EESC president Mario Sepi roept burgers op te gaan stemmen bij de Europese verkiezingen (en)

EESC President Mario Sepi urges European citizens to vote

At the 451st plenary session of the EESC, its President Mario Sepi, and Vice-President for Communication, Irini Pari,called on all European Union citizens toparticipate in and vote at the June 2009 European elections.

President Sepi urged EU citizens to use their democratic right and to vote in the European elections this June. `The current crisis' he argued, `should not tempt us to abandon the European ideal of solidarity and social justice. We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder against all dark forces, and not forget the fantastic strides made in European integration over the last five decades". “Go out and vote,” he concluded.

Vice President Irini Pari further called for all of the EESC's 344 members to mobilise the organisations they represent to encourage maximum turnout in the European elections. `Ensuring that our citizens participate in the democratic life of the Union is even more important in a time of crisis,' she argued.

The Committee was meeting for the first time in the EP's new Jószef Antall building, named after the first democratically elected Hungarian Prime Minister in 1990, after the regime change. Two of the Committee's Hungarian members, Janos Tóth and Agnes Cser, recalled Jószef Antall's life And contribution to the re-launch of Hungarian democracy.

For more information on the European Parliament elections, please consult:

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/events/2009-elections/index_en.asp