Announcement on U.S.-Poland Democracy Dialogue Initiative

Announcement on U.S.-Poland Democracy Dialogue Initiative

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
March 3, 2011

MEDIA NOTE

United States-Poland Democracy Dialogue

Secretary of State Clinton and Foreign Minister Sikorski announced today their intention to expand the U.S.-Poland Strategic Dialogue to include a Democracy Dialogue. This initiative will build on the Secretary's recently launched Dialogue with Civil Society, which aims to elevate our work with civil society alongside government-to-government relationships.

Poland and the United States have a long shared history of struggle for democracy. During the American Revolution, Tadeusz Kosciusko and Casimir Pulaski made invaluable contributions to America's struggle for freedom. Two hundred years later, a new generation of Poles under the banner of "Solidarity" took up the struggle for democracy in their own land. In 1989, they succeeded in a peaceful revolution that spread freedom and democracy beyond the Iron Curtain and throughout Europe. Since then, Poland has strived to share its experiences and knowledge of democratic transition with other countries.

The Democracy Dialogue will significantly improve U.S.-Poland cooperation on promotion of good governance and democracy around the globe, and will foster useful exchanges between government and civil society about developments in emerging democracies, non-democracies and countries where democratic institutions are threatened.

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