Madrid, December 02 | While the governing party announces that it will include abortion in the Spanish Constitution, the Senate is the stage for the VI Transatlantic Summit “For Freedom and the Culture of Life”, which begins today with the participation of 300 political and civic leaders from 45 countries.

The event is organized by Political Network for Values (PNfV – Red Política por los Valores) and is the most attended of the six convened by the Network over a decade of existence. The first summit was held in 2014 at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.

The number of registrations to participate in it increased from 200 to 300 in the last week and a half when attempts to disqualify the event through some publications in the media intensified.

There are delegations from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine and Venezuela, among other countries.

“The transatlantic summits have established themselves as an important meeting point for those of us who believe in human dignity and defend the value of life, liberty and the family. In Madrid, our purpose is clear: to launch a vigorous message in defense of freedom and the culture of life, fundamental elements for the progress and stability of any society,” explains José Antonio Kast, until now president of PNfV.

A new president of the Network

As of today, Croatian MEP Stephen Bartulica will be the new president of the Political Network for Values, taking over from José Antonio Kast, who completed a two-and-a-half-year period.

“José Antonio Kast’s period at the head of the Network has been full of fruits. His prestige, vision and personal integrity allowed us to move forward and generate greater synergies and increasingly effective articulations. Now, under the leadership of Stephen Bartulica, our network will continue to open new paths to broaden the impact of our agenda,” says Lola Velarde, PNfV’s executive director.

Bartulica is 54 years old, was born in St. Joseph, USA, and is the son of Croatian parents. He is married and the father of four children. He holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri and a PhD in Political Philosophy and Ethics from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He is an associate professor of political philosophy at the Catholic University of Croatia. Founder of the think tank Center for Renewal of Culture. He was a member of the Parliament of his country (2020) and is currently a member of the European Parliament (2024). He is co-founder and International Secretary of the DOMiNO party and member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

A source of hoje

“The world urgently needs a culture of life and to build it, freedom is necessary, for the West is immersed in an existential crisis of historic proportions. I am sure that the Madrid summit will trigger a renewed commitment to promote and defend human dignity,” says Bartulica. His speech will close the summit.

Among the day’s speakers are Nahuel Sotelo, Argentina’s Secretary of Worship and Civilization; Márton Ugrósdy, Undersecretary of State in the Prime Minister’s Office of Hungary; Members of the European Parliament Kinga Gal of Hungary; Stephen Bartulica of Croatia; Nicolas Bay of France; Paolo Inselvini of Italy; Margarita de la Pisa of Spain; and Serban-Dimitrie Sturdza of Romania.

U.S. Congressman Andy Harris; Paola Holguín, Senator and presidential pre-candidate from Colombia; Senator Eduardo Girão and Congressman Nikolas Ferreira from Brazil; Parliamentarians Stephan Schubert from Chile; Nicolás Mayoraz from Argentina; Rogelio Genao from the Dominican Republic; Ignacio Garriga, from Spain; Rita Maria Matias, from Portugal; Gudrun Kugler, from Austria; Krzysztof Bosak and Krzysztof Szczucki, from Poland; John Crane, member of the Indiana Senate; and Kerri Seekins-Crowe, member of the Montana House of Representatives, both from the United States.

Other speakers include: Jay Richards and Grace Melton, researchers at the Heritage Foundation; María Calvo, professor at the Carlos III University in Spain; Carmen Fernández de la Cigoña, director of the Institute for Family Studies at CEU; Calum Miller, English physician and researcher; Moroccan analyst Hafid el Hachimi, researcher at Carleton University in Canada; and Gregor Puppinck, Director of the European Center for Law and Justice.

African presence at the Summit

Parliamentarians Lucy Akello, from Uganda, and Samuel Sam, Ambassador for Peace of the Government of Sierra Leone, will be speakers from Africa, and 7 African countries will be represented at the Summit.

“Africa is important for our Network, because it is under intense pressure from international organizations that seek to impose an agenda contrary to its culture and family values. The political representatives of this continent have wanted from the beginning to participate in our Summits, from which they have been denouncing these attempts at ideological colonization,” explains Lola Velarde.

The summit is made possible thanks to the support of partner organizations of the Network: The Heritage Foundation, Foundation for a Civic Hungary, Center for Fundamental Rights, International Organization for the Family, Family Watch International; Center for Family and Human Rights; Centro de Estudios, Formación y Análisis Social – CEU-CEFAS, Family Research Council, Fundación Neos, Ordo Iuris – Institute for Legal Culture; Talenting Group and Más Cinco.