Guy Verhofstadt, one of the most influential European political leaders of recent decades, will be the keynote speaker at the annual dinner of the European Movement in Scotland, in Edinburgh on 1 November.
Remarking on his forthcoming visit to Scotland, Guy Verhofstadt said,
“Scotland is the most pro-EU part of the UK. Its people understand the value to its trade, security, education, sport and culture of being at the heart of European affairs.
“They are not isolationists but internationalists. They are not fantasists, but realists. They are not afraid of deep democratic cooperation between states but see the clear benefits of it. I look forward to being in Edinburgh and I’m delighted that the European Movement in Scotland has invited me to visit a truly great European capital city.”
Guy Verhofstadt was prime minister of Belgium between 1999 and 2008, then served as a Member of the European Parliament, retiring in 2024. His many senior roles at the European Parliament included being Brexit Coordinator and, for four years, chair of the Brexit Steering Group, following the UK’s 2016 referendum on European Union membership. He is President of the European Movement International.
In September 2019, Verhofstadt gave a speech at the conference of the UK Liberal Democrats in which he said,
“The world of tomorrow is a world of empires in which we Europeans, and you British, can only defend your interests, your way of life, by doing it together, in a European framework and in the European Union.”
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