Democracy promotion

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic met with OSCE Chairman and Maltese FM Ian Borg in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Brnabic informed Borg she had invited all parliamentary parties to another round of discussions on implementation of recommendations by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), scheduled for Thursday.

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic met with OSCE Chairperson and Maltese FM Ian Borg in Belgrade on Wednesday, and noted that Serbia considered the OSCE the most significant security platform and stood ready to contribute to dialogue amid a global crisis.

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic met with the head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Jan Braathu on Thursday.

Braathu said a recent meeting of the Collegium of the Serbian parliament was a very important first step and that dialogue with the opposition should be continued towards an agreement on constructive solutions.

BRUSSELS - European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano said on Thursday the EC stood ready to support Serbia in implementing all recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

BELGRADE - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has officially released its final report on the December 17 Serbian elections, giving a positive assessment of the work of the national electoral commission and issuing recommendations for legislative and procedural changes before the next elections.

Who - or what - are the gatekeepers of democracy? What do they do? A colleague in civil society, the director of an NGO board, suggested the term for a conference we are to cohost on the role of NGOs and think-tanks in democracy promotion. The term is commonplace among civil society theorists and practitioners, she assured me. I had my doubts initially.

As Executive Head of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), Annika Savill manages a UN Secretary-General's Trust Fund that strengthens the voice of civil society, promote the rule of law and human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes.

When the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union dissolved, a new era of democratic expansionism was heralded, as Francis Fukuyama declared the end of history, optimistically assuming human ideological evolution had ended and liberal democracy ultimately triumphed over the authoritarianism of communism and fascism as the final form of human government.