On 7-9 November 2024, Socialists for Independence attended the European Forum of Left, Green and Progressive Forces in Budapest Hungary. In attendance was Socialists for Independence, who co-organised and spoke on the panel ‘Stateless Nations’ alongside representatives from EUiN, Catalunya and Bildu, Basque Country.
On 7-9 November, Socialists for Independence (SFI) attended the eighth European Forum of the Left, Green and Progressives in Budapest. SFI was also participating as a speaker organisation, having taken the initiative earlier in April when we proposed a panel on the question of ‘stateless nations’ in Europe. In doing so, the panel aimed to build upon a European Left party resolution—proposed by SFI and Democratic Left Scotland in Ljubljana in February—that affirmed Scotland’s right to self-determination.
The Forum itself took place less than a week after the re-election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Across all panels, there was a justifiable sense of worry and urgency in all the speakers’ contributions who variously spoke of the threat the far-right was now posing across the continent. Most notable, however, was Attila Mesterházy, President of the Hungarian Socialists and Democrats, who spoke to the observable fact that voters have simply disregarded the Left’s warnings about the xenophobia and racism of such parties and voted for them in significant numbers. Simple sloganeering will no longer suffice and genuinely popular yet credible alternative policies need to be proposed. This needs to be done, he argued, alongside tactical steps to continue to build and maintain cordon sanitaires across Europe, and entering into radical conflict with the far-right to tackle their racism head-on.
Against this backdrop, SFI’s panel on ‘Peoples Sovereignties of Europe: Transformative Policies from Stateless Nations’ demonstrated both how engaging with pro-independence struggles allows for popular social policies to be debated and to counter the divisive and racist policies of the far-right. The speakers on the panel were Ander Larunbe, from Euskal Herria Bildu (EH Bildu, the Basque Country), Mercedes Vidal from Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (EUiA, Catalunya), and David Green from Socialists for Independence (Scotland).
A common theme across the panel was the fact that progressive, pro-independence parties and groups were often at the core of pursuing more progressive policies in their respective countries and states. With both the UK Labour party and Spanish Socialist party in power, Mercedes Vidal, coordinator for EUiA, noted that the reality of this political situation was not exactly fruitful for the Left. While in theory Spain had the most leftwing government since the fall of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, the only progressive policies passed by it had come as a result of pressure from a coalition of pro-independence parties.
Ander Larunbe of EH Bildu, the leftwing progressive federation of pro-independence political parties across the Basque Country, also spoke to their recent electoral successes which has allowed the party to pursue redistributive policies and tackle social exclusion. With over 1400 local councillors, over one-third of seats in the autonomous Basque Parliament, and seats in the state and European legislatures, Larunbe attributed EH Bildu to something more than simply its policy formation, but something more difficult to capture: its style, attitude towards its voters, and a sensitivity to the position of the ‘party interest’ against the voters demands.
In Scotland, in light of the SNP’s collapse in seats in the 2024 general election, the short-term political prospects for pursuing a referendum seem weak. But as we in SfI said immediately after the 2024 election, declining support for the SNP has not translated into a parallel drop in support for independence. Indeed, a separation in voters minds between the two can provide opportunities for the pro-independence Left in Scotland, if the Left in Scotland can more effectively organise together.
More worryingly, however, in both Scotland and Catalunya, the far-right seem to be gaining ground. In Catalunya, the nationalist far-right have moved from social media into openly organising on the streets. The Catalan Alliance (Aliança Catalana), a far-right, pro-independence party has now gained a foothold in the Catalan parliament in elections this year and, just as Reform UK did in the recent UK general election, seemed to have drawn socially conservative voters away from more traditional centre-left- and right-wing parties. This may be a sign of things to come in Scotland when elections to the Scottish parliament are held in May 2026 and should be a wake-up call to all on the Left to start strategizing now to counter this.
The Forum itself provided wider opportunities for greater collaboration and discussion and Socialists for Independence are keen to build upon the comradeship and solidarity received during the weekend. Most notably, SFI have been invited to and will be attending the annual general assembly of the party Communists of Catalunya on 13-14 December. Tentative proposals have also been suggested with other comrades across Europe to work more closely on ideological discussions concerning ‘sovereignty’ and ‘stateless nations’ and SFI hope that these will progress swiftly in the early new year.Â