site.btaContinue the Change Party Joins Democracy and Liberties Summit in Paris

A delegation of Bulgaria's Continue the Change (CC) party attended the Democracy and Liberties Summit in Paris on Monday, the party said in a press release. Kiril Petkov, Assen Vassilev and Nikolay Denkov joined other members of Renew Europe at the meeting, which was organized together with ALDE, EDP and Renaissance. Participants in the summit included former French prime minister Gabriel Attal, Renew Europe leader Valerie Hayer and ALDE president Svenja Hahn.

The parties reaffirmed their countries' commitment to protecting and developing liberal democracy and strengthening Europe's security, defence and economy as Ukraine advances on the path to peace.

CC co-leader Kiril Petkov said: "The liberal parties of Europe are beginning to regain public support. In those European countries which are currently governed by far-right and conservative parties, it is evident that their policies are not working well enough for the people. Some of the leading parties in the liberal family enquired about our policies for young families, which are obviously working, to judge from Bulgaria's top birth rate performance last year, according to Eurostat data."

Assen Vassilev, the other CC co-leader, commented: "The main focus of the meeting was the use of frozen Russian assets for the restoration of Ukraine. I am glad that we finally see real actions in this domain." Concerning the EUR 800 billion plan to beef up European defence, Vassilev said it is important that Bulgaria has been taking part in this discussion from the very beginning to ensure that its national industry holds a place in the European defence complex.

Renew Europe leader Valerie Hayer said that, with international order, as we know it, being under serious threat, the alternative is a future in which democracy is strong.