Nika Melia, Chair of Georgia’s largest opposition party, has been detained in a violent raid involving hundreds of police and special forces. The UNM party headquarters were stormed despite more than one thousand people having been peacefully gathered inside the building to express their solidarity and to protect the party leader from unlawful detention. Pepper spray and tear gas were used by the police. Law enforcement brutality compelled party members to leave the building, after…

The world is experiencing a deep transformation in the way how people work. People are forced to stay at home and to work from there whenever possible, and asked to limit their physical contacts to the minimum. All these circumstances lead to a significant decrease in economic activity and, accordingly, a decrease in the economic performance of the affected countries. Japan has decided to allocate $2.2 billion to encourage its companies to return their production…

COVID-19 has adversely affected students and the academic community across the European Union. Sadly, the response to this crisis has too often lacked a pan-European approach. We, the European Democrat Students (EDS), on behalf of students across Europe, have identified five areas where students are particularly affected and urgently call for maximum European co-operation therein. First, challenges relating to their studies, second; problems with their finances, third; challenges to their health, fourth; problems relating to…

According to the European Parliament statement, the lockdown measures European countries have implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led domestic violence to rise by a third in some countries. Financial insecurity could play an important role in preventing victims from leaving their abuser. Women in disadvantaged groups tend to be more at risk of experiencing domestic violence, namely women with disabilities, migrant domestic workers, queer and transgender women, and asylum seekers. Although domestic violence…

European Democrat Students took part in the European People’s Party Congress and met a number of high-profile politicians. For the first time the entire Council of EDS was able to attend the EPP Congress, thanks to the efforts of Chairman Carlo Giacomo Angrisano Girauta and Secretary General Beppe Galea. The participants had the opportunity to take part in all activities, hear all speeches and view the elections of the new EPP leadership. The accommodation, catering…