Home » IRI Convenes Sixth Meeting of EPPFI Network

IRI Convenes Sixth Meeting of EPPFI Network

November 10, 2009
 
Cilistov, Slovakia – IRI, together with its partners the Robert Schuman Institute and the Center for Political Parliamentary Education and Training of the European  People’s Party Group in the European Parliament, hosted the sixth meeting of the European Political Party Foundations and Institutes (EPPFI) network on September 24-26, 2009.  The seminar, entitled Values and Ideology in Political Education in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, brought together participants from 20 countries around the region to discuss the role political institutes and foundations play in educating party members and the public on party ideology. 
 
The latest meeting of the network focused on how members address values and ideology in their political education programs.  Daniel Lipšic, former Slovak Minister of Justice and current Member of Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement, opened the gathering with his thoughts on the foundations that define the ideologies of the center-right and the left in Europe.  In the first panel, network representatives discussed the role that values and ideology play in the civic education and training programs within their respective organizations.
 

Sanja Bogosavljevic, member of the Executive Board of Youth Network G17 Plus in Serbia, explained how the origins of the G17 Plus party as a nongovernmental organization dedicated to free market economics continues to inform the ideology, political education, and policy of the party today.  Representatives from Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, Movement for Change of Montenegro, the Youth Association of the Democratic Action Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fidelitas of Hungary, the Latvian People’s Party, the Slovenian Democratic Party and the CEVRO Liberal-Conservative Academy of Czech Republic also presented their work in this area.

The second panel addressed the difficulties of incorporating ideology into successful political education programs. Lucia Klapácová, International Secretary of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party, described the challenges of defining a unique set of values for a center-right party in a country with other center-right political parties in play.  Representatives from the Christian Democrat Party of Sweden, New Slovenia of Slovenia, the Democratic Party of Albania, Party of Democratic Progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic League of Kosovo, Party of the Hungarian Coalition of Slovakia, and the Democratic-Liberal Party of Romania also shared their experiences.

The EPPFI network draws representatives from political party foundations and institutes from across Central and Eastern Europe to focus on three distinct areas: policy development, political education and international engagement.  Through regular meetings, network members share ideas and updates from their own work and conceptualize new strategies for future collaboration.

###
 

European Partnership Initiative