Today, exactly 50 years ago, a group of young European political leaders gathered in Vienna, unified in pursuit of a bold dream. They dared to challenge the political reality of a world divided, deeper and deeper, into the West and the East. They dared to dream that one day Europe could be unified under one banner, all grievances and wounds from war put permanently into the past, unified in diversity.
To promote their common dream these students and leaders of political youth movements decided that a forum was needed for young people from all over the continent to meet. They believed that only by getting the chance to know the people from other countries, and by visiting these countries, it would be possible to reach an understanding of the similar but still different cultures, of understanding the challenges each country was facing. They founded what they called the International of Christian Democrat Students, ICCS, which has later become known to most of us as European Democrat Students, EDS.
On this 50th anniversary of founding EDS a group of students and young leaders are gathered for EDS Policy Work Days in Riga, Latvia, to commemorate the five decades of successful political work. And to continue the tradition of being the frontrunners and visionaries of the European political scene by debating and creating visions of how Europe should look in the years to come.
EDS is a member association of