Budapest, April 7-10 - the joint seminar of European Democrat Students (EDS) and Democrat Youth Community of Europe (DEMYC) has proven to be a full success. With the absolute record number of 49 organisations participating, this event brought together almost 100 young people from 35 countries. As both Chairmen Bence Bauer (EDS) and Jani Johansson (DEMYC) pointed out, it is of utmost importance to share and to interact for the benefit of young people in Europe.
The conference that was organised with kind support of Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Hanns Seidel Foundation, was opened by Minister of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Zsolt Németh, who underlined the importance of regional cooperation and the role Hungary presumes in Central Europe. He gave a strong sign of support towards Croatia's ambitions in fastly joining the European Union. The speech, accompanied by press coverage, was warmly welcomed by EDS and DEMYC delegates.
Other features of the programme were a panel discussion about Minorities and Cultural Diversity, conducted by Ulrich Kleppmann, Representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation and Zsolt Szabó, Representative of the Foundation for a Civic Hungary and a briefing about the new Hungarian constitution by Gergely Gulyás, MP, Vice Chairman of the FIDESZ Parliamentary Group. EDS and DEMYC delegates also welcomes Jan Erik Surotchak, Director at the International Republican Institute and John Cavanaugh, the new Deputy Director with a dinner speech and a commemoration at the Ronald Reagan Bust.
The Council Meeting on Saturday adopted four motions and the conference resolution. Apart the motion on energy efficiency and the human rights' situation in Libya and Saudi-Arabia EDS Council adopted a motion welcoming and supporting the new Hungarian constitution and also the conference resolution tabled by EDS Bureau on "European Identity and EP elections". EDS Bureau will present this innovative resolution alongside the new European Identity campaign to EPP Political Assembly. Also, the new event booklet and the new BullsEye magazine were presented and disseminated.
The seminar was evaluated positively, a detailed report will follow. EDS Bureau would like to say thank you to the organisers and all speakers.
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