Europese erkenning van Libertas opgeschort in afwachting van controle handtekeningenlijst (en)

At its meeting today, the European Parliament's Conference of Presidents asked the institution's administration to verify the validity of the signatures submitted by Libertas in its application for registration as a European political party.

On Monday, the Parliament's Bureau (comprised of its President and 14 Vice Presidents) had approved an application by Libertas to register as a "political party at European level". Since then, two of the signatories - Mr Igor Gräzin, Member of the Estonian Parliament and Mr Mintcho Hristov Kouminev, Member of the Bulgarian Parliament -  have denied signing for the purpose of registering a political party at European level, thereby casting doubt on the validity of their signatures. Given the Parliament's legal obligation to verify that the conditions for registration are fully and properly met, on a continuing basis, the Conference of Presidents, which brings together the leaders of all the political groups, discussed this matter at its meeting today.

The Conference of Presidents asked the Parliament's administration to look into the issue in detail as a matter of urgency. The administration will contact all the European, national and regional law-makers whose signatures were submitted by Libertas, when it applied for the status of political party at European level, in order to verify the situation. In the interim, the release of funds to Libertas has been put on hold. If the Bureau concludes that Libertas has correctly fulfilled the legal requirements, then its recognition as a European political party will proceed in the normal way.