On 6 October, Svenja Hahn MEP was elected as the new ALDE Party President for a two-year mandate at the ALDE Party Congress in Estoril, Portugal.
In her first statement as ALDE Party President, Hahn expressed her commitment to deepening cooperation among European liberals.
"We liberals must bundle and reform our forces in Europe and find common answers to the challenges of our time. Liberal forces are successful when they counter populists with progressive reforms. European liberals must resolutely defend the rule of law and democracy, strengthen competitiveness and economic growth and enhance security and defence capabilities," she said.
A Member of the European Parliament since 2019, Hahn has covered different roles in the European liberal family President of the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) and First Vice-President of the European Liberal Forum (ELF).
As ALDE Party Vice-President, she coordinated the efforts to devise the liberal manifesto for the 2024 European elections as the chair of the Manifesto Drafting Committee.
Hahn takes over from Senator Timmy Dooley and Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP, who have acted as ALDE Party co-Presidents since 2021. She becomes ALDE Party’s 10th President, as well as the second German and third woman to have the role.
Delegates also elected six candidates for the role of ALDE Party Vice-President:
- Yoko Alender (Reformierakond, Estonia)
- Yevheniia Kravchuk (Servant of the People, Ukraine)
- Lucia Plaváková (Progresívne Slovensko, Slovakia)
- Jouni Ovaska (Keskusta, Finland)
- Sal Brinton (Liberal Democrats, UK)
- Rik Daems (Open VLD, Belgium)
The elected members will complete the ALDE Party Bureau with Vice-Presidents Malik Azmani MEP (VVD, NL), Dan Barna MEP (USR, RO), Eva Kjer Hansen (Venstre, DK) and Treasurer David Burke (Fianna Fáil, IE).
Find all photos from the event on our Flickr account.
For the best social media moments, check out the hashtag #ALDECongress on Facebook, X and Instagram.