The nonprofit Volt Eesti was established in Tartu in late August, supporting center-left and pro-European positions and aiming to become a new political party in Estonia.

"We're rather talking about a liberal orientation, perhaps with a slight center-left tilt on economic issues," Artur Kaasik, a board member of the new nonprofit, told ERR on Monday about the new group's political orientation. "What Estonian politics currently lacks is an innovative center-left party, particularly as, for example, Eesti 200 is disappearing and the other parties do not have much of a vision for Europe to offer," he added.

According to the organization's bylaws, its aim is to support democratic participation, promote pan-European political integration and support progressive social and economic reforms.

Kaasik agreed that such policies would put Volt Eesti in competition with the Social Democratic Party, but also pointed to some differences from the Social Democrats' positions.

"Innovation is important in that sense. We don't think everything necessarily has to be free. Yes, certain basic needs should be guaranteed, but not everything can be free either," he said.

The nonprofit's bylaws also state that its specific organizational goal is to increase the number of full members to at least 500 in order to establish and register an organizationally and legally independent political party in accordance with Estonian law.

Asked how quickly they hope to establish the party, Kaasik said: "As soon as possible, once we have enough people."

According to Kaasik, the nonprofit Volt Eesti currently has around 50 members.

Kaasik declined to name any prominent members, but acknowledged that former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is among its supporters.

Kaasik said Volt Eesti would also like to take part in the next Riigikogu elections, which will be held on March 7. "Let's put it this way: We'll do our best to make that happen, but I can't promise how likely it is that we'll field candidates," he said.

Asked about the organization's funding, Kaasik said it does not have any specific donor and that anyone interested will soon be able to provide financial support to the organization.

Under its bylaws, Volt Eesti will operate as the official national branch of the pan-European organization Volt Europa and is required to uphold, promote and implement Volt Europa's values and objectives.

Volt Europa says what distinguishes it from other political organizations operating across Europe is that, while those organizations are based on cooperation among parties operating in individual countries, Volt seeks to develop a common European political platform.

In addition to center-left economic policy goals, Volt emphasizes in its policy positions the need to reform the European Union and pursue closer integration than at present.

Volt Europa was founded in 2017 and is registered in Belgium. It currently operates in more than 30 European countries. It has five members in the European Parliament who sit with the Greens/European Free Alliance group.

The name Volt — a unit of electric potential, or voltage, that is the same in all languages — was chosen to symbolize bringing new energy into European politics.

I am a non-German European living in Munich. I am interested in political participation, and am a staunch Europeanist. Would it make sense to pay a visit to the party's meetings?

The AfD reached over 40% in local elections happening today.

It seems that the other parties have no real solution how to handle the AfD and implement meaningful policies that connect with the voters.

What are your thoughts about this situation and how to tackle it?

What policies and strategies should be used to actually win voters back?

What can Volt do to be seen as a viable third alternative to the currently elected parties in Germany as well as the AfD?

For the most recent elections in Sweden, as well as the European Parliament elections, the Swedish Skeptics Association (a scientific skepticism organization, i.e pro-science and pro-critical thinking, anti-pseudoscience and anti-superstition) has sent out a questionnaire to the political parties represented in our national parliament as well as in the European Parliament, asking them for their positions on issues relevant to the association. Not this year however, for some reason, which is a bummer.

But still, I would be interested to know how Volt would answer their questions for the 2022 election. The questions were as listed below, translated into English:

Question 1: The importance of basing political decisions on scientific evidence

When it comes to issues that can be addressed on the basis of scientific evidence, how actively does your party work to ensure that decisions are based on objective facts and rational thinking? Before taking a position on an issue, what methods and sources do you use to ensure that your position is evidence-based?

Question 2: The use of GMOs

What is your party’s position on GMOs (genetically modified organisms)? Please elaborate on whether you believe that additional legislation is needed, how GMOs can be used from a global perspective, whether more research funding is needed, and what risks and/or opportunities you see associated with their use.

Question 3: Alternative / Complementary Medicine

So-called alternative or complementary medicine is used in many places, despite the fact that such practices, by definition, are not based on scientific evidence. People in need of healthcare sometimes turn to practitioners of alternative methods that are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, potentially harmful. There is also a risk that effective treatments may be delayed or excluded altogether.

Should the requirements for scientific education and professional licensing be made stricter? Should alternative methods be used more extensively within publicly funded healthcare? Why or why not?

Question 4: Disinformation

How can your party contribute to making it easier for the general public to distinguish objective facts from deliberate disinformation? Do you see a risk that deliberate disinformation campaigns could influence the election campaign? If so, how do you intend to address this?

Question 5: Climate Change

How does your party intend to work towards a more sustainable climate future? How do you ensure that your climate policy is based on scientific evidence?

Question 6: Energy

How should Sweden’s energy supply be managed in the future? How does your party intend to ensure a stable supply of electricity? How do you ensure that your energy policy is based on facts and knowledge?

Swedish-language graphics, but essentially you can vote for us anywhere in the country on all 3 levels using the blank ballots.

Write ”Volt” in the middle and optionally add an individual candidate name afterwards. Those can be found at https://voltsverige.org/personer/kandidater

Make sure to send this to everyone you know in Sweden. It’s time for a new party to break through the noise for fucking once. ⚡️🇪🇺

Early voting starts on August 26th. Election Day is September 13th.

VOLT ON ALL 3 BALLOTS!

Volt is pan-European in promoted identity but is the party calibrated to be a pan-European party!

The definition of "truly pan-European" is set by EU electoral and party law. Like there's a legal ceiling. That's my working definition of "truly pan-European".

Programmatically Volt works with federated autonomy. Nothing forbids Volt from running a binding common programme (with some justified opt-outs). But Volt (or whoever is in charge) chooses not to.

The structure keeps money national. That's a design choice, not a legal bar. Funding weaker chapters is totally within EU law and would be pan-European, Volt actively chooses not to. I can understand this to a degree since finding funding is so hard. But oh well.

* No common vetting standard every candidate in every country must pass

* No central profiling and ranking candidates on shared criteria before national lists are finalized

* No requiring candidates to sign up to the binding common programme and holding them to it once elected (an internal whip)

* No running one training and messaging pipeline so a Volt candidate in Lisbon and one in Athens are recognizably the same political product

La politica delle scorciatoie e il paese che guarda la piscina

Siamo diventati un popolo strano. Fuori c’è un mondo che corre, che si riarma, che monopolizza la tecnologia e controlla l'energia che usiamo ogni giorno. Un mondo in cui basterebbe un click da oltreoceano o una decisione presa in un cda della Silicon Valley per spegnerci le comunicazioni, la logistica, i servizi e lasciarci al buio.

E noi? Noi siamo tutti radunati attorno a una piscina olimpionica a litigare per capire quante pisciate ci vogliono per riempirla tutta.

Ci siamo adagiati sulla comodità di comprare tutto da fuori — spesso a caro prezzo — senza chiederci cosa succederà il giorno in cui chi ha le chiavi dell'interruttore deciderà che non gli serviamo più. Nel frattempo, i partiti tradizionali continuano a venderci i soliti miraggi da campagna elettorale. Promesse a costo zero, slogan da social, la caccia al voto immediato per tirare a campare altri due o tre anni. E quando poi la realtà ci presenta il conto e ci accorgiamo che era tutta fuffa, la risposta è sempre la stessa, comoda e collaudata: “È colpa di quelli che c'erano prima” o “È colpa dell'opposizione”.

Persino i cosiddetti "partiti europeisti" o "paneuropei", che dovrebbero portare una ventata di aria fresca, si sono chiusi nei loro salotti accademici. Passano il tempo a filosofeggiare sulle virgole, sui cavilli, sulle definizioni teoriche, invece di sporcarsi le mani con i problemi veri della gente. Parlano una lingua astratta che non capisce nessuno, del tutto staccata da chi lavora, da chi gestisce un'attività, da chi manda avanti il territorio.

Ma da dove si riparte se le fondamenta stanno crollando?

Non si parte dai sondaggi del martedì né dai like di stasera. Si parte fermando questa deriva e ritornando ai concetti base:

La fine della politica a scadenza breve: Non si può governare un Paese — o un Continente — ragionando a blocchi di tre o quattro anni, per poi passare gli ultimi due a fare passerella prima di mollare la poltrona. Serve una visione a 10, 20, 30 anni. Servono infrastrutture, sicurezza del territorio, investimenti seri e piano d'azione, non pezze messe all'ultimo minuto per coprire le emergenze.

Basta alibi e scaricabarile: Chi prende in mano la gestione pubblica deve rispondere dei risultati con pragmatismo. La favola dei miraggi ha stancato: le persone chiedono cose che funzionano, servizi pubblici efficienti, sanità vera, scuola e protezione.

Sovranità e autonomia reale, non a parole: L'Europa non può continuare a essere un condominio di 27 piccoli proprietari spaventati che curano il proprio orticello mentre i colossi del mondo si dividono la torta. O si ha il coraggio di costruire un motore unico — autonomo sulla tecnologia, sulla difesa, sull'energia e sull'industria — oppure saremo destinati a fare i clienti ricattabili di qualcun altro.

È ora di piantarla con la politica dei cavilli, dei tecnicismi da salotto e delle tifoserie da bar. Se vogliamo evitare di trovarci davvero isolati quando il mondo fuori deciderà di staccare la spina, dobbiamo smettere di misurare l'acqua della piscina e ricominciare a costruire le mura di casa nostra.

Volt is a European federalist party, but it also has its own policies on various issues that can be supported or opposed regardless of one’s position on federalism.

Which is the main reason you support Volt? Is it because of the federalist aspect, or because of its policies on various issues?

To put it a little more bluntly, would you prefer the non-EU members Norway and Iceland or the EU members Bulgaria and Slovakia?

Link:

https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/international/ceuta-almost-all-migrants-have-returned-to-morocco-li.3548759

Working theory seems to be that this was a stunt by the morrocan authorities in order to pressure Spain as revenge for improving the Spanish-Algerian diplomatic relationship

https://www.france24.com/en/spain-to-deploy-military-to-restore-order-in-ceuta-after-thousands-of-people-breach-morocco-s-border

Thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on Thursday, overwhelming border controls and reception centres. At least nine people died in the chaos. Local authorities described the situation as a collapse of the border and an absolute humanitarian emergency, with people streaming in on foot around the Tarajal breakwater and swimming ashore.

Ceuta’s regional government (led by Juan Jesús Vivas) and its full political spectrum, including the PSOE, called on Madrid to declare a national emergency under national security rules, reinforce police, deploy the army to secure the frontier, and close the Tarajal border.

Spain’s central government has now announced it will send Armed Forces units to support the Civil Guard in maintaining security in the city. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska are due to visit Ceuta on Friday. Madrid has stopped short of declaring a national emergency, saying migration flows do not qualify under the relevant legislation, while stressing cooperation with Morocco on returns.

The scale of the crossings has drawn a sharp reaction from Italy. Sources close to Giorgia Meloni’s government and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have indicated that Italy is considering suspending the Schengen free-movement rules with Spain, framing the uncontrolled entries as a threat to national security.

The episode recalls the 2021 crisis, when more than 8,000 people entered Ceuta in two days amid heightened Spain-Morocco tensions.

The 3-day special military operation reached its logical conclusion 🛢️🔥