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10 years of EP's democracy support

On 29-30 November 2022, Members and key stakeholders across the democracy support community gathered at a high-level event entitled ‘Supporting Parliamentary Democracy Worldwide: Building democratic resilience’, organised by the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of European Parliament's democracy support activities, was opened by President Roberta Metsola and brought together a number of high-level speakers, such as Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, former President of the European Parliament Pat Cox, President of the Parliament of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi, as well as Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the beneficiary parliaments from non-EU countries, Sakharov Prize laureates and human rights defenders and experts in democracy support to reflect upon the lessons-earned from the past ten years and stake out the way ahead in setting future priorities and development of the European Parliament's democracy support.

Two days of knowledge and experience sharing and debates focused on the European Parliament's work in the area of election observation, mediation, parliamentary support and capacity building, supporting and promoting human rights and engagement with the civil society and young leaders left also a room for informal meetings and high-level networking.

The conference was webstreamed and the recordings are available on links below.

Stand with Ukraine

In the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, MEPs demand tougher sanctions on Russia and new efforts to grant Ukraine EU candidate status.

Recently the EP has launched a new official website - Stand with Ukraine, where content is regularly updated in both English and Ukrainian.

Past events

Fighting threats to democracy: MEPs to discuss dangers faced by parliamentarians around the world
© European Union (2021) - European Parliament

MEPs set to put solidarity in action to empower parliamentarians facing serious dangers, including unfair criminal proceedings, intimidation and violence.

On 30 June, International Day of Parliamentarism, leading MEPs took stock of the global state of parliamentarians' rights in a live debate with Sarah Elago, an elected representative in the Philippines and victim of disinformation, as well as with representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Parliamentarians for Global Action.
Democracy Week 2020:
© European Union (2020) - European Parliament

MEPs and stakeholders got together online on 14-17 September to discuss how democracy is dealing with COVID-19 and the challenges it presents to democratic systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens more than the lives and the livelihoods of people throughout the world. It is also a political crisis that represents a global challenge to democracy and reminds us that the freedoms we cherish are at risk and that we must defend them.

International Democracy Week consisted of a series of events and workshops on global democracy and the COVID-19 pandemic organised by the European Parliament and several non-governmental organisations, in order to highlight the repercussions of the current crisis on democracy and fundamental freedoms.

Prominent speakers

Featured speakers included European Parliament President David Sassoli (video message), European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová and Swedish State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation Per Olsson Fridh, as well as heads of international organisations, parliamentarians, journalists, democracy and foreign policy experts and practitioners.
Oleg Sentsov awarded 2018 Sakharov Prize
Sentsov was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony © European Union (2018) - European Parliament

The Ukrainian filmmaker and writer Oleg Sentsov was awardedthe European Parliament's 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought inStrasbourg on 12 December 2018.

An empty chair symbolised the laureate's absence. Sentsov, convicted by aRussian military court of plotting terrorist acts, has been imprisoned since2015.

A native of Crimea, the filmmaker had protested against the Russian occupationof the peninsula before his arrest.

Awarding the prize, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani called Sentsov"a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held inRussia and around the world".

Sentsov's cousin, Natalya Kaplan, and lawyer, Dmitri Dinze, accepted the awardon his behalf.
- Read more about the Sakharov Prize
- Press release issued following the award ceremony
Conference on the future of election observation
Roger Nkodo Dang, Mairead McGuinness and Federica Mogherini - © European Union (2018) - European Parliament

10 - 11 October 2018, Brussels
Through a series of panel debates, more than 400 participants - including MEPs, former heads of state, national parliamentarians, representatives of international organisations, election observers, donors and civil society - addressed the major challenges confronting electoral observation and the integrity of democratic elections.
- Read more about the conference and the electoral cycle

Brochure on democracy support

Studies and research

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