The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Wednesday that the second edition of the “democracy summit” will be held on March 29 and 30, 2023.
According to a statement, Biden will chair discussions with the leaders of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia, which, according to the White House, “exemplifies the universal aspiration for a responsible, transparent and considerate mode of government.”
“This meeting will show how democracies benefit their citizens and are better equipped to respond to the most pressing global challenges,” the five co-organizing countries also said in a joint statement.
The first edition of the “democracy summit” was held in December 2021 virtually and drew harsh criticism from China and Russia, which were not among the 100 or so countries invited.
At the time, Beijing was particularly outraged by Taiwan’s invitation to the diplomatic meeting. The White House guarantees that, since the first edition, the governments involved have made “important decisions to build more resilient democracies, fight corruption, and defend human rights.”
Participants in the first summit also “worked together to resist authoritarian acts of aggression, including Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine,” the White House said.
Biden has repeatedly said that the world is at a “tipping point,” shaped by a temptation to authoritarianism that threatens democracies.
Source: TSF
