ArmInfo.The Biden administration has extended invitations to 120 world leaders to attend next week's Summit for Democracy.
"We re-invited all those governments and partners that were invited to the first summit in December 2021, and also added eight new governments from around the world," Special Assistant to the President of the United States Rob Berschinski said at a briefing, Turan reports. Those 8 countries are: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Tanzania and Honduras.
According to Berschinski, the upcoming summit is aimed at strengthening democratic institutions, fighting corruption and protecting human rights.
On March 29, Biden, joined by President Chavez of Costa Rica, Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands, President Yoon of the Republic of Korea, and President Hichilema of the Republic of Zambia, will convene world leaders in a series of virtual leader-level plenary sessions. On Thursday, March 30, each government at the highest level will hold a regional ministerial meeting in their capital, with the participation of representatives of foreign governments and non-governmental organizations.
The event, which will take place on March 30 in the United States, will be dedicated to advancing technology for democracy.
The event in Costa Rica will focus on the role of youth in democratic systems; an event in the Netherlands will focus on freedom of the media as a cornerstone of democracy; the South Korean event will be devoted to the fight against corruption; and an event in Zambia will focus on supporting free and fair elections. The Biden administration will also announce next week a number of new democracy and human rights initiatives. This includes more than $400 million in new and existing initiatives to support free and independent media, fight corruption, support democratic reforms and human rights defenders, and protect free and fair elections.
As for Azerbaijan and others not invited, according to Berschinski, Washington's message to the people of these countries is clear: "We would like to tell activists from countries that are not invited that they are participating in this process in their own way. They, too, will have the opportunity to participate in promoting the values of democracy".
"The essence of the Summit for Democracy is to make all participants who contribute to democracy commit themselves to better promoting its values and this is not limited to governments," he said
In 2021, Armenia was represented at the Summit for Democracy at the level of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.