Europe Liberty Forum (ELF19), a new dynamic institution, organized annually since 2016 by Atlas Network, was held this year in Athens Greece and co-organized by KEFiM. ELF19 brought together more than 200 members of the freedom movement from 44 countries, among them freedom fighters from a diverse think tank background. All attendees had the chance to discuss the challenges Europe is facing today and to exchange solutions for the more effective defense of the ideas of freedom.

Check the top 10 moments that we have distinguished from the largest Europe Liberty Forum so far, which we proudly hosted this year in our country.

1. Linda Whetstone welcome speech

2. A warm greeting

Alexander Skouras, President of KEFiM and former Director of External Relations of the Atlas Network, welcomed the Europe Liberty Forum’s 200+ attendees to the two day conference in Athens.

3. KEFiM’s people

This year’s Europe Liberty Forum was the perfect meeting place for KEFiM’s Executive team, our members and the members of the Academic Board and
Board of Directors, as well as our supporters.

4. The State of European Liberalism in 2019

A fascinating discussion took place at the Forum regarding the opportunities and threats liberalism is facing in Europe today, the discussion was co-ordinated by a friend of Greek liberalism and a member of our International Advisory Board, Dr. Tom Palmer (Executive Vice President of International Programs Atlas Network). Speakers: Marek Tatala (Civil Development Forum, Poland), Thomas Palermo (Contrepoints.org, France), Tanja Porčnik (Visio Institut, Slovenia), Kate Andrews (Institute of Economic Affairs, UK).

5. A freedom fighter

One of the memorable presentations was of Vera Kichanova, a journalist, and the first liberal who was elected to a public office in Russia, at the age of 20. Vera had an impressive career, as a student of the Oxford Hayek Society, as well as an award winner of the Democracy Award by the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States. In addition to the top Russian media, her comments have been published in The New York Times, Forbes, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Telegraph and Spiegel. Vera participated in the panel on creating a wider movement for freedom, together with Gregory Vallianatos (Liberal Alliance, Greece), Mykhailo Lavrovskyi (Ukranian Students For Freedom, Ukraine), Dr. Bican Shahin (Freedom Research Association, Turkey).

6. Fresh ideas

Nataliya Melnyk of the Bendukidze Free Market Center won the Think Tank Shark Tank-Europe 2019 with her proposal to create an educational program for secondary school students aimed at introducing a pleasant, innovative and youthful approach to economic education in Ukraine. “By transforming the way in which economics is taught, we try to help students become self-sufficient individuals who love freedom and have critical thinking, with developed resistance to populist tendencies,” she said, developing the objectives of the program. The contest was also attended by Dmytro Lyvch (EasyBusiness, Ukraine) and Michalis Iakovides (Greek Liberties Monitor, Greece)

7. Greece 2021

The Executive Director of KEFiM, Nikos Rompapas, presented to our network and our partners our biggest initiative so far, the reform roadmap Greece 2021 – Agenda for Freedom and Prosperity.

8. Hymn to Freedom

The dinner of Europe Liberty Forum 2019 was opened by KEFiM’s Executive Vice President Demitrios Katsoudas, reciting the Greek National Anthem, translated by the British author, poet and essayist Rudyard Kipling (1918).

9. The First Libertarian Piece of Literature

During the dinner, Professor Aristides Hatzis, member of KEFiM’s Academic Board, made a toast to freedom. In his speech entitled “The First Libertarian Piece of Literature, Written 2,440 years ago”, Professor narrated Aristophanes’ comedy “The Aharnes”.

10. See you in Kyiv!

The next Europe Liberty Forum will take place in Kiev, co-organized by the Ukrainian Economic Freedom Foundation on 14 and 15 May 2020.

Find photos of the event here.