Democracy’s Clear and Present Danger: How Do We Respond?

The 26th annual Forum 2000 Conference

Prague Manifesto for a Free Ukraine


On February 24th, 2022, the Russian Federation renewed its aggression and further (on full scale) invaded Ukraine in an illegal and unprovoked aggression that needs to be strongly denounced, resisted, and defeated. Russia’s attack against the mere existence of Ukraine as an independent nation is at the same time a severe blow to the European security, to international law and a rule based global order.

In their response to this aggression, the Ukrainian people have given the world a lesson in heroism. Their valiant defense of their right to freedom and independence against the barbaric Russian invasion has affirmed for the benefit of the entire world the principle that might does not make right, that aggression must be resisted and punished, and that people everywhere have a profound stake in the preservation of a democratic international system.

The heroic Ukrainian resistance has generated a massive wave of solidarity. The transatlantic and global alliance of democracies has united in providing Ukraine with military assistance, humanitarian aid, and medical support. Many countries have welcomed Ukrainian refugees and granted them safe haven while at the same time imposing sweeping financial and economic sanctions on Russia and resolving to end Western dependence on Russian oil and gas. Much more, however, is needed.

Since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the Ukrainian people and their democratically- elected government have not wavered in their determination to become part of Europe. Russia’s indiscriminate and unlawful bombing has killed tens of thousands of civilians , and thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom were the most devoted of Ukraine’s youth who embodied hope for the country’s future. It also has caused massive devastation to Ukraine’s economy and infrastructure. Russian soldiers are committing barbaric war crimes against Ukrainian citizens, encouraged by their political and military leaders and hailed by Russian media.

None of these have stopped Ukraine's determination to become a member of the European Union. It has only grown stronger. Ukraine’s European aspiration and its vision of independent statehood anchored in the family of European democracies underpins its brave struggle for survival.

We, the citizens of European countries and members of the global civil society signed below, hereby resolve to:

  • Welcome the candidate status that the European Union has offered to Ukraine and urge the European institutions to move ahead as fast as possible and not delay additional support to the country, expeditiously within the context of the ongoing war. The political leadership of the EU member states and EU institutions must maximize their efforts to help lay the foundation for building a resilient democracy in Ukraine and preparing for its full-fledged EU membership. While the EU should use the leverage of accession to deepen Ukrainian democracy and unblock necessary reforms, it must not overburden Ukraine with very technical conditionality that the country cannot be expected to fulfill in its current situation. Rather than use such conditionality as a pretext to slow down the accession process, EU member states should establish a realistic timeframe with clear and achievable milestones for Ukraine to become a full-fledged member of the EU as soon as possible.
  • Request that the EU play a leading role in mobilizing global resources for rebuilding Ukraine. This planned massive effort should be seen not just as an investment in Ukrainian society and economy but also as a way to invest in the EU’s internal market and economic future. Embracing the prospect of Ukraine’s future membership should be regarded as a step towards securing the EU's own economic interests in Ukraine.
  • Ask the global democratic community to invest in a better and more prosperous future for Ukraine. The will of the Ukrainian people to overcome the current nightmares will be strengthened by the solidarity of the world’s democracies and by the prospect of democratic renewal and a better future for their children. The reconstruction efforts should help write a chapter of hope for Ukraine after this devastating war. The mutual ownership of both the democratic international community and Ukrainian people should be ensured through the joint oversight and accountability of reconstruction process ensuring the effective and meaningful use of funds provided by international donors.
  • State that while the international community's reconstruction aid will of course focus on physical rebuilding, it must also include much higher levels of funding for democracy support. The formidable challenges of rebuilding should not be an excuse for pushing back democratic reforms. Rather, the reconstruction process must be fully inclusive and designed to reinforce Ukraine’s democracy. Its accession to the EU as well as the reconstruction process must include working with Ukrainian civil society to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions and media.
  • Finally, we ask for justice. The fact that the brutal Russian attack has been aimed at the extermination of Ukrainian self-determination and its national identity, together with the mass slaughter of noncombatants and civilians, leads inevitably to the question of whether Russia has committed crimes against humanity and genocide. If it is determined that Russia has committed such crimes, they must not go unpunished. The system of international justice must be mobilized and shown to work. We call upon the leaders of the world’s democracies and all who consider themselves to be part of the “civilized world” to take decisive measures to ensure that possible crimes against humanity will be thoroughly investigated and that those found guilty of having committed war crimes and genocide will be held accountable and punished. 

The agenda for democracy and reconstruction that we have laid out cannot be realized if the war is allowed to become a bloody and protracted stalemate. It is urgent that the United States and Europe continue providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs to take the offensive and expel Russia from the territories it has occupied since 2014. By giving Ukraine candidate status, Europe now has a greater stake than ever before in Ukraine’s joining the EU as a secure, sovereign, and democratic state, not as a truncated country crippled by frozen conflicts in Russian-occupied territories that will threaten Ukraine’s survival and the security of neighboring states. The defeat of Russia’s aggression is a precondition for a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace. And the victory of Ukraine will renew the promise of democracy for people across the world.


List of signatories (in alphabetical order), as of Sept. 7th at 10.00am

  • Michael Abramowitz, Freedom House, United States
  • Alina Aflecăilor, Greenpeace, Romania
  • Tinatin Akhvlediani, CEPS, Belgium
  • Leila Alieva, CNIS, Azerbaijan

  • Francisco Almeida Leite, FAL Ltd, Former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Portugal
  • Laura Alonso, Activist and politician, Argentina

  • Laima Andrikienė, Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania, Lithuania
  • Federigo Argentieri, Guarini Institute for Public Affairs - JCU, Italy
  • Natalia Arno, Free Russia Foundation, United States
  • Anders Åslund, Stockholm Free World Forum, Sweden
  • Petras Auštrevičius, European Parliament, Lithuania
  • Lisa Badum, Green Parliamentary Group, Deutscher Bundestag, Germany
  • Zdeněk Beránek, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic, Czechia
  • Paul Berman, United States
  • Romina Bandura, CSIS, United States
  • Eric Bjornlund, Democracy International, United States

  • Ladan Boroumand, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Iran
  • Marcus Brauchli, North Base Media, United States
  • Darko Brkan, UG Zašto ne, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Reinhard Bütikofer, European Parliament, Germany
  • Jerzy Buzek MEP, European Parliament, Poland
  • Brett L. Carter, Stanford University, University of Southern California, United States
  • Paulo Casaca, South Asia Democratic Forum, Belgium
  • Marek Ceman, Czechia
  • Carlos F. Chamorro, Confidencial,Nicaragua
  • Irwin Cotler, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Canada
  • Regina Coyula, Freelance, Cuba

  • Srđan Darmanović, University of Montenegro, Faculty of Political Science, Montenegro 
  • Mark Demesmaeker, Belgian Senate, Belgium
  • Mónica Dias, Institute for Political Studies, Portugal
  • Leonid Drabkin, Russia
  • Edipcia Juliana Dubón Castro, Puentes para el desarrollo de Centroamérica, Nicaragua
  • Andrej Dyńko, Belarus
  • José Ignacio Echániz Salgado, MP. Chairman Committee of Defense, Congress of Deputies, Spain
  • Wolfgang Eichwede. Prof. em. Dr., University of Bremen, Germany
  • Nino Evgenidze, Economic Policy Research  Center (EPRC), Georgia
  • Martin Exner, STAN, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic, Czechia
  • Carlos Fara, CADAL, Argentina
  • Petr Fleischmann, Forum 2000, Czechia
  • Ralf Fücks, Center for Liberal Modernity, Germany
  • Francis Fukuyama, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, United States
  • Erkin Gadirli, Member of the parliament and the delegation to the PACE, Azerbaijan
  • Michael Gahler, European Parliament, Germany
  • Timothy Garton Ash, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  • Carl Gershman, President Emeritas NED, United States
  • Alyona Getmanchuk, New Europe Center, Ukraine
  • Helmut Geuking, European Parliament, Germany
  • Eka Gigauri, Transparency International - Georgia, Georgia
  • Raphaël Glucksmann, European Parliament, France
  • Ken Godfrey, European Partnership for Democracy, Belgium
  • Myroslava Gongazde, Ukraine
  • Yuriy Gorodnichenko, University of California - Berkeley, United States
  • Matej Grah, Gibanje Svoboda Youth, Slovenia
  • Markéta Gregorová, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Irene Hahn-Fuhr, Center for Liberal Modernity, Germany
  • Tomáš Halík, Charles University Prague, Czech Christian Academy, Czechia
  • Sascha Hannig Nuñez, IDD Chile, GGR Hitotsubashi, Chile
  • Olexiy Haran, Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Ukraine
  • Rebecca Harms, Die Grünen, Germany
  • Laura Harth, Italy
  • Filip Havârneanu, Uniunea Salvați România (USR), Romania
  • Pavel Havlíček, Association for International Affairs (AMO) in Prague, Czechia
  • John Herbst, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, United States

  • Anton Hofreiter, Deutscher Bundestag, Germany
  • Chris Holzen, International Republican Institute, United States
  • Hanna Hopko, Ants Network, Ukraine
  • Hasler Iglesias, Voluntad Popular, Venezuela
  • Ivars Ījabs, European Parliament, Latvia
  • Dolkun Isa, World Uyghur Congress, Germany
  • Mauricio Samuel Isrrade Huicochea, Mexico
  • Erick Izaguirre, Unimet, Venezuela
  • Ramin Jahanbegloo, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace, Jindal Global Law School, India
  • Patryk Jaki, European Parliament, Poland
  • Rasa Juknevičienė, European Parliament, Lithuania
  • Grégory Jullien, European Strategic Initiative, Belgium
  • Eugen Jurzyca, European Parliament, Slovakia
  • Garry Kasparov, RDI/Human Rights Foundation, Russia
  • Beata Kempa, European Parliament, Belgium
  • Jakub Klepal, Forum 2000, Czechia
  • Bogdan Klich, Senate of the Republic of Poland, Poland
  • Miriam Kornblith, NED, Venezuela
  • David J. Kramer, George W. Bush Institute, United States
  • Nikola Kretschmann, Czechia
  • Eerik-Niiles Kross, Parliament of Estonia, Estonia
  • Tetiana Kupisouska, IFES, Ukraine
  • Rasťo Kužel, MEMO 98, Slovakia 

  • Elena Larrinaga de Luis, Consejo para la Transición Democrática en Cuba, Spain
  • Ainius Lašas, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
  • Diogo Leão, Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic, Portugal
  • Miriam Lexmann, European Parliament, Slovakia
  • Jan Lipavský, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czechia
  • Leonid Litra, New Europe Center, Ukraine
  • Tetyana Lokot, Dublin City University, Ukraine
  • Jessica Ludwig, George W. Bush Institute, United States
  • Jean-Jacques Lumumba, UNIS, Congo
  • Markus Lux, Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, Germany
  • Arminas Lydeka, Member of the Parliament, Lithuania
  • Jacques Maire, PACE, France
  • Klára Malinovská, Czechia
  • Anar Mammadli, Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, Azerbaijan
  • Rainald Manthe, Center for Liberal Modernity, Germany
  • Murman Margvelashvili, WEG, Georgia
  • María Virginia Marín, ProboxVe, Venezuela
  • Andriy Martynyuk, NGO Ecoclub, Ukraine
  • Myroslav Marynovych, Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukraine
  • Markus Meckel, Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Germany
  • Dace Melbārde, European Parliament, Latvia
  • Oleksiy Melnyk, Razumkov Centre, Ukraine
  • Marie Mendras, Sciences Po University, Paris, France
  • Oleksandr Merezhko, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Igor Merheim-Eyre, European Parliament, Slovakia
  • Robert C. Miller, The Hurford Foundation, United States
  • Vytautas Mitalas, Parliament of Lithuania, Lithuania
  • Derek Mitchell, National Democratic Institute (NDI), United States
  • Giorgi Muchaidze, Atlantic Council of Georgia, Georgia
  • Petr Mucha, NYU Prague, Czechia
  • Alexandru Muraru, The Chamber of Deputies, National Liberal Party, Romania
  • Joshua Muravchik, Institute of World Politics, United States
  • Hanna Murina, Ukraine
  • Pashkov Mykhailo, Razumkov Centre, Ukraine
  • Ucha Nanuashvili, Georgia
  • Patricio Navia, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile
  • Andréa Ngombet, Sassoufit Collective, Congo
  • Ghia Nodia, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Georgia
  • Cornelius Ochmann, Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Germany
  • Juozas Olekas, European Parliament, Lithuania
  • Martin Ondráček, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Martin Palouš, Director of Václav Havel Program Florida, United States
  • Baia Pataraia, Sapari, Georgia
  • Žygimantas Pavilionis, Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Lithuania
  • Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic, Czechia
  • Andrea Pető, Central European University (CEU), Austria
  • Inna Pidluska, International Renaissance Foundation, Ukraine
  • Lucie Pilipová, Forum 2000 Foundation, Board Member, Czechia
  • Andrei Piontkovsky, Russia
  • Bohdan Prots, Danube-Carpathian Programme, Ukraine
  • Pavel Pšeja, CEVRO Institute, Czechia
  • Vesna Pusić, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Croatia
  • Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, Former President of Bolivia, Bolivia
  • Eva Quistorp, Former Member of the European Parliament, Böll Foundation, Germany
  • Iveta Radičová, Paneuropean University, Slovakia
  • Marta Lucía Ramírez, Former Vice President, Colombia
  • Urmas Reinsalu, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia
  • Rafaela Requesens, CVCCH, Venezuela
  • Neale Richmond TD, Dail Eireann, Ireland
  • Rafael Rincón-Urdaneta, Forum 2000, Chile
  • Cristina-Camelia Rizea, The Chamber of Deputies, REPER Party, Romania
  • Khrystyna Rybachok, Professional Government Association of Ukraine, Ukraine
  • George Salmaniw, Canada
  • Nikoloz Samkharadze, Parliament of Georgia, Georgia

  • Andrei Sannikov, European Belarus Foundation, Belarus
  • Michal Sedláček, Ministry of Foreign Affaris, Czechia
  • Rev. Dr Ihor Shaban, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukraine
  • Gulnara Shahinian, Democracy Today, Armenia
  • Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukraine
  • Elena Shafranova, NGO “Stop poisoning Kryvyi Rih”, Ukraine
  • Alona Shkrum, Parliament of Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Vasil Sikharulidze, Atlantic Council of Georgia, Georgia
  • Eugeniusz Smolar, Centre for International Relations, Poland
  • Maria Snegovaya, United States
  • Michaela Šojdrová, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Parsifal D'Sola, Fundación Andrés Bello, Colombia
  • Janina Staguhn, United States

  • Antonio Stango, Italian Federation for Human Rights, Italy
  • Ivan Štefanec, European Parliament, Slovakia
  • Diana Stoica, The Chamber of Deputies, Romania
  • Ichal Supriadi, Asia Democracy Network, Indonesia
  • Giedrius Surplys, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania
  • Romas Švedas, Vilnius University, Lithuania
  • Borys Tarasyuk, Former Foreign Minister and MP, Ukraine
  • Martina Tauberova, Former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic

  • Cătălin Teniță, The Chamber of Deputies, Romania
  • Dmitri Teperik, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Estonia
  • Evžen Tošenovský, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Raoul Trifan, Romanian Senate, Romania
  • Andreas Umland, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
  • Pedro Urruchurtu, Vente Venezuela, Venezuela
  • Rostislav Valvoda, Prague Civil Society Centre, Czechia
  • Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Vice-Chair, Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, European Parliament, Germany
  • Alexandr Vondra, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Tomáš Vrba, Forum 2000 Foundation, Czechia
  • Hlib Vyshlinsky, Centre for Economic Strategy, Ukraine
  • Witold Waszczykowski, European Parliament, Poland
  • Gert Weisskirchen, SPD, Germany
  • Yuriy Yakymenko, Razumkov Centre, Ukraine
  • Arif Yunus, Institute for Peace and Democracy, Azerbaijan
  • Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Razumkov Centre, Ukraine
  • Michael Žantovský, Václav Havel Library, Czechia
  • Tomáš Zdechovský, European Parliament, Czechia
  • Yevgeniy Zhovtis, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Kazakhstan

  • Miroslav Žiak, National Council of Slovak Republic, Slovakia
  • Phil Zimbardo, United States