DECLARATION OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002897

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL GG
SUBJECT: DECLARATION OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY OF
DEMOCRATIC CHOICE

On November 2, Post received a copy of the draft Declaration
of the Countries of the Community of Democratic Choice.

Start text:

DECLARATION OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRATIC
CHOICE

(Kyiv, Ukraine, December 2nd, 2005)

We, the countries of the Baltic-Black-Caspian Sea region,

Expressing our adherence to the purposes and principles set
forth in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights,

Devoted to the ideals and values of democracy and Human
Rights,

Having taken responsibility of respecting, promoting and
strengthening the core democratic principles and practices
set forth in the Final Warsaw Declaration: Towards a
Community of Democracies,

Consistently caring about the implementation of Seoul Action
Plan of the Community of Democracies, in particular in the
sphere of regional cooperation,

Welcoming the creation of UN Democracy Fund,

Stressing on the unbreakable interdependence between peace,
stability and development, and respect for ideals of
democracy and the Human Rights,

Calling for respect of all human rights - civil, cultural,
economic, political and social, and their maintenance and
promotion according to the International documents on Human
Rights,

Feeling common responsibility for the future and further
development of democracy, and for the respect for the Human
Rights in the Baltic-Black-Caspian Sea region,

Striving to see Europe without dividing lines, conflicts, or
any spirit of confrontation, as stated in the "Borjomi
Declaration" of the Presidents of Georgia and Ukraine.

Hereby declare the creation of the Community of Democratic
Choice as a governmental and non-governmental forum of
cooperation for dialogue of Leaders and representatives of
non-governmental organizations of our countries, which,
within the Community, proclaim their intention:

-- to cooperate closely towards achieving a common goal of
establishing lasting peace, democracy and prosperity in this
part of Europe;

-- to cooperate for the sake of development and
strengthening of democracy, recognizing that different
countries and societies within the region of attention of
the Community of Democratic Choice are at different stages
of democratic development;

-- to provide support to promotion of human values and
standards in order to, respectively, promoting and
establishing democratic processes and institutions, and
encouraging to exchange experience on the way to
strengthening democracy and the respect for Human Rights;

-- to assist in developing liaisons between our governments
and societies in different spheres, including the education
for democracy;

-- to cooperate with institutions and international
organizations, civil society and governments in coordinating
support to new and emerging democratic societies;
-- to provide support for the further economic and social
development, including poverty eradication, as a main
impeding factor for development and protecting of a
democratic process;

-- to encourage the respect for democracy and human rights
to face threats for democratic development of society, which
are, among others, corruption, organized crime, money
laundering, terrorism in different forms and ways, existence
of uncontrolled territories "black holes" in Europe, drug
trafficking, illegal arms trafficking and trafficking in
human beings;

-- showing an example of respect for democracy and human
rights in their respective countries to push political
leaders of the countries on the way to democracy to
encourage tolerance and consent to promote respect for
pluralism, to counteract ethnic and religious hatred,
violence and other forms of extremism, to encourage the
development of civil society, non-governmental organizations
and independent mass-media;

-- to cooperate in all issues related to encouraging the
development of a vibrant and stronger democracy, thus
strengthening the format of the Community of Democratic
Choice;

Proclaiming this declaration, the countries of the Baltic-
Black-Caspian Sea region declare that the Community of
Democratic Choice is an answer to the natural desire of
States and Societies, of every new generation and human
being to reach higher standards of civilized development.

We are convinced that the high message of the Community of
Democratic Choice should ensemble all countries of the
region in a single bid for democracy and the promotion of
human rights, and declare that we will continue our exchange
of ideas on democratic transformations particularly in
Bucharest in March 2006 at the next, the second Forum of the
Community of Democratic Choice.

Kyiv, Ukraine, December 2nd, 2005

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