Polish FM: ‘Democracy is not given once for always’
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
15.12.2016 15:46
Democracy is not given once and for all, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Thursday as he opened the fifth Warsaw Dialogue for Democracy conference.
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak.
He said democracy “is a process, we must consciously shape it.”
Waszczykowski said that Poles lost their sovereignty in the past, and added that the weight of that experience is shaping the country’s future.
Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for 123 years after it was divided among its neighbours. After World War II it spent 44 years under Moskow’s yoke.
Waszczykowski also said that there are "different models of democracy” in the world today but that they share "respect of basic values, such as human rights, basic freedoms, transparency, good governance and rule of law.”
He added that the NGO sector is of key importance to a democratic system. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP