PES President Sergei Stanishev congratulated Ms Valenciano, a PES Vice President on her appointment:
“All of us in the PES wish Elena and her colleagues the best of luck for the elections in May. Elena has been an active member of the PES family for many years, and she is sure to be an excellent representative of her party and citizens in the European Parliament. She did a great job when she previously sat as an MEP from 1999 to 2007 and we look forward to seeing her return.”
PES Common Candidate designate Martin Schulz welcomed Elena’s nomination to head the list this spring, “I have known Elena for years, she is a hard working, dedicated person,” Martin said, “There are many challenges ahead to reconcile Spanish citizens with the EU and they have justified high expectations and I am happy that Elena will lead the Spanish Socialists drive towards a new Europe.”
Elena Valenciano has been at the forefront of the PES’s recent campaign against a proposed new law on abortion in Spain, leading our member parties and campaigners in their protests in Madrid and across Europe.
PSOE is currently the second biggest Socialist party delegation in the European Parliament’s S&D Group, with 23 MEPs.
