The activities of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party and its youth organisation, LYMEC (European Liberal Youth), have recently been classified by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation as “undesirable” in Russia. The President of the Swedish People’s Party, Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz, and SFP’s MEP Anna-Maja Henriksson condemn the move, while also finding it unsurprising.
The activities of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party and its youth organisation, LYMEC (European Liberal Youth), have recently been classified by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation as “undesirable” in Russia. The President of the Swedish People’s Party, Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz, and SFP’s MEP Anna-Maja Henriksson condemn the move, while also finding it unsurprising.
“Under Putin, the Kremlin is systematically trying to suppress opposing views through oppression, assault, incarceration, torture and assassination. Any liberal forces that dare stand up to Putin’s actions and leadership are continually subject to repression attempts by the Russian state. The Russian people deserve a better Russia than this,” Adlercreutz and Henriksson state.
According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, the ALDE Party is “one of the most anti-Russian political forces in the European Union”, guilty of “consistently discrediting Russian domestic and foreign policies.” Adlercreutz and Henriksson point out that ultimately Russia will only weaken itself through its actions.
“Russia continues to isolate itself from the rest of the world with its unpredictable conduct. Europe and Finland are ready to take action. Thanks to sanctions, the EU currently holds over EUR 200 billion in frozen Russian funds. Until now, only returns on this capital have been used, but we must now ensure that these funds in their entirety can be applied to reinforcing Ukraine’s defences. We must also tighten the sanctions against Russia, as well as stopping Russia’s shadow fleet. This is something that I as a member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Renew Europe group am pushing for,” explains Henriksson.
“As a member of the ALDE Party, SFP condemns Russia’s actions and will continue to stand for human rights, democracy and freedom of expression. These are things that also the Russian people deserve. Liberal voices must not be silenced in Russia or elsewhere,” Adlercreutz concludes.
