Latvia's future is in Europe, with Progresīvie

Ciarán Cuffe addressing Kongress, 25 April 2026 

Dear friends, dear Progresīvie, 

 

It is a pleasure to be with you in Riga today. I bring warm greetings from the European Green Party, and from your friends and allies across Europe.

Let me start by making it clear - what happens here in Latvia matters far beyond this one country.
Why do I say that? Our continent is living through an age of instability. Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine continues to test our  resolve. Recently, the war in Iran has added new economic strain and renewed pressure on energy prices. Across Europe, citizens are anxious about security, about democratic stability, and about whether their standard of living can be protected in an increasingly uncertain world.

In moments like this, voters ask a simple question: who is serious enough to be trusted to protect the country? To defend the economic wellbeing of citizens, as well as the integrity of our democracies? And who can ensure that the country stays firmly anchored in the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic alliance?This October, Latvia faces a serious decision. Voters will have to choose between a democratic, European and development oriented future, or one dominated by populists who could weaken democracy, damage Latvia’s Western direction and erode the foundations of the state. One thing is certain - if Latvia is to have a democratic, European and development oriented government after the election, Progresīvie will need to be a central part of that government. You have shown that a modern, pro-European, progressive force can govern responsibly. You have demonstrated that it is possible to combine principle with competence, solidarity with security, and reform with stability.

Latvian Minister for Culture Agnese Lāce

And you have an impressive track record in government to show voters. Minister Agnese Lāce has brought intelligence and dignity to the Ministry of Culture, helping to strengthen the civic and cultural fabric of Latvian democracy. Minister Atis Švinka has contributed to the transport and infrastructure agenda that Latvia needs for resilience, mobility and deeper European integration. And Minister Andris Sprūds  has provided calm and credible leadership in defence, reinforcing Latvia’s security, helping to build a drone coalition and maintaining a firm commitment to Ukraine. And who would be better to represent that commitment to your country, to the needs of ordinary citizens and to the democratic integrity of Latvia than your chosen candidate for Prime Minister, Andris Šuvajevs?  Andris brings intellectual seriousness, economic expertise and a clear sense of democratic purpose. He represents a politics that is thoughtful, capable and future oriented. That is precisely the kind of leadership Latvia will need in the years ahead.

The priorities he has set out for this campaign are exactly the right ones.First, to defend democracy and  the foundations of Latvia’s statehood, and to prevent anti-democratic forces from dragging the country backwards. Second, to address the cost of living crisis, while making Latvia’s economy more resilient through real energy security. That means reducing dependence, protecting households, investing in renewables, strengthening infrastructure and making sure Latvia is not exposed every time a geopolitical shock hits global energy markets. And third, to deepen Latvia’s ties with its allies - in the Baltic states, in the European Union, across the wider European continent and in the Euro-Atlantic alliance. Latvia’s voice must be strong, clear and respected. And it is strongest when it stands with its allies.

Opening of Progresīvie Kongress

As I look around this room, I see a party of integrity and confidence. So, as this campaign unfolds, I hope you will carry that confidence with you. Confidence in your record in government. Confidence in your values. And confidence in your ability to help shape Latvia’s future for the better. The European Green Party is proud to stand with you, proud of what you have achieved, and proud of what you are building.

I wish you every success in the months ahead.

Low-carbon travel? Well, about half of it

Yikes, that was quite a travel year. Since I was voted in as co-chair of the European Greens in December 2024, I’ve travelled a lot to meet in person with member parties, and where I can, I take the train, though there’s been a lot of flights as well. I’ve also travelled to speak at events relating to legislation that I worked on over my time as an MEP: the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

 

Around half my travel was ‘low carbon’ though, so that was a step in the right direction. 80,000 kilometres, 38,000 by train, and ferry. You can see some of my journeys from this map of where I snapped photos along the way. Still, it did involve 200 trains, 50 buses and taxis, and 45 flights. Oh, and did I mention tele-working? There were also about 250 online meetups. My travel carbon footprint? About 9.5 tonnes of CO2. I've made a stab at mapping the travel using the geo-tags from my photos on Google Images.

 

What take-away from all of this? Improve the onboard Wi-Fi on trains and make it easier to log on. Persuade Transport for Wales to allow trains departing from Holyhead to wait for up to ten minutes to facilitate ferry foot passengers. Reduce the security checks in Holyhead ferry terminal for foot passengers embarking by ferry, as they far exceed the checks for those who travel by car. Provide Fast-track disembarkation by bus for foot passengers arriving by ferry at Dublin and Holyhead Port. Show train departures from Holyhead in the Holyhead customs hall for foot passengers arriving by ferry and travelling onwards by train. Provide Wi-Fi, ferry information and announcements in Holyhead embarkation lounge for foot passengers boarding the ferry. Improve the pre-check-in toilet facilities at Holyhead. It is a long list, but achievable. My long list would include an overnight sleeper train between Holyhead and London, or a ‘sleeper bus’ with couchette seating that could take you all the way from Dublin to Paris or Brussels. 

 

Still though, a Sailrail ticket between Ireland and the UK is surprisingly good value. I generally top it up to Club Class which gives you video quality Wi-Fi across the Irish Sea, oh and they throw in a continental breakfast on board, and a free newspaper for that nostalgic feel. The price doesn’t increase before the departure date, unlike the Eurostar ticket which can sky-rocket in price unless you purchase a few weeks out. I absolutely appreciate that many people can’t contemplate a half day travelling from Dublin to Brussels, and for so many who are caring for children, parents or others it is well-nigh impossible. However, if you can afford the time, and if your job involves a lot of screen time, a train or ferry can give you time to think, to read, or to catch up on emails.

 

If you’re not a regular continental train user, be warned that German long-distance trains are notoriously late, Polish train food is delicious, and Belgian trains are pretty reliable. A full water flask is a must, and a warm coat and scarf for winter travel in case you’re stuck on a cold platform. Patience and sense of humour helps, and an understanding that front-line staff can’t work magic if you’re going to miss a connection. 

 

I wrote this post at Holyhead Port, where high winds cancelled the afternoon ferry, but the evening boat sailed. In the meantime, I got a good afternoon’s work done in the town library, housed in a wonderful old Markets building where the locals were friendly, the Wi-Fi free, and the staff called up a cafe for me to check it would be open for an evening meal. The joys of slow travel!

 

Getting the band back together in Sweden

Address to the Milöpartiet de Gröna (Swedish Greens) on the occasion of their bi-annual congress in Västerås, 18 October 2025

 Good afternoon, and greetings from the European Green Party.

Let me thank and congratulate Amanda Lind and Daniel Helldén on their great work and re-elections as party co-spokespersons. So good also to ‘get the band back together’ and meet with my former MEP colleagues Alice Bah Kuhnke, Pär Holmgren’, and Jacob Dalunde, as well as Isabelle Lövin, the ‘new kid on the block’.

I am here as co-chair of the European Greens. We bring together national parties that share the same Green values, and who are active across the entire European continent - both within the European Union and beyond. We are striving for a Green transformation of Europe and its economy that will bring about a progressive and sustainable future for all its citizens.

In recent years I worked with my Swedish colleagues in the European Parliament to deliver the European Green Deal, a series of laws and regulations that aimed to reduce the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% between 1990 and 2030. We are well on our way to achieving that, but the 2020s must continue to be the decade of implementation and action. In that period both Conservatives and Progressives worked together on climate action and a just transition. We now need at least a 90% reduction target for 2040.

From Conservatives to Progressives we worked together. We joined forces with governments, trade unions and civil society to make change happen. However, times have changed: Collaboration between conservative forces (EPP) and far-right (ECR, Patriots) is now common and we need to fight to avoid it being accepted! 

The political forces in the European Parliament and in the Council (with Member States) are now in a completely different dynamic. We have been able to position ourselves in 2025 as the force fighting the rising authoritarianism of the far-right forces.  Successful examples include: the Budapest & Pécs Pride events (where the Swedish party was also present), our strong commitment against the repression against students in Serbia, and also the on-going repression of democratic forces in Georgia & Turkey

Looking ahead, the big issues of our time: climate, poverty, safety, global health and security cannot be solved by the nation state alone. They demand cooperation across borders. That is what we are proud of as Europeans, that is what we are proud of as Greens. We will work with you, we will stand with you, we are proud of what you have achieved, and will achieve. It must be remembered that we are  the only political force that is coherent internationally when it comes to our position on the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza. We will always be the force that defends international rule of law. We thank Miljöpartiet de gröna for all your contributions to our internal political discussions and for standing together with us on this. 

This is a time for the Progressive forces to combine forces and fight together for the values we believe in. The  Nordic countries have shown over the past year that, in those difficult times, the Green movement can be a political force that wins, and that brings hope to our citizens. Green and red parties did particularly well in the Nordic countries in the European elections last year.  I want to explicitly mention the breakthrough results in Norway, the strong support for the Greens in Denmark and the possibility of a Green mayor for Copenhagen this autumn (!) but also the positive dynamics that you are bringing ahead of the Swedish elections next year. There seems to be a momentum for progressive politics, and we need to capitalize on it! Hope comes from the North, we are looking to the Northern Lights to illuminate our pathway  forward. More than ever, the Nordic countries can and must show the way for Europe. 

I want to finish by mentioning the upcoming European Green Party (EGP) Lisbon Congress on 5-7 December where I hope to see many of you again.

Fractured World Order: Where Does Europe Stand?

On 19 July 2025 I spoke at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Donegal on the theme of “Fractured World Order: Where Does Europe Stand?”. On the panel with me were Dr. Eoin Drea, Senior Researcher in the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies; Bill Emmott, Former Editor of The Economist and Chair of IISS, and Lisa O’Carroll, Senior Correspondent with the Guardian. The discussion was hosted by Shona Murray of Euronews. Here’s what I had to say.

A geological perspective

The Geological Survey of Ireland notes, in its report on “The Geological Heritage of County Donegal: An audit of County Geological and Geomorphological Sites in north Donegal” states that: Ireland has joined in the effort to extend the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) to all parts of the once-continuous, pre-Atlantic Appalachian-Caledonian mountain belt. The existing IAT stretches from the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail at Mount Katahdin in the US state of Maine, through eastern Canada to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. The fractures are real, but the bedrock is the same. The geology is complex, but so too is the politics. We may be divided but nonetheless there are ties that bind.

Meanwhile in the European Union

Closer to home, the fractures within Europe are not as deep as some would make out, but there are significant regional differences from east to west, and north to south. Six months ago, I became co-chair of the European Green Party, and my role has been to help the many Green parties around Europe to work together. I have had the privilege in this short time to travel and meet with citizens in the Western Balkans, Hungary, Greenland and places in between.  I can see that Europeans are drawn together by trust in democracy, rule of law, science (more specifically climate science), shared values and concerns. 

They differ in their views on the conflicts in both the Middle East and Ukraine. Those in Middle Europe still struggle with the long shadow of the Holocaust and find it more difficult than we do to respond to the scale of human suffering in Gaza. Many in Western Europe find it difficult to comprehend the visceral fear of Russia and Putin that those living in, and adjoining the Eastern Bloc live with every day. Nonetheless, I believe that despite the wobble of Brexit, most Europeans believe in the importance of European institutions, and European action to tackle the challenges that we face. 

A Europe of Unity

Half a decade ago in 2019 and 2020, the imperative of climate action brought significant unity to the European Union. Climate action is the EU’s unique selling point, and a Just Transition is critical to our future.  As the European Union’s External Action Service points out, Climate change and environmental degradation are existential threats to Europe and the world. In 2019 the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched a European Green Deal, which commenced with a European Climate Law, but which also involved some twenty separate pieces of legislation that tackled various aspects of the climate and biodiversity crises. From nature protection to energy efficiency to buildings a suite of laws was passed that set out to achieve a 55% reduction in greenhouse emissions in the period 1990 to 2030. That target is still on track. Even though the new European Commission now champions a Clean Industrial Deal the efforts to decarbonise the European Union are set to continue, though with rebranding, and a nod to populist politics. Ten years on from the Paris Agreement we are not aligned with the ambitious decarbonisation pathway that is required, but the direction of travel is clear.

 As transatlantic challenge

Co-operation across borders is key. In my time as a member of the European Parliament I sat on the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the United States and under the capable chairmanship of Radosław Sikorski we stressed our common concerns. Sikorski had been a war correspondent in Afghanistan, so was well prepared for dealing with the politics of a fractured world, and his wife, author Anne Applebaum is also an insightful commentator on the politics of divisions.  He is now Poland’s Foreign Minister, a challenging role. Mind you, in the period prior to Trump's re-election we were urged to enjoy our time, as the warm transatlantic relationship might not last. How true this was. Sadly the new US administration, by winding up USAID, their main development aid vehicle, and by policies that do U-turns based on social media posts  has lost the room in international diplomacy.  However, the problems that we face cannot be solved by an isolationist position as deValera learnt almost one hundred years ago and the main challenges that we face: of security, of climate, of disinformation, of migration and inequality require co-operation across borders. 

Joining the Club

There are those who suggest that the EU is fracturing and failing, but I disagree. The list of accession states is long. There is a queue of countries that seek to be part of the European Club, and it seems likely that several of them: Iceland, Montenegro and perhaps other countries in the Western Balkans may achieve membership by the end of the decade. I was in Montenegro earlier this month. Our European Greens sister party URA (United Reform Action) led by Dritan Abazovic see the EU as championing democracy, rule of law and anti-corruption measures. And more importantly, as the EEC  did for us fifty years ago, today’s Europe assists in tackling inequality between countries by investing in the necessary social, economic and physical infrastructure that is needed.

Future finance

This week saw the publication of the draft EU budget for the seven-year period 2028-2035, the Multi-annual Financial Framework. Two trillion Euro is a lot of money, but not that large in the greater scheme of things, particularly when you divide this sum by seven years and 450 million people you get €635 per citizen per year, but it is significant.   It includes €865 billion National and Regional Partnership Plans including CAP and linked to reforms and respect for the rule of law;€410 billion Competitiveness Fund for clean and smart technology; a €200 billion Global Europe Fund for humanitarian aid and support for reforms and investments in countries seeking accession to the EU; a €150 billion “Catalyst Europe” loan scheme for energy infrastructure, strategic technologies, defence, and a €100 billion ‘Ukraine Reserve’ for reconstruction. To summarise: the budget is similar to the last/current budget, and includes substantial funding for climate, defence, enlargement and Ukraine.

 

Security, defence and resilience

On the issue of defence: “Safer together: A path towards a fully prepared Union” is the report written last year by the former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. In the preface he states that “security is the foundation of everything we hold dear.” and the “broad open space for people to exercise their freedoms” is being “exploited by malicious actors, as we constantly see in the diverse hybrid operations conducted against us”. He goes on to say that Europe is being targeted by those looking for weaknesses who take advantage of our political divisions, any lack of social cohesion and harmful economic dependencies, and are weaponizing anything they can against us. In response we must be well prepared to ensure we do not become an easy target. 

Climate Action

He references the increased risk from extreme weather events which is forcing Europeans to ask not only how climate change will affect future generations, but also what we need to prepare for today. Extreme floods and forest fires have caused high levels of casualties and the highest military call-outs in the EU in recent years.  He says that these deeply disruptive events are neither transitory nor isolated. They are driven and connected by underlying fault lines, long-term shifts and root causes that point to a prolonged period of high risk and deep uncertainty for the Union. We must invest in climate adaptation and mitigation.

Reforming our Defence Forces

Our own Defence Forces are not fit for purpose. Back in 2021 in my submission on the public consultation on the Commission on the Defence Forces report I said that the Irish economy’s dependence on digital infrastructure has increased dramatically in the last decade. From server farms to undersea cables, we are exposed to new threats and challenges. There are concerns over attempts that may have occurred involving the hacking of such infrastructure such as undersea cables by foreign forces, and the unannounced incursion of defence aircraft and submarines into Irish waters and airspace. These concerns must inform our defence capabilities. We need greater urgency in staffing up to cybersecurity threats and to reforming the Defence Forces management structures so that they are fit for purpose to the threats we now face. I am pleased that Ireland is now part of two PESCO projects, Network of Logistic Hubs in Europe and Support to Operations (also known as NetLogHubs), and Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection (called CSIP). 

Safer Together

Niinistö, the former Finnish President said in his report on Security for the EU says we all must assist in building and maintaining security and references the information sources that we trust as being an element of protecting our security. He also discusses energy security and resilience and moving away from dependence on fossil fuels. So, security is not just about tanks and guns, it is about investing in social cohesion, it is about news sources we trust, and it is about decarbonisation. We must invest in housing, in information and news, and in climate action. This will protect our common home and frustrate those seeking to fracture our democracy. This applies regardless of whether those actors are approaching Europe from across the Atlantic or from the Eastern flank. 

Once again Europe is threatened by war on European soil, and by differences in tackling conflict elsewhere. However, despite these threats the belief in shared values persists, and will help ensure that the European Union is united and enlarges in the coming years. Mending our fractured world demands investment in social justice, in development aid and in a just transition.  Trans-national cooperation is imperative to achieving this.

References

Deprez, Martine. ‘Progress Report on the implementation of the Joint Communication - A New Outlook on the Climate and Security Nexus'. European Commission, 2025. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/enhancing-climate-security-and-defence_en

Geological Survey of Ireland. ‘The Geological Heritage of Donegal’. Government of Ireland, 2019. https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/publications/Pages/The-Geological-Heritage-of-Donegal.aspx

Niinisto, Sauli. ‘Safer Together Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness’. European Commission, 2024.  https://commission.europa.eu/document/5bb2881f-9e29-42f2-8b77-8739b19d047c_en

Óglaigh na hÉireann. ‘Report of the Commission on Defence Forces’. Government of Ireland, 2022. https://www.military.ie/en/public-information/publications/report-of-the-commission-on-defence-forces/