Former Prime Minister To Lead Libertas Latvia

Guntars Krasts, former Prime Minister of Latvia will lead the Libertas campaign in the country in the forthcoming European Parliament elections, it has been announced today. Mr. Krasts will lead a list of eight Latvian Libertas candidates into the election campaign, in which a total of 9 Latvian seats in the European Parliament will be contested.

Mr. Krasts has held various positions in the Latvian Government, and served as the country’s Prime Minister between 1997 and 1998. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1998 to 1999, and was the country’s minister for the economy from 1995 to 1997.

He has served as a member of the European Parliament since 1994.

Speaking before a crowd of several hundred supporters at today’s launch of Libertas Latvia, Mr Krasts focused heavily on the need for an “economic and political renaissance” in Europe. He said that the current approach in Brussels was not sufficient to make the EU sustainable, and that they must be reformed for the sake of all of those who want to see Europe succeed in the future:

“We need a Europe that is democratic, accountable, and responsive to citizens. We in Libertas Latvia are convinced that the EU can become a force for economic growth and personal freedom, but for this to happen, the EU must not be the toy of Brussels elites.

In Europe, we need to unbind human initiative, and to recognise that economic recovery and dynamism will come by creating conditions that allow small and medium-sized businesses to grow and thrive. In Europe, we need a European Charter for small business that reduces the regulations and encourages, not inhibits the potential for job creation, recognising that it is real people, not government officials, who drive demand and production in our economies”.

Welcoming the former Prime Minister to the Libertas campaign, Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley said:

“Leaders of the calibre of Guntars Krasts should be an inspiration to us all. He is a great Latvian, and a great European. He grew up in a country where his parents were forced to live under the oppression of a Soviet system that denied them a say in the running of their own country, and in many cases their own lives. He is one of the great generation of Europeans who stood up and helped rebuild their countries after the downfall of that oppressive system of Government.

Libertas is building a team of leaders across Europe who when elected will be able to address the common concerns of EU citizens in a way never before seen in European History. For the first time, we will have a party in the EU Parliament which gives voice to the common concerns of European citizens about the progressive erosion of democracy in Brussels and their homelands, while at the same time offering a positive and ambitious new vision for Europe.

We need a Union which is open and transparent, so our citizens can have confidence that their money is being put to good use, and not being wasted on vanity projects, like the €2.4billion is spent this year on the Union’s public relations. We need politicians who engage directly with voters, not big PR projects.

Like Ireland, the vast majority of Latvian law now come from Brussels, and Latvian citizens have no mechanism to hold those initiating those laws to account. Libertas is a political party and movement which allows Latvian, Irish, French, German, Polish and every other European citizen to do just that, and I am pleased that the former Prime Minister has joined this historic effort. Europe is something we must all be part of and it is not something we can leave to national political parties who have failed miserably to engage with the spirit of the Union they claim to be so committed to, while at the same time failing to deliver at home for people all across Europe facing an economic crisis overseen by a management team of unequivocally proven failures.

Libertas will be the force for positive change in Europe that will put economic leadership, job creation, and the reinvigoration of the European idea at the heart of the political agenda”.

Taken from a Libertas Press Release.