President at the 17th Summit of Central European Countries

Warsaw, 27.5.2011  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, is in Warsaw attending the 17th Summit of Central European Countries hosted by the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronis³aw Komorowski. The Summit is focusing on the experience of Central and Eastern European countries with transition to democracy and a market economy and how they could be used to facilitate democratisation of the Arab countries.

In addition to the Slovenian and Polish presidents, the Summit was also attended by the presidents of Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Ukraine, the Presidency of Bosnia & Herzegovina and the acting President of the Republic of Moldova. The working dinner was also attended by the American President, Barack Obama.

At the second plenary session of the summit, President Dr Danilo Türk joined the discussion and in his speech invited his listeners to consider democracy both as a concept and in practice. He stressed that democracy always comes from the inside and cannot be forced from the outside. Democracy is not a final destination but a means of achieving greater prosperity and more freedom, and must therefore bring results.

This process has been seen in dramatic form in North Africa and the Middle East. The President stressed that we can support the democratisation process from the outside. The President recalled that the Central and Eastern European countries had had a common goal, membership of Euro-Atlantic structures, which had helped them with the democratisation process, and the United States had also been willing to help. There was a democratic transformation taking place in Russia at that time as well, which helped to create the right atmosphere for political changes towards democracy.

President Dr Danilo Türk asked how we can help. He associated himself with the Czech President, Václav Klaus, who posed an interesting question during the debate, on how we wish to live in Europe. President Türk stressed that Europe should be seen as an unfinished project or a building site. Among its priorities are further enlargement to the Western Balkans and to the East, and development of the Eastern Partnership and strategic relations with the Russian Federation.

In the case of North Africa, an individual approach should be used. Local needs, suggestions and the requirements of individual countries should be taken into account. In the final part of his speech, the President said that similarities between transitions in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and those in North Africa can be seen but the processes cannot be equated.

In a concluding speech, Polish President Bronis³aw Komorowski referred to the metaphor of President Türk about Europe being an unfinished project or a building site. He concluded his speech by saying that the democratic power of Europe must be strengthened with further enlargement of the EU and with constant quality democracy in its Member States.