Annemie Neyts elected President of European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party

6.06.23pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Sep 2005

Yesterday at the ELDR Party Congress in Bratislava, Annemie Neyts MEP (VLD, Belgium) was elected as the new President of the Party of European Liberals, succeeding Werner Hoyer who had held the post for the last five years.

Graham Watson MEP, leader of the European Parliamentary Group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, warmly welcomed the new President who is also a colleague in the ALDE group.

"The election of Annemie will do much to strengthen political and personal links between the European Party and its political group in Parliament" he said. "Annemie is an extremely experienced and respected politician, a hard worker and a first class MEP."

Annemie Neyts Uyttebroeck, 61, is member of the European Parliament and spokesperson on Foreign affairs, security and defense for the ALDE group. Former President of Liberal International between 1999 and 2005, she was Belgian State secretary for Foreign Affairs in 2000-2001 and Deputy Minister for foreign Affairs in charge of European Affairs, International trade and Agriculture between 2001 and 2003.

The ALDE group contains members from ELDR Party and PDE, the Party of European Democrats.