I NTERNATIONAL D IMENSIONS OF D EMOCRACY Žaneta Ozoliņa Toms Rostoks

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY

Žaneta OzoliņaToms Rostoks

How to assess the international dimension of democracy for Latvian foreign policy?• To what extent is Latvia independent of external

agents in achieving its foreign and domestic aims and to what extent are the external and internal policies implemented without unwarranted intervention by external actors?

• To what extent does Latvia take public opinion into account when creating and implementing its foreign policy; are there mechanisms in place which enable society to influence foreign policy?

• To what extent is Latvia supporting the spread of democracy across the globe?

What has changed in the last 10 years?• Further integration into the EU and within the

framework of NATO have continued: autonomy vis-a-vis icreased coordination.

• Economic crisis has left a considerable impact on Latvia’s foreign policy. The extreme reduction of funding for defence and foreign affairs has affected the ability of Latvia to achieve its foreign policy aims.

• EU and NATO membership has encouraged Latvia to integrate the democracy support component in its foreign policy.

Audit of Democracy 2005-2014

How democratic is Latvia?

• How free is the governance of the country from subordination to external agencies, economic, cultural or political?

• To what extent are government relations with international organisations based on the principles of partnership and transparency?

• To what extent does the government support UN human rights treaties and respect international law?

• To what extent does the government respect its international obligations in its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and how free from arbitrary discrimination is its immigration policy?

• How consistent is the government in its support for human rights and democracy abroad?



How free is the governance of the country from subordination to external agencies, economic, cultural or political?





How consistent is the government in its support for human rights and democracy abroad?

To what extent do you support Latvia’s participation in democracy support programmes in the world?

Support Do not support

DN

Eastern Partnership countries 39% 39% 22%

Central Asia 28% 45% 27%

Other countries 21% 52% 27%



Number of development cooperation projects implemented by Latvia

Year Georgia Moldova Ukraine Belorussia Others

2005 3 8 0 0 02006 6 9 0 1 02007 10 15 9 6 22008 8 9 9 6 62009 2 0 1 0 02010 0 2 0 0 1Total 29 43 19 13 9



Summary

Very good Good Satisfactory Poor Very poor

15.1 X

15.2 X

15.3 X

15.4 X

15.5 X

15.6 X

Audit of Democracy 2005-2014Are the country’s external relations conducted in accordance with

democratic norms, and is it itself free from external subordination?



Thank you!

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I NTERNATIONAL D IMENSIONS OF D EMOCRACY Žaneta Ozoliņa Toms Rostoks