Publicerad 2009-05-22 11:20
The highly EU-critical, pan-European party Libertas claims to be striving for an open and democratic European Union. But Expo can reveal that the party’s founder, Declan Ganley, supports right-wing extremists.
It was at a European congress held last year by the German extreme-right party the Republicans (Die Republikaner) that Irish billionaire and Eurosceptic Declan Ganley showed his support for the European extreme right. In a message read out at the meeting, Ganley sent his best wishes to the extremist gathering. Among those present were representatives of notorious parties such as Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Vlaams Belang of Belgium.
Michael Paulwitz, head of the Republicans’ press department, claims that their party hasn’t been in contact with Ganley since the congress – but that they’re definitely interested in getting in touch with the Libertas founder again.
– Ganley is a very interesting person to us. We will be seeking a renewed contact with Libertas after the European elections, Paulwitz told Expo.
Not sanctioned
But according to Libertas’ spokesperson Nick Wright, there are no connections between their party and the Republicans.
– That greeting does not mean that we have a link to the party. What Declan Ganley did one year ago is his business, but it was definitely not a sanctioned Libertas greeting and it has no bearing on the current elections. Declan Ganley often makes statements on his own.
Libertas is a pan-European party planning to run for the upcoming European Parliament elections in all 27 member states. The party’s aim is to reform the European union to the core and they are highly critical of the Lisbon treaty. According to Nick Wright, any co-operation with the Republicans is unlikely:
– It’s very nice that he [Paulwitz] finds Declan Ganley interesting, but there have not been any discussions about renewing anything after the elections, and claims of past connections are not true. We are not interested in contacts with the Republicans.
Daniel Poohl
Erik Sidenbladh
This article has also been published in Expo #2-2009.
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Trots att år av antisemitism, förtryck och våld föranledde Förintelsen fanns hela tiden judar som gjorde motstånd. På ett individuellt plan går det inte att jämföra mod och motståndshandlingar, priset var högt för alla. Men på ett strukturellt plan var det kanske allra högst för de judiska motståndskvinnorna. Författaren Kenneth Hermele skriver om det kvinnliga judiska motståndet under Förintelsen.
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Islamist eller pragmatiker. Populist, demokrat eller sultan. Synen på Erdoğan har skiftat över tid.
Annie Lööf blev antirasist innan hon blev centerpartist. När hon strax lämnar politikens finrum gör hon det som den enda partiledaren i svensk borgerlighet som tar avstånd från SD.