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On 12 March in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis took part in the meeting, during which the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies was established. At the meeting, the Minister affirmed Lithuania’s further support to its Eastern neighbours. As a response to public statements by some political commentators that the course of Lithuania’s foreign policy was changing, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that Lithuania maintained its current Eastern policy and continued to strongly support the Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

“Being freedom-fighters, you set an example and remind politicians in action that the policy of values is the only policy that has a future. Your example supports our goals of protecting values in the European Union. All that Lithuania has managed to achieve, was won on the basis of free world’s democratic values instead of employing economic deals or force of arms,” Minister A.Ažubalis stated.

Politicians from European, North American, African and Asian countries launched the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies on 12 March in Vilnius, thus aiming to strengthen democratic traditions in their own countries and all around the world.

The Vilnius Declaration, which was adopted during the meeting, embeds the principle of parliamentary cooperation when strengthening the parliaments primarily in the transition and pre-transition countries, engaging in the experience and best practice sharing projects with the parliamentarians as well as pro-democracy activists from the Community of Democracies participating countries or countries where the Community of Democracies is engaged in democracy building activities.

Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Acting President of Moldova Mihai Ghimpu, Speaker of Georgian Parliament David Bakradze, Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olha Bodnar, who was born in Lithuania and graduated from school here,  the first leader of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich, leader of the United Civil Party of Belarus Anatoly Lebedko, current and former MPs from the United States of America, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Bulgaria, Morocco, Turkey, Germany and Iceland took part in the meeting in Vilnius.

The Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental body, the goal of which is to globally strengthen and deepen democratic norms and practices. In July 2009, Lithuania started a two-year Presidency of the Community of Democracies, which joins together over 100 countries. For more information on Lithuania’s Presidency please visit here.