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During the conference “Lessons of Democracy and Civic Consciousness at the Turning Points in Lithuanian History” on 14 September at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science (IIRPS) of Vilnius University, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius congratulated the participants on the occasion of the approaching International Day of Democracy.

In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe September 15th as the International Day of Democracy. The UN invites member states, regional, international and non-governmental organizations to celebrate this day each year.

“We can be glad that thanks to Lithuania’s Presidency of the Community of Democracies, the day is marked particularly actively this year - at our country’s initiative, events dedicated to the International Day of Democracy are currently taking place not only in Lithuania, but also in Washington and Brussels - and the topic of democracy is back on the actual international agenda again,” the Vice-Minister said.

According to Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius, the world has been slipping into a “democratic recession”. The Vice-Minister said that the voice of democratic countries in international organizations had weakened and authoritarian countries were propagating the advantages of their political, economic and social models.

On 15 September, the United Nations Internet Governance Forum is held on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy at the Exhibition and Convention Centre LITEXPO in Vilnius. At the forum, the Vice-Minister will lead a discussion on the importance of the Internet for democracy.

The discussion entitled “Internet – an instrument to foster democracy” was initiated by Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During it, high-ranking politicians, experts, academicians and NGO representatives from around the world will discuss opportunities, offered by the Internet to strengthen democratic societies and threats to democratic countries that arise due to the usage of the Internet.

On the same day, a conference of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies “Frontiers of Democracy: Challenges in Eastern Europe and the Americas” will take place at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. During the event, a teleconference bridge will join the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament. The event will be 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, Members of Parliament and politicians from around the world.

Lithuania chairs the Community of Democracies in 2009-2011. For more information on Lithuania’s Presidency and the organization’s activities please visit here.