Europe cannot keep on remaining impassive to the Hungarian behaviour!

On September 21st, the Hungarian parliament adopted a new law regarding asylum seekers: the new law allows the police and the army to open fire on migrants in certain situations as long as the shots do not aim to kill. The legislation is the newest provocation from Orban’s government violating once more every single ideal and value that are the foundation of the European project. The EU, sadly, has been passive to the Orban’s government behaviour. We, as political youth organizations, cannot tolerate the violation of numerous statuses from the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. We turn to European leaders and urge them to take exemplary actions in a short term to not give the impression that they are sitting silent while more policies incompatible with our vision of Europe are passed through.

The EU’s lack of reaction to Orban’s policies sends the signal that different standards apply to Member States. How could we justify that the EU is strong in confronting a country that is not respecting financial obligations as it has been the case for Greece, while it remains silent when a Member State transgresses the fundamental values of our union? No matter what voting power or political affiliation it may have, a Member State that calls into question more than sixty years of European construction cannot act with impunity even by calling upon the principle of subsidiarity.

In this situation we demand/urge:

Mister Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the European Commission to state the violation of the Europe’s values by Hungary (art. 2 TEU) and to initiate a sanctioning procedure as stipulated in article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union.

European Heads of State or Government to reaffirm the fundamental values of the EU as written in the Treaties and take exemplary actions against State members that transgress them.

Mister Donald TUSK, President of the European Council to breach this subject during the next Summit. The issue is yet to be discussed and has not been mentioned up until now.

Mister Manfred WEBER, Chairman of the EPP group; Mister Gianni PITTELLA, President of the S&D group; Mister Syed KAMALL, Chairman of the ECR group; Mister Guy VERHOFSTADT, President of the ALDE group; Miss Rebecca HARMS and Mister Philippe LAMBERTS, co-Presidents of the Greens/ALE to tackle the subject in the European Parliament, to take note of the violation of the European values by Hungary (art.2 TEU) and to put pressure on the European Commission so it will react accordingly.

We would like to remind our deep commitment to keep the Hungarian people in the EU. We regret the isolation of the country caused by the Orban’s government policies which have lead to the erection of both political and physical fences such as those built at the Romanian, Serbian and Croatian borders. We also regard the EU as partly responsible for aggravating the situation by not creating a deeper integration and requirements of solidarity amongst the Member States.

Appeal signed by Young Democrats for Europe and two of our organisations : Jeunes Démocrates (France) and Euzko Gaztedi Indarra (Basque Country).

You can find the appeal here

Stop the European Refugee Crisis!

Over the past weeks and months the ongoing migrant crisis has considerably worsened: families jeopardizing their lives in order to escape persecution and war, bloody riots in Macedonia, overcrowded refugee camps in Greece, arson attacks in Germany, people suffocated to death in trucks on European motorways – to name just a few – have shocked public opinion. Political youth organisations in Europe are closely monitoring the latest developments expressing their deep concern. We want to take a stance against these deteriorating humanitarian conditions: the EU must act and needs to assume its historic responsibility in this process.

On September 1, the most intense phase of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU is going to begin and we expect concrete results regarding refugee and asylum policies from the Council of Ministers in charge of Justice and Home Affairs as well as from the European Council. Europe’s decision-makers must negotiate a coherent and lasting strategy and find sustainable answers to this humanitarian crisis.

Political youth organisations are making a plea for solidarity and appeal to Europe’s policy-makers to point the way: progressive values in Europe cannot cede to worldviews nurtured by intolerance, racism, fundamentalism and misogyny. Europe should shine as a beacon of hope for humane and progressive values. Refugees, faced with despair and peril, require all our support. We, the youth of Europe, do not intend to silently accept the suffering of people drowning, dying of thirst, suffocating or being killed in their struggle for a better life. We request sustainable solutions to solve the refugee crisis and we will monitor and hold the European leaders accountable for any further tragedies within or at the European borders.

Appeal co-signed by some Pan-European youth organisations : FYEG (Federation of Young European Greens), Jeunes Démocrates Européens, IUSY (International Union of Socialist Youth), LYMEC (European Liberal Youth), YES (Young European Socialists), YFJ (European Youth Forum), JEF (Young European Federalists); and more than 60 national youth organisations, amongst them some of our members: Jeunes Démocrates and UDI Jeunes (France), Alternativa Giovanile (San Marino), Mladi Europania/Young Europeans (Slovakia)

Put Greece back on track for current and future generations

The Council of the Young Democrats for Europe states that it is the responsibility of the Greek government to do the necessary reforms to fulfil the previously agreed obligations with the EU. Furthermore, with this referendum, the Greek Government has taken its citizens hostage. This deadlock is already a disaster by proving that leading actors are unable to find a political settlement when difficulties come up. YDE therefore calls to work out a sincere solution that will put Greece back on track for current and future generations.

#FutureTogether

Bilbao: A political renewal for the youths of the EDP

Coming from ten European countries, on the 26th, 27th and 28th of September, more than fifty delegates of European youth organisations gathered for a debate on the new political direction of the Young Democrats for Europe (YDE), the European Democratic Party youth organisation, and to renew their management team.

Meetings, exchanges and conviviality.

After Aitor Esteban – Spanish EAJ-PNV MP -, Matteo Fiorini – only YDE member who was Head of State – and Mihai Sebe’s speeches, the Congress opened with the previous team reports. Then, two organizations were accepted unanimously within the Young Democrats for Europe: UDI Jeunes (France) and Youth of the National Forum (Croatia). Significant changes to the statutes were adopted, which allow the organisation to be more dynamic and efficient with improvements such as a better integration of individual members. Finally, at the end of the day, a new team was elected based on different but complementary profiles. The new YDE team, led by Miroslava Demkova, will aim at revitalizing  the structure and expanding it.

This Congress was the occasion for the Young Democrats for Europe to reaffirm their long-term political project for the coming years. Projects on Youth unemployment and empowerment in politics, EU foreign policy and peoples’ self-determination in Europe  will be launched in the coming weeks.

Throughout this weekend, different activities organized by the young Basques from Euzko Gaztedi Indarra also allowed delegates to discover the Basque culture. This Congress ended with the Basque National Party day, one of the most important annual events in the Basque Country gathering more than 50,000 people.

Young Democrats for Europe (YDE)
Jeunes Democrates Europeens (JDE)
YDE is the youth wing of the European Party.We embrace the key role of democratic principles, underlined in the Lisbon Treaty and shrined in our political belief: democracy, freedom, equality, participation, sustainability and solidarity.

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