Jerzy Pomianowski: France could do more for human rights
France spends too little of its development aid on support for democracy and has not yet contributed to funding the European Endowment for Democracy, a new independent foundation that supports local actors in EUs neighbourhood for democratic change, Jerzy Pomianowski, the executive director of the organisation has told EurActiv in an interview.
Jerzy Pomianowski was appointed to lead the European Endowment for Democracy in January 2013. A career diplomat, Pominowski served previously as Poland's undersecretary of state for foreign affairs. He is also president of the Polish Aikido Federation. He spoke to EurActivs Senior Editor Georgi Gotev.
You are a former Polish diplomat and we are speaking on the premises of the European Endowment for Democracy, a beautiful Brussels house owned by the Polish state. Does it mean that the Endowment is a Polish initiative, perhaps with a little bit of EU salt?
It is definitely a valid impression that the Polish government has made big efforts, first to make this idea happen, by going through the political process in the EU and to convince partners, including those who were reluctant, for example the Commission, which was for some time reluctant, and then both financial contribution and contribution in kind was a way to show support and commitment. It was a coincidence that the premises had been vacated a few months before the European Endowment for Democracy was scheduled to start operations. The fact that I was already elected executive director of the Endowment and I knew details that this premises were already available made it possible that we are using it now.
But this is a temporary location and provided a quick solution. I would guess Endowment has earned three to four months of time to seek and get approval from its board for its headquarters.
Of course the first few months this political stamp of Endowment being a Polish initiative, of being a legacy of the Polish EU presidency [second half of 2011] is still with us. Nevertheless the recruitment of our staff shows that this is a European and open set-up. The staff recruited is really international, we have many nationalities here without any dominating. Including me, only two people out of 14 working now are Polish. We have two Germans, a French, a UK national, a Belgian, a Dane, a Slovak represented here, all selected in a very competitive way.
So this is the first sign that we are more than a Polish initiative. Second, we are very careful in our work to keep a balance between South and East neighbourhood. Out of the 5 million we committed until today, 2.5 is committed to projects in the Southern Mediterranean, and 2.5 to the Eastern Partnership countries. And as you know, Poland is much more focused on the East.
For the better understanding of your work, Endowment covers the countries of the European neighbourhood policy, but not countries on their way to EU accession, such as Turkey and the Western Balkan countries, and you dont cover Russia?
Exactly.
But if you had a branch in Russia, would the Russian authorities call them foreign agents?
Visit link:
Jerzy Pomianowski: France could do more for human rights
- Judges, witnesses, prosecutors increasingly warn of threats to democracy in 2024 elections as Jan. 6 prosecutions continue - CBS News - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Do We Face the Gravest Threat to Our Democracy Since the Cold War? - The Nation - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- If You Can Keep It: NBC, Social Media, And Preserving Democracy : 1A - NPR - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- In divided America, anything goes in the name of protecting democracy" - GZERO Media - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- A Simple US Step Can Help Protect Another Imprisoned Democracy Activist in Russia - Just Security - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- If You Can Keep It: NBC, social media, and preserving democracy - the1a.org - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- How 'Do Your Own Research' Might Have Doomed Democracy - GQ - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Once at Democracy's Center, Nonprofits Now Stand on the Outside - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Letters to the editor: Democracy and freedom are on the ballot; a peaceful week without students; how we react to adversity - Boulder Daily Camera - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 3/27/24 - Is Democracy In The U.S. Working? It's A Toss-Up, But Voters Don't See It Ending In Their Lifetimes ... - Quinnipiac University Poll - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Duty to democracy': Kansas newspaper files lawsuit after police raided the newsroom - Yahoo! Voices - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Bitcoin Magazine Partners with the CIA to Export Democracy Around the World - Bitcoin Magazine - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Will RFK Jr. and Other Third-Party Candidates Help Doom Democracy? Mother Jones - Mother Jones - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Our democracy is at stake': Biden weighs in on the 2024 election - MSNBC - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- India slams U.S. and Germany over Kejriwal arrest criticism - The Washington Post - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Trump's Courts Can't Stop the Battle to Restore Democracy - Shepherd Express - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Instagram and Threads are limiting political content. This is terrible for democracy - The Conversation Indonesia - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- GOP billionaires vs. democracy: they know what theyre getting into this time - MSNBC - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Bill Maher grills Esper for not backing Biden after calling Trump a 'threat to democracy': A 'binary' choice - Fox News - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- The Worst of What Humanity Is Capable Of: Pediatrician Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan on What She Saw in Gaza - Democracy Now! - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- South Carolina Will Use Gerrymandered Congressional Map in 2024, District Court Rules - Democracy Docket - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Challenges and Perspectives of Political Parties on Democracy and Elections in Myanmar Stimson Center - Stimson Center - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- In a historic election year, women are the force for democratic renewal - The Hill - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Duty to democracy': Kansas newspaper files lawsuit after police raided the newsroom - Today's News-Herald - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Dems' lawfare war on Trump is its own threat to democracy - New York Post - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- China Has a Cyber Army, But Why Bother Subverting Democracy? - JAPAN Forward - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Ruben Gallego's Battle Against Kari Lake Could Decide the Fate of the SenateAnd Our Democracy Mother Jones - Mother Jones - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Myanmars military junta losing ground to pro-democracy resistance, resorting to greater brutality - Firstpost - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Labour tells China it will act on interference in UK democracy - The Guardian - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Appointment of UN Rapporteur discussed at Democracy Summit in Seoul - Democracy Without Borders - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- How to become a confident pluralist: Harvard professor and democracy advocate spills - The Daily Universe - Universe.byu.edu - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- UNICEF: Paper Thin Children Dying in Gaza of Malnutrition and Dehydration - Democracy Now! - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- U.N. Special Rapporteur Outlines How Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza - Democracy Now! - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Democrats ripped for trying to 'kill democracy' with effort to protect Biden, silence third-party candidates - Fox News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democrats are campaigning on protecting democracy. In N.J., what that means is complicated. - NBC News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- US democracy's unaddressed flaws undermine Biden's stand as democracy's defender but Trump keeps favoring ... - The Conversation United States - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Social media is making kids sad and its bad news for democracy - The Guardian - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | The One Idea That Could Save American Democracy - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy Teetering in African Countries Once Ruled by France - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Third Summit for Democracy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Secretary Antony J. Blinken At the Opening Ceremony of the Third Summit for Democracy - United States Department ... - Department of State - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Where Are Hong Kong's Leading Pro-Democracy Figures Now? - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- In Vermont, 'Town Meeting' is democracy embodied. What can the rest of the country learn from it? - The Associated Press - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Sharon McNeil: Healing political division is necessary to safeguard democracy - Monroe Evening News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship ... - House Foreign Affairs Committee - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Biden ally warns Democrats against relying on threat to democracy message - The Guardian US - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- 'The January 6 insurrection was a wake-up call' - Roanoke Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy Report: Wave of democratic backsliding is a global threat - The Washington Post - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Disinformation Age: The Collapse Of Liberal Democracy In The United States Book Review - Eurasia Review - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Biden and the party of 'democracy' are terrified of third-party candidates and voter choice - New York Post - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- I watched Hungary's democracy dissolve into authoritarianism as a member of parliament and I see troubling ... - PennLive - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The 5th Circuit Is Rehearing Voting Decisions at an Alarming Rate - Democracy Docket - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- More UK sanctions expected over China democracy and security fears - Yahoo News UK - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Colombia's Democracy is Under Threat. Here's Why the World Should Care - Newsweek - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Letter: America is at a crossroads, at risk of losing democracy - The Republic - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Letter: Democracy is weak in Iowa due to partisan state politics - The Dispatch Argus - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Xinhua Headlines: Why U.S.-backed "Summit for Democracy" only triggers division, confrontation - Xinhua - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- OUR VIEW: Democracy Could Use Some Help. This One Adjustment Could Be Just What We Need - Times-News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Sudan Could Soon Become the World's Worst Hunger Crisis - Democracy Now! - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Dokken: Hunting access discussion an exercise in grassroots democracy - Grand Forks Herald - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- America's 'news deserts' and what it means for democracy podcast - The Guardian - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Pro-Israel but anti-Netanyahu: Democratic Party leaders try to find the middle ground - The Conversation Indonesia - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Canada announces over $30 million in initiatives during third Summit for Democracy - Prime Minister of Canada - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy is teetering: at ground zero for Trumps big lie in Arizona - The Guardian US - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Opinion | Biden-Netanyahu clash reveals limits of U.S. democracy rhetoric - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trump nearly derailed democracy once here's what to watch out for in reelection campaign - The Conversation Indonesia - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Indonesia's Corrupted Democracy | Margaret Scott - The New York Review of Books - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trump predicts the end of U.S. democracy if he loses 2024 election - Yahoo! Voices - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship ... - House GOP Foreign Affairs Committee - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- What People Think Would Improve Democracy in 24 Countries - Pew Research Center - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Dark concerns over upcoming vote in world's largest democracy Harvard Gazette - Harvard Gazette - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Navalny's killing highlights the need for HE to help preserve democracy - Times Higher Education - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Commentary: Can St. Patrick and green beer save American democracy? - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Blinken set to arrive in S. Korea to attend democracy summit - The Korea Herald - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Letter: Threats to our cars, and also our democracy - Chico Enterprise-Record - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Framework Convention - Council of Europe - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Opinion | Democratic ads to help Bernie Moreno win Ohio GOP Senate primary reek of hypocrisy - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Combating Threats to Election Workers Ahead of the 2024 Election - Democracy Docket - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Mehdi Hasan on Genocide in Gaza, the Silencing of Palestinian Voices in U.S. Media & Why He Left MSNBC - Democracy Now! - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Ignorance and democracy: Capitalism's long war against higher education - Salon - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]