Hello,<br><br>We prepared a press release about the results of the PPI Conference this
weekend in Brussels. You can find the english version of the press
release at the end of this message and on the PPI website: <a href="http://www.pp-international.net/node/471" target="_blank">http://www.pp-international.net/node/471</a>
. <br>
<br>Greetings,<br><br>Pirate Parties International board<br><br>===<br><h1 style="font-weight: normal;" class="content-title"><font size="2">22 Pirate Parties from all over the world
officially founded the Pirate Parties International</font></h1><div class="content">
<p>This weekend from April 16th to 18th, delegates of Pirate
Parties from 22 countries created the Pirate Parties International
(PPI). The aim of this international organization of Pirate Parties is
to help establish, to support and promote, and to maintain communication
and cooperation between Pirate Parties around the world.</p>
<p>Even though nature was sending rough waters by means of volcanic
ashes, closed airspace and the train strike in France, it wasn't an
obstacle for Pirates from 18 countries to find a safe harbor in
Brussels. "As the Pirate movement is growing and getting momentum, it
was the next logical step to found an international organization to
coordinate the efforts of the Pirate Parties to cooperate on an
international level" says PPI Co-Chairman Gregory Engels.</p>
<p>After a tour of the European Parliament and a speech of Swedish
Pirate MEP Christian Engström on Friday April 16th, 32 delegates from 18
countries gathered in Brussels to discuss the statutes of the PPI. An
easy way to follow the conference had been arranged for those who were
cut out of Brussels completely, as all Pirates worldwide could follow
the sessions over a video stream and take part in the group discussions
over chat. Shortly after 22h00 on Saturday April 17th the delegates and
remote participants accepted the statutes of the Pirate Parties
International.</p>
<p>On Sunday April 18th, the conference closed with the election of the
new board. The two Co-Chairmen of the PPI will be Gregory Engels from
Germany and Jerry Weyer from Luxembourg. Nicolas Sahlqvist from Sweden
was elected Treasurer and Joachim Mönch from Germany is the new Chief
Administrative Officer of the PPI. The board is completed with Bogomil
"Bogo" Shopov from Bulgaria, Jakub Michalek from the Czech Republic and
Aleksander Blagojevic from Serbia. </p>
<p>"The first objective is to improve the internal communication of the
PPI" says Co-Chairman Jerry Weyer. "We will also continue to establish
taskforces for current common topics of the Pirate Parties, like ACTA or
INDECT. And of course we will improve the structure of the PPI, for
example by creating the headquarters that will serve as administrative
entity or by inviting everyone to propose amendments to the statutes."</p>
<p>For more information, contact the board via board (at)
<a href="http://pp-international.net">pp-international.net</a> or visit <a href="http://www.pp-international.net/">http://www.pp-international.net
.</a></p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Founding members of the PPI are the Pirate Parties from:<br>
<a href="http://www.pirateparty.org.au/">Australia </a><br>
<a href="http://www.piratenpartei.at/">Austria </a><br>
<a href="http://pirateparty.be/">Belgium</a><br>
<a href="http://www.partidopirata.org/">Brazil</a><br>
<a href="http://piratskapartia.bg/">Bulgaria</a><br>
<a href="http://www.ceskapiratskastrana.cz/">Czech Republic</a><br>
<a href="http://www.piratpartiet.dk/">Denmark</a><br>
<a href="http://www.piraattipuolue.fi/">Finland</a><br>
<a href="http://www.partipirate.org/">France</a><br>
<a href="http://piratenpartei.de/">Germany</a><br>
<a href="http://www.piratepartyireland.com/">Ireland</a><br>
<a href="http://www.partito-pirata.it/">Italy</a><br>
<a href="http://pirateparty.kz/">Kazakhstan</a><br>
<a href="http://www.piratepartei.lu/">Luxembourg</a><br>
<a href="http://piratenpartij.nl/">The Netherlands</a><br>
<a href="http://partidopiratapt.eu/">Portugal</a><br>
<a href="http://www.partidulpiratilor.ro/">Romania</a><br>
<a href="http://pirateparty.ru/">Russian Federation</a><br>
<a href="http://piratskapartija.com/">Serbia</a><br>
<a href="http://www.partidopirata.es/">Spain</a><br>
<a href="http://www.piraten-partei.ch/">Switzerland</a><br>
<a href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/">United Kingdom</a></p>
<p>A PDF version of the statutes of the Pirate Parties International can
be found here:<br>
<a href="http://int.piratenpartei.de/images/a/a6/Statutes_of_the_Pirate_Parties_International.pdf">http://int.piratenpartei.de/images/a/a6/Statutes_of_the_Pirate_Parties_International.pdf</a></p>
<p>The board would like to thank Swedish Pirate Party MEP Christian
Engström, his assistant Henrik Alexandersson together with Mattias
Bjärnemalm (Amelia Andersdotter - Lisbon MEP assistant) who helped us
arranging the European Parliament visitors tour with the Swedish EP
visitors group (Olaf Pries, Nina Rautelin and Elina Kaartinen). This
ensured that most of the travel costs were covered and thereby ensured
that most Pirate Parties could participate. We also like to thank Jurgen
Rateau, Monica and Gilles from Pirate Party Belgium for their hard work
with the conference location and social activities in Brussels.</p>
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