“At a time when some opinion polls suggest that younger people are losing faith in democracy, your ideas, enthusiasm, and presence at this World Forum show that the fatalists are wrong. That a democratic future is yours (and ours) and, with it, the promise of peace”, highlighted Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić at the closing session of the 11th World Forum for Democracy.
Secretary General underlined the relevance of the Reykjavik Summit, defining an ambitious path to strengthen democratic security, put an end to democratic backsliding and respond to new developing challenges. The importance of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as a first component of an international compensation mechanism, was also emphasised.
“Our world is certainly not short of considerable challenges: the rise of artificial intelligence, the triple global crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity and the current difficulties associated with the movement of large numbers of migrants and refugees. Often linked to violence or trauma that they themselves have suffered. The scale of these and other challenges leads some people to doubt the ability of democracies to respond to them. Yet democracy is our best hope”, concluded Marija Pejčinović Burić.
