Delegates from Socialists for Independence and from Democratic Left Scotland will be attending this weekend’s European Forum of left, green and progressive parties and organisations from across our continent.
The meeting, in Budapest, is organised by the Party of the European Left (PEL), which comprises a range of large parties including Die Linke, Syriza and the French Communists as well as smaller organisations. DLS and Socialists for Independence are pleased to be partner organisations, making a contribution to the co-ordination and development of the policies and initiatives promoted by left-wing parties across the European Union: at the previous Forum in Ljubljana in February, DLS and Socialists for Independence persuaded the PEL to support Scotland's Right to Decide on independence, and this was incorporated into election manifestos for the European Parliament elections earlier this year.
Themes for discussion in Budapest include the rise of the far-right, which channels and exploits ‘the frustration over a lack of future prospects felt by much of the population’; the need ‘for an equitable distribution of wealth, strong universal and quality public services, and public ownership of shared resources to create a fairer, more participatory, and democratically planned society’; the crucial agenda of ‘an ecological, energy and industrial transformation’ to address the climate emergency; the importance of ‘left-wing feminism’ and ways to advocate ‘an economy that prioritises the care of life rather than the exploitation of people and nature’; and demands for ‘an end to the violence by negotiations that must begin to bring lasting peace to Ukraine, within the framework of the United Nations’ and for ‘an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli aggression in Palestine and Lebanon’.
David Green from Socialists for Independence will be speaking alongside comrades from Esquerra Unida i Alternativa and Euskal Herria Bildu in a workshop on ‘Peoples’ sovereignties - Transformative policies from the stateless nations’: more generally, participants from Scotland will be sure to be contributing perspectives on all the issues under discussion and learning from a wide range of friends and contacts.
Published 4 November 2024