Ms Ann Linde – Speech

JOINT MEETINGSTANDING COMMITTEES OF THE BSPC AND THE PABSECVenue: DigitalTime: 2 December 2020, 10:00-12:00 Central European Winter Time (CEWT)Speech by Ms Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs, SwedenExcellencies, ladies and gentlemen,Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you here today. The topic for today ́s meeting, “Democracy and the COVID-19 pandemic”, is indeed very timely. During this year, we have put significant amount of work into this challenge. The Council of the Baltic Sea States is an important partner for us in this work and we appreciate the chance of sharing experiences with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic cooperation here today.The Council of the Baltic Sea States is a good example of the added value of regional collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable and interlinked our societies are, making cross-border cooperation even more necessary. People to people cooperation, not least between the young people in our region, is the backbone of the cooperation. It binds us together and serves as a platform for building long term relationships. Such contacts make our lives richer and increase understanding, which makes the Baltic Sea region more secure.The recent launch of the Baltic Sea Youth Platform is a valuable contribution to this end. We encourage cross-border cooperation between schools and invite young people to take part in the Council’s work at all levels.The cooperation has a proven track record of successful results addressing social and gender inequalities and we work hard to combat cross-border organized crime and to increase the protection of children at risk.I am convinced that the lessons learned from this pandemic will help us to further strengthen and revitalise our cooperation, with a view to building back better, greener and safer....Democratic backsliding, challenges to human rights and the undermining of the rule of law are trends which we have witnessed for several years now.The pandemic has had enormous health, humanitarian, developmental and economic consequences. These effects are often aggravated by weak health systems and governance, socio-economic inequality, poverty and conflict. What this means in real terms is that the pandemic has had a major impact on the poorest countries, and particularly on discriminated and marginalised individuals. Half a billion people are at risk of being thrown back into poverty as a result of the pandemic.We can also see that the pandemic has had a very clear and negative effect on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.Restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the corona virus have in many instances been fully in line with international law. But others have been more extensive, and we need to continue to keep following this closely so that these limitations to human rights and democracy do not become permanent features in some States. It takes time, sometimes generations, to build up stable and impartial democratic institutions, but they can be dismantled very quickly.We know that during the pandemic, the working environment for civil society organisations and human rights defenders have deteriorated with limited democratic space, and independent media is at risk in many places. More than 40 countries have introduced restrictions to freedom of expression, and close to 150 governments have introduced illegitimate limits to the freedom of association and assembly.Let me be clear: states are allowed by international law to restrict human rights under certain circumstances. However, any such restrictions must be strictly in line with international law and must meet the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality, and be non-discriminatory....As an effort to provide a counter narrative to the democratic backsliding, the Swedish Government initiated a Drive for Democracy last year. Our aim is to promote and strengthen democracy and the aspects that must be part of a sustainable democracy; equality, participation, sustainable development, inclusive growth, governance, human rights and security.Our ambition is to engage a broad range of actors and to stimulate the debate on the state of democracy today and what we need to do collectively to keep it strong also tomorrow.We have particularly focused on supporting civil society actors, human rights defenders and trade union leaders, as they have a central role in upholding democracy and holding governments to account. This also includes strengthening free and independent media and the safety of journalists and media workers.To resist the global trend of democratic backsliding, forging partnerships is essential. In connection with this year’s virtual UN General Assembly high-level meeting, Sweden launched, as follow-up to our Drive for Democracy, a cross-regional partnership together with a core group of countries called the Friends in Defence of Democracy, in which Georgia is a member....The response to the pandemic must be based on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Only this way can we ensure confidence and trust in societies to make the response to this pandemic sustainable in the long run.Ensuring a gender perspective in the response is absolutely central. Women and girls have been much more exposed than men during the pandemic.Let me also highlight that the freedom of the media and independent journalism are under threat. Journalists and media workers need to be able to do their job – both online and offline- informing the public and holding leaders to account.A free and healthy independent media is also the best way to come to terms with the surge of disinformation which we have seen during the pandemic....But it is important that we also start looking beyond the pandemic. We need to act against and formulate a strong counternarrative to the democratic backsliding. We know that authoritarianism is not the answer to todays’ challenges. We are as convinced today as ever that democracy is the best form of governance for stability and development, but we need to make the case again:Democracy provides political accountability and therefore a mechanism to correct mistakes and do better.Democracy ensures transparency and access to information, without which there can be no progress.Democracy enables everyone to be involved in building our future and allows for different voices to be heard and respected. Independent and free media, civil society, young persons and many other components of societies are free to scrutinize those in power and ensure the accountability needed for reform and progress.Political parties are essential building blocks of a well-functioning democracy. A pluralistic political system enables each and every one of us to make our voices heard and gives us the ability to influence the societies in which we live and to demand accountability. The participation of women is crucial in this regard....Democratic societies demand continuous work. As I said before, history has shown us it takes time, sometimes generations, to build strong and stable democratic institutions and societies but they can be dismantled quickly if we do not pay attention or take them for granted.Thank you.