The constituent forum of the Democratic Choice Community ended last Friday. The initiative to create this group came from the presidents of Ukraine and Georgia during the Borzhomi summit last August. The high-level Kyiv conference was attended by the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Rumania. Altogether, there were representatives of 23 states from the Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian regions, the US, United Nations, European Union, NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe, and other international organizations. The conference began on Thursday as a joint forum (simultaneously with the Ukraine-EU summit). Addressing the closing session on Dec. 2, President Yushchenko said that the establishment of the Democratic Choice Community will promote “the development of each nation, the rapprochement of the European continent’s western and eastern parts in the political, economic, and security dimensions.” In the Ukrainian leader’s view, this can be achieved by ensuring stability, in particular by resolving “frozen” conflicts and “creating preconditions for tapping the region’s considerable economic potential.” “Our initiative is not aimed at third countries,” Yushchenko stressed. “Instead, I visualize the Community as a frank dialogue between friends and champions of democracy and rule of law.” (Rumania’s President Traian Basescu reminded the audience that the only country washed by the Baltic, Black, and Caspian seas is the Russian Federation).
The forum’s declaration adopted last Friday acknowledges that the Baltic-Black-Caspian Sea countries “are at different stages of democratic development.” Some of the declared intentions are: “To help establish closer ties between governments and societies in various spheres...To cooperate with institutions and international organizations, civil society and governments in coordinating support for newly-emerging democratic societies...To promote further economic and social development, including the eradication of poverty as the main factor impeding the development and protection of the democratic process...To set an example of respect for democracy and human rights in their own countries and urge political leaders in countries on the road to democracy to encourage tolerance and mutual understanding, as well as to promote respect for pluralism, oppose ethnic and religious hatred, violence, separatism, and other forms of extremism; support the development of a civil society, non-governmental organizations, and independent mass media.”
The Democratic Choice Community will be a regional link in the Community of Democracies, a coalition of states established five years ago to spread democratic principles and strengthen democratic institutions throughout the world.
Today there are different views of the institutional shape and practical goals of the Democratic Choice Community. According to President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania, who was one of the first to back the Saakashvili—Yushchenko initiative, the governments of the countries that participated in the forum should adopt measures to revitalize regional economic activities, remove bureaucratic obstacles, and improve the infrastructure. “I am convinced that the new members of the European Union will become active participants in the Democratic Choice Community,” the president of Lithuania said.
According to Adamkus, it is only through the joint efforts of “young but rather experienced democratic countries” that Europe can be convinced of the necessity of further collaboration and integration. “It is just a matter of time that EU neighbors become its full- fledged members.”
It was President Vladimir Voronin of Moldova who offered the most radical proposals. “The movement toward European standards of democracy and social development can be especially active if we join our efforts and concentrate our intellectual and material resources,” he said. “The time has come to tap the full potential of our historically friendly relations and build a higher type of integration based on European values. We must set up a parliamentary assembly of our own, bring together our markets and monetary resources. This will mean a certain practical adaptation for our countries before the likely accession to the EU and may be a dignified path of development if some countries have their entry into the EU postponed for a longer term.”
The exchange of ideas about democratic transformations will continue next year, particularly during the springtime Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership to be held in Bucharest during the Vilnius-based summit of the Baltic-Black Sea region slated for May, and at the autumn forum in Tbilisi. Rumania’s President Basescu emphasized that the Black Sea Forum “does not aim to compete with other initiatives.” It is still clear that Ukraine needs to redouble its efforts to pursue a policy in line with that of its powerful partners in the Democratic Choice Community, which also crave regional leadership, no matter whether we compete or cooperate with them.
