to the EU with minimum formalities, but we would expect the Russian side to apply the same standard to our citizens. We must ensure that the current requirement for EU citizens to register within three days with the authorities if staying in a private home in Russia is abolished."

The ruling United Russia party had to listen to ten minutes of accusations in the State Duma

ria.ru, December 10, 2010

...Mitrokhin stormed at the United Russia with criticism which hurt the ruling party. “The country has seen discrediting of the institute of elections, elimination of political competition, turning of division of authorities into sham and abrupt restriction of the freedom of the press. Monopoly of one party representing the interests of bureaucrats and large oligarchic business associated with it was set in the executive power bodies and parliaments of all levels,” Mitrokhin said.

Other non-parliamentary parties decided not to further sharpen the situation and made mild speeches “partially, wholly and fully” supporting the course towards the victory and triumph of democracy...

YABLOKO continues defending Human Rights to end discrimination

LI News Special Edition for 10 December 2010 Human Rights Day

YABLOKO (LI full member) is a party which advocates the end of discrimination of all forms of human rights abuse. The YABLOKO Human Rights activists have conducted a serious of rallies to end discrimination and protect human rights in Russia. Activists from YABLOKO's Gender faction led a parade to denounce violence against women on the basis of gender equality. YABLOKO is the only Russian party which joined the UN action “The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” and strongly advocates women's rights. Moreover, YABLOKO expressed its concern on the discrimination against AIDS patients by participating in the Red Ribbon international action for the World AIDS Day on 1 December. YABLOKO believes that the state should apply maximum efforts so that people with AIDS could get the much needed assistance they need and that society would stop treating them as outcasts. “The state should restore order here. It should extend a helping hand to the sick people and provide treatment to them. All the mobbing which such people often have to confront should be stopped”, said Sergei Mitrokhin, Chairman of the YABLOKO party.

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MEPs send letter in support of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to Russian President Medvedev

Press Release, ALDE, December 10, 2010

A cross-party coalition of MEPs has used today's Human Rights Day (10 December) to send a letter to Russia's President Dimitry Medvedev, highlighting the ongoing persecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.
ALDE MEP Graham Watson (Liberal Democrat MEP, UK), who is leading the initiative to raise the profile of the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial, said: "The Human Rights Day is an important occasion to reposition human rights abuses at the forefront of the political agenda. There is a clear consensus among objective observers of the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev trials that their ongoing persecution is unjust and not truly motivated by law. In our letter to Mr Medvedev we express our hopes that the expected conclusion of the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev case will strictly adhere to the principles of the rule of law"...

Russia needs deeds, not words, to resolve environmental problems

Statement by the YABLOKO party, December 9, 2010

In his Address to the Federal Assembly Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed that the quality of the environment should become one of the key parameters for socio-economic development. Unfortunately, the President’s words are contradict by the ongoing environmentally unsound policies of the Russian state: the law on the state budget signed by the President envisaged expenditure on environmental protection that is 100 times less than is the case in countries, which are really concerned about the environment...

A highway via Khimki Forest does not resolve the transport problems of Moscow region

Statement by the YABLOKO party, December 9, 2010

Today the authorities may bring to an end the public discussions on the route of the new Moscow-St Petersburg highway: the highway will based based on its original route, which envisages the elimination of Khimki Forest.

The “additional public and expert discussions”, which should have been held on the instructions of the President to the Prime Minister, turned out to be nothing more than a fiction.

The authorities did not issue any assessments on the alternative routes of the highway. We believe that an expansion in the Leningradskoye highway in the area of the City of Khimki to be the most efficient project here.

In violation of the law, a reserve way of the Leningradskoye highway was built with shopping centres in the 1990s and 2000s...

YABLOKO leadership meets the leaders of the All-Russia Confederation of Labour

Press Release, December 7, 2010

On the initiative of the All-Russia Confederation of Labour, a meeting was held between YABLOKO’s leadership and the leaders of the confederation, which is the most representative Russian trade union association that is not part of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. Leader leader of YABLOKO party Sergei Mitrokhin, coordinator of the Political Committee of the Party Boris Misnik, head of the general fraction Galina Mikhaleva, co-chairman of the social democratic fraction and member of the bureau of the Party Anatoly Golov, representatives of the confederation and members of the Executive Committee of the All-Russia Confederation of Labour attended the meeting, which discussed violations of the rights of employees and trade unions...

YABLOKO calls on journalists to visit the Utrish nature reserve that has been threatened with destruction

Press Release, December 8, 2010

On Monday, 13 December, YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin will visit Anapa and the Big Utrish reserve located near the city. YABLOKO calls on journalists to join him and visit this unique territory, which is threatened with total destruction, owing to the planned construction of a state residence and highway. The Big Utrish reserve was created to protect unique relict landscapes and juniper-pistachio forests, and also the habitats of rare species of animals and plants. This is one of the most significant protected natural territories of Russia. The territory's reserve named Novorossiya was recognised as one of the global centres for plant diversity. This year the Russian Government issued a decision to establish the Utrish reserve here...

Ecologist Andrei Rudomakha becomes laureate of The Best Civil Action contest

Press Release, December 8, 2010

Head of Ecological Watch in the Northern Caucasus and member of the YABLOKO party Andrei Rudomakha was chosen a winner of The Best Civil Action contest. The ecologist was awarded the prize by the jury for organisation of the public campaign for protection of the Utrish natural reserve. The contest was organised by the Law and Justice foundation. From December 2009 through to April 2010 four waves of actions in protection of Utrish were conducted. The actions embraced over 70 cities in Russia and Ukraine. In Russia the actions were held from Kaliningrad in the West to Khabarovsk in the East, Murmansk in the North and Sochi and Vladikavkaz in the South...

YABLOKO welcomes Germany’s decision not to send its nuclear waste to Russia

Press Release, December 7, 2010
“We welcome the decision of the German government not to export spent nuclear fuel from Saxony to Russia. We think that the German government has demonstrated a responsible approach in the solution of this problem,” stated YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

On Monday, December 6, Nobert Roettgen, German Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, announced that Germany had revoked its decision to export spent nuclear fuel from Saxony to the Mayak plant in the Urals due to the absence of conditions for safe treatment of nuclear waste in Russia...

Ivory Coast: Liberal International defends Ouattara election victory
Press Release, ALDE, December 7, 2010

Leaders of Liberal International meeting today in Brussels condemned attempts by incumbent President of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, to hold onto power after the independent electoral commission had announced a victory in the November 28th presidential poll for Alassane Ouattara, of the 'Rassemblement des Républicains' (RDR), a full member of Liberal International (LI), the international Liberal network...

Police detained YABLOKO's activists during the action in defence of the national park

Press Release, December 5, 2010

On December 5, an unsanctioned march against elimination by the authorities of the Utrish national park took place in Krasnodar. The General Affairs Department of Presidential Administration plans to build a recreation complex in the national park.The police detained YABLOKO’s activist Andrei Rudomakha, organizer of the march in defence of the Utrish national park and head of the Ecological Watch in the Northern Caucasus, and YABLOKO’s activist Suren Gazaryan.

The activists were taken to the medical expertise first under the pretext that they were drunk. However, the expertise did not confirm this. Despite of this both the activists had to spend a night in the police department. Gazaryan is facing 15 days of arrest for “non-obeying the lawful demands”. Rudomakha is accused of organizing an unsanctioned action...

Pro-European liberals succeed in Moldovan elections

Liberal International News Bulletin. Issue 211. December 3, 2010.

After the 28 November elections the final results confirmed that the pro-European orientation of the Republic of Moldova, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), consisting of the Liberal Party (PL, LI Observer applicant), the Liberal Democratic party and the Democratic Party, obtained 59 seats out of the total 101, allowing for a continuation of reforms and the integration process. Negotiations are now underway for a new majority coalition as 61 votes in the 101-seat parliament are needed to elect a president...

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The Eurasia Canal will threat Russia’s national security

Statement by the YABLOKO party, December 3, 2010

Recently, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announced that "technical and economic evaluation of the project envisaging construction of a new navigation canal between the Caspian Sea and the Azov and Black Sea basin" is under way. The Kremlin has decided to reanimate the project of the Kuma-Manych waterway which was abolished in Stalin's time. It is obvious that 450 - 600 billion rubles which will be allotted for construction of a Eurasia canal will lead to the following consequences...

On the World AIDS Day the YABLOKO party participated in the Red Ribbon action

Vesti-Moscow television programme, December 2, 2010
On December 1, the World AIDS Day the YABLOKO party participated in the Red Ribbon international action. For several hours party activists were distributing information leaflets and red ribbons – the symbols of fight against the HIV virus – by Moscow universities and YABLOKO’s Moscow office. YABLOKO believes that the state should apply maximum effort so that people with AIDS would get the required aid and the society would stop treating them as outcasts.

“The state should restore order here. It should extend a helping hand to the sick people and provide them treatment. All the mobbing which such people often have to confront should be stopped”, said Sergei Mitrokhin, Chairman of the YABLOKO party...

Leader of St.Petersburg YABLOKO welcomes proposal by Governor Valentina Matviyenko to search for a new site for construction of Gazprom’s skyscraper

Press Release, December 3, 2010

Leader of St.Petersburg YABLOKO welcomed the proposal by St.Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko to search for a new site for construction of Gazprom’s skyscraper. According to Reznik, such a decision by the Governor results from long-term fight by the defenders of the historical centre of the city and the dialogue between the Governor and architects and historians with has finally begun...

YABLOKO’s leader on the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly

Based on Russian media reports, December 1, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin expressed his disappointment with Presidential Address to the Russian parliament, as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev virtually failed to propose any measures in the field of political reform. “He did not say a word about the “glorified” United Russia party and nothing was proposed in the field of political reform, however, in an earlier statement the President had noted that without such a reform we would not be able to overcome the signs stagnation,” Mitrokhin said. “Only cosmetic changes has taken place; whereas inequality of the parties that will run in the parliamentary elections has been maintained. In addition, the past regional and municipal elections demonstrated that election fraud did not reduce at all,” he noted...

Liberals gain great victory in Catalonia
Press Release, ELDR, November 29, 2010

ELDR member party Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya (CDC) overwhelmingly won the elections for the regional Parliament of Catalonia, the economically strongest region in Spain. ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck wholeheartedly congratulates CDC's leader Artur Mas who led the party alliance Convergencia i Unió (CiU) during the election campaign and is now due to become Catalonia's next Prime Minister.

"With 38,5% of the votes and twice as strong as the previously ruling Socialists, Artur Mas and his party will have solid support to push for necessary decisions regarding Catalonia's future and make it once again belong to the economically healthy regions in Europe", commented the ELDR Party President. "With a great victory the new catalan government will push for necessary decisions regarding Catalonia's future and to make a greater Catalonia, fully commited with the european future", commented Marc Guerrero, ELDR Party Vice President...

Verhofstadt congratulates Catalan party on election victory
Press Release, ALDE, November 29, 2010

Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament today wrote to Convergencia i Unió Party leader, Artur Mas, to congratulate him on a stunning electoral victory last night in the Catalan national polls in which CiU took 38.5% of the vote which translates into 62 of the 135 seats in the parliamentary chamber. Although not an absolute majority, the result secures CiU as by far the largest party in Catalonia and will deliver the presidency of the Catalan Government to Artur Mas. "This is truly a convincing victory for CiU, a member party of the European Liberal family. I congratulate Artur Mas and his colleagues on the tremendous result in obtaining the support of almost 1.2 million voters in Catalonia."