Parliamentary Forum for the Community of Democracies Was Founded
More than forty members of Parliament from Lithuania, the United States and other European, Latin American and Asian countries have established a parliamentary forum for the community of democracies. The Community is a global inter-governmental coalition, which this year celebrates its tenth birthday. In accordance with the objectives of the Community of Democracies is the new Parliamentary Forum of the promotion of democratic culture and strengthening democratic norms and institutions
Was elected as President: Emanuelis Zingeris from Lithuania In the founding statement of the Forum note the parliamentarians that “a parliament, the central institution of democracy” and speak out in favor of strengthening the national parliaments in their role as a representation, legislative and controlling body of the executive. Members of the Forum want to meet annually to develop proposals for the development of democracy in the world and share their experiences in parliamentary work with transition countries and pro-democracy groups in countries under authoritarian rule.
At the inaugural meeting in March this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, chose the forum Emanuelis Zingeris, chairman of the Foreign Committee of the Lithuanian parliament, the president and created an international board consisting of seven vice presidents occupy. Were elected Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a longtime member of the U.S. House of Representatives, David Kilgour, one of the most active campaigners for human rights and democracy in Canada, the German MEP Michael Gahler, who has contributed significantly to Lithuania’s Euro-Atlantic integration, Michal Tomasz Kaminski, the leader of the European Conservatives and reformists in the European Parliament, Alexander Vondra, one of the most active participants in the Prague Spring and former Czech deputy prime minister, David Bakradze, Speaker of Georgian Parliament, and the Mexican Senator Adriana González Carrillo.
In one of his first statements, the Forum called on the Chinese government, Liu Xiabo, one of the drafters of Charter 08, released from prison and immediately supported his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 2010.
The Community of Democracies was founded in 2000 at a ministerial conference in Warsaw at the initiative of the Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, former and then-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Geremek, who died in July 2008, supported the idea of a Parliament at the United Nations set up to achieve the democratization of international institutions.
Parliamentary Forum for Community of Democracies
About Former Home Page of the US Delegation at Warsaw Declaration 2000
