News

On 15 September during the teleconference of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies entitled “Limits of Democracy: Challenges in Eastern and Central Europe and in South and Central America” in Washington, D.C., Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis welcomed the participants of the conference from Brussels.  When congratulating the participants on the International Day of Democracy that is observed today, Minister A.Ažubalis stated that the European Council meeting on 16 September would focus on relations with the European Union’s strategic partners and on its place in the world. The Minister said that from Lithuania’s point of view, the choice of the EU’s strategic partners had to be determined not only by geography, economy or business interests, but also by democratic values.

“It is important to us that the EU-U.S. transatlantic relations would be cherished and strengthened not only as a guarantee of the viability of democracy, but also as the basis of European and American prosperity,” the Minister said.

Having opened the meeting, President of the Parliamentary Forum, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Emanuelis Zingeris said that when celebrating the twentieth anniversary of important democratic achievements in Europe and the re-establishment of Lithuania’s independence, the unification of the Western, Central and Eastern Europe, today we were also witnessing the process of the democratic recession around the world.

U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard L. Berman evaluated the level of democracy that the Central and Eastern European countries had reached after regaining their independence. He called on parliamentarians, who were attending the event, to get more actively involved in the democracy-building process around the world.

President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek stressed that the democracy-building process never stopped. According to him, other countries still needed help, the forms of democracy could vary, but values remained the same: human rights and freedoms, free elections.

Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council Samatha Powers conveyed greetings from U.S. President Barack Obama to the participants of the forum.

High-ranking officials from the U.S. administration and Congress, and other participants of the Parliamentary Forum evaluated Lithuania’s efforts, thanks to which the Community of Democracies has gained vitality and energy.

The event joined two continents of the world - North America and Europe. The teleconference “U.S. Congress - European Parliament” provided a unique opportunity to the participants of the forum in Washington, D.C. to discuss the democracy-building process in Central and Eastern Europe, South and Central America not only with those, who were participating, but also with parliamentarians in Brussels.

The event is attended by President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Irena Degutienė, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia David Bakradze, Deputy Marshal of the Senate of Poland Zbigniew Romaszewski, Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, U.S. Senator John McCain, Lithuania’s  Representative in the European Parliament Vytautas Landsbergis, Members of Parliament and politicians from around the world.

The goal of the meeting in Washington, D.C. is to share thoughts on the democracy-building process in various regions of the world, to discuss the future of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies and to take concrete steps further developing its activities. The purpose is to eventually transform the forum into one of the most important and the most effective international instruments to ensure the promotion of democratic values, human rights and freedoms worldwide.

The Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies and a long-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart organized the event with the assistance of Lithuania’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The Parliamentary Forum intends to adopt a resolution on the establishment of the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies in Vilnius. The Secretariat would contribute significantly to the strengthening of activities of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies and to the consolidation of an inter-parliamentary cooperation and coordination center in Vilnius.