Europe’s Social Democrats today warned of a „Europe of fear“ at their party congress in Madrid. The European election on 26 May is a „battle between a policy of hope and fear,“ Portugal’s Socialist leader Antonio Costa said at the PES Congress in the Spanish capital.
The upcoming European elections were trend-setting, emphasized the new SPÖ chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner at the beginning of her speech at the PES Congress. „We could continue to live in a Europe as we know it, or we could feel marked deterioration.“ It was the job of the Social Democrats to defend Europe. Conservatives, liberals and especially the extreme right would not care about the right balance. „Europe is a promise for a peaceful and prosperous future,“ said Rendi-Wagner.
Fight for the „soul of Europe“
It is also clear to PES candidate Frans Timmermans: „On May 26, we are not only fighting for a more progressive Europe. We fight for the soul of Europe. „It is about nothing less than the defense of freedom of expression, human rights, press freedom, sexual equality. The resurgence of racist and anti-Semitism with right-wing populist tendencies poses a threat to the whole of Europe. „Every refugee who dies in the Mediterranean is a scar for Europe.“
A „New Social Contract for Europe“ is the slogan used by Social Democrats to win the European elections. So far, however, polls predict a victory for the European People’s Party, which heads the poll with German CSU politician Manfred Weber at the top.
