Condoleezza Rice: Europe should not confine within its borders
Once Europe locks in its current borders and isolates itself from the rest of the world – primarily from the countries like Ukraine and Turkey – democratic values would lose all over the world. This idea was expressed by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th Secretary of State of the United States speaking at the session “The Future of the Global Order and Security” of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting.
“Democratic transformations require time, require patience, require support. From outside as well as from inside, from people. And those people should take responsibility for democratic transformation,” Dr. Rice stressed. In her opinion, this is true for the Middle East countries that have settled down to the course of democratic transformations as well as for the Eastern Europe, including Ukraine.
According to her opinion, it is of crucial importance for the “old” democracies today to support democratic trends in the rest of the world. “If we believe in our values that have made us prosperous and free we must believe they are capable of changing those societies too.”
Acknowledging the serious economic and political problems available inside the European Union, the US ex-Secretary of State called Europeans not to retire into their shell and inside their borders. “If Europe goes deep in its problems due to isolating itself from the entire world – primarily, from Turkey, from Ukraine – nothing good will come of it. Europe and those who share these values would lose,” she said.
Europe set the example for the former “socialist bloc” countries (specifically, Poland and Czech Republic) while they implemented reforms. To stop setting the model for other countries today, in Dr. Rice’s opinion, means disrespecting European values. “If Europe retires into its shell, we will lose one of the most potent magnets for democratic transformations in Europe and the world.”
The United States face a similar challenge. Experiencing domestic problems, the need to reduce the national debt, the USA feels “tired from the role they used to play in the world.” However,” Dr. Rice believes, “we should overcome this fatigue as the USA has always “been a strong voice for free people and free markets.”
The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled “Ukraine and the World: Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Together” takes place in Yalta at the Livadia Palace, Ukraine, from 13-16 September 2012. More than 200 leaders from politics, business and society representing more than 20 countries will discuss major global challenges and their impact on Europe, Ukraine and the world.
The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the plenary part of the 9th YES Annual Meeting on September 14. The two leaders discussed critical issues affecting the development of Ukraine and Turkey, as well as the future of a “Wider Europe” in the 21st century. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995-2005) and Chairman of the Board of YES, moderated the discourse.
The overarching topic of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting will be the key transformations that are already shaping the future of the world. Forum sessions will focus on the future of the world economy, on a new world order and its security, and on possible models for the development of capitalism. Special attention will be paid to the role of innovation and leadership in transforming the economy and society. Other topics for discussion include the future of the European Union, energy issues and the internal and external challenges facing Ukraine.
This year’s Yalta Annual Meeting will welcome, among others, Robert Zoellick, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Condoleezza Rice, Gordon Brown, Alexei Kudrin, Alec Ross, Eric Lander, Kairat Kelimbetov, Carl Bildt, Javier Solana.
At the plenary discussions of the 9th YES Annual Meeting, Ukraine will be represented by the Prime Minister Mykola Azarov; the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy Serhiy Tihipko; Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko; Minister of Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko; Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko; Secretary of the National Defence and Security Council of Ukraine Andriy Klyuev.
Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large at Thomson Reuters will moderate discussions.
The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting is streamed live on korrespondent.net in Ukrainian and on euronews.com and yes-ukraine.org in English.
The official Twitter of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting: @yes_ukraine
Hash tag: #yalta2012
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