 | |
| Formation | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Type | Political cooperation organization |
| Location | |
Membership | 18 |
The Community of Democratic Choice is an intergovernmental organization established on 2 December 2005, by nine states of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was mainly signed by countries from the region between the Baltic, Black Sea and Caspian Sea ("The three Seas"). Its main task is to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law throughout the region.
The creation of the Community of Democratic Choice was foreshadowed by the Borjomi Declaration of August 2005, a joint statement signed by the Presidents of Georgia and Ukraine, Mikheil Saakashvili and Viktor Yushchenko, which envisioned the Community as a "powerful instrument for removing the remaining divisions in the region, tackling human rights violations, and any type of confrontation, or frozen conflicts". [1]
The Community of Democratic Choice was subsequently established in Kyiv during a two-day forum aimed at promoting democracy and human rights in the wider region of the Baltic-Black-Caspian Seas. Besides the presidents of the nine founding states, there were delegations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Poland and also observers from the United States, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, said that the community is not a project against anybody, but rather a project in favor of democracy, stability and prosperity. [2] Likewise, President Viktor Yushchenko said that the initiative was not directed against any third countries or institutions and that its purpose was not "to befriend anyone against someone else", but that it must rather be seen as "dialogue between friends, adherents of ideas for promoting democracy and the supremacy of law".
On the other hand, Giorgi Arveladze, presidential administration head of Georgia, said that the community would in essence be "an axis of democratic countries that do not wish to remain in Russia's orbit".
Temuri Yakobashvili, the vice-president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies said that he saw the Community of Democratic Choice as something in between the two main "poles of attraction" in the region (the EU and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), saying that "the idea of creating a Community of Democratic Choice may appeal to those countries that are caught between those two blocs, but lean toward democracy and the West." [3]
Besides the question of its character, the membership of the community is still not clear. At the Vilnius Conference in 2006, the two founding members Macedonia and Slovenia did not take part with representatives but one of the hosts was Poland. Further the Prime Minister of Sweden, Göran Persson stated his country's intention to join the organization that was welcomed by Saakashvilli, saying that Sweden's entry would provide additional impetus to the CDC forum. [4] So up till now there the question of membership in the CDC is not answered.
Nevertheless, the President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, urged the Community to develop its own institutions, including its own parliamentary assembly, saying that it offered a possibility to integrate those countries that have chosen a European orientation. [1] The Vilnius Conference already gave a hint to what that means by including an Intellectuals, an NGO and a Youth Forum. [5]
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of 20,368,759 km2 (7,864,422 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic, political, and military affairs and has certain powers relating to the coordination of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, including cross-border crime prevention.
Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organization of four post-Soviet states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova.
Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards the West, European Union and NATO.
Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November and 26 December 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union. The last stages of the election were contested between the opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych from the Party of Regions. It was later determined by the Ukrainian Supreme Court that the election was plagued by widespread falsification of the results in favour of Yanukovych.
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been a member of the Verkhovna Rada as People's Deputy of Ukraine several times between 1997 and 2007, and presently as of 2014, and was First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for the fuel and energy complex from 1999 to 2001. She is a Candidate of Economic Sciences.
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Vilnius Conference 2006: Common Vision for Common Neighborhood brought together delegations from the Baltic and Black Sea regions to discuss common interests and reinforce their commitments to the advancement of democracy and common values in their respective regions. The Conference took place in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and was hosted by the President of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus.
The inaugural session of the Black Sea Forum for Partnership and Dialogue (BSF) was held on June 4–6, 2006 in Bucharest. The Forum is a Romanian initiative, initially meant to hold annual presidential-level summits and thematic or sectoral-cooperation meeting during those annual intervals. The Forum is not meant to create new regional institutions, but rather to turn into a regular consultative process among countries of the extended Black Sea region and between this group of countries and international organizations such as the European Union. After the inaugural summit, no other summits were planned.
The Community of Democratic Choice Youth Forum is an international organization registered in Riga, Latvia. It aims to promote partnership and dialogue among youth from the region of the Community of Democratic Choice.
Since their independence from the Soviet Union, Georgia and Ukraine have forged close political and cultural relations. The diplomatic relations between the two nations are realized at the level of embassies and consulates. Due to the prosecution in Georgia of Georgian/Ukrainian politician Mikheil Saakashvili and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations between the two countries have soured significantly.
The Republic of Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) have maintained a positive relationship through the years and have become more closely linked since 1991. Azerbaijan is currently part of the European Neighborhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Council of Europe. The EU is the largest foreign grant donor to and investor in Azerbaijan, both in the government sector and civil society, making available over 600 million EURO of bilateral EU assistance since 1992.
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Montenegro–Ukraine relations relate to bilateral relations between Montenegro and Ukraine. Formal relations began on 15 June 2006 when Ukraine recognized Montenegro, less than two weeks after the Parliament of Montenegro declared the independence of Montenegro from Serbia. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 August 2006. Montenegro has an embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine has an embassy in Podgorica. Although economic ties are weak, Montenegro is a transit point for human trafficking between Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Montenegro is membership for the NATO which Ukraine pplied for in 2022.
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