Estonia joins Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Estonia on Wednesday (December 1) became a member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) based in Sweden.
IDEA was founded in 1995 as an intergovernmental organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes. There are 34 members including Estonia.
Märt Volmer, undersecretary for European Affairs, said Estonia "highly values the IDEA's achievements in defending and advancing democracy".
He said Estonia wants to highlight "advancing democracy" when providing assistance,
"The world has changed a lot in 30 years. The state of democracy in the world has changed. Unfortunately, the changes have not been the kind we would like to see. The general trend in recent years is worrying but Estonia remains full of energy to contribute to the development of democracy as much as we can," he said in a statement.
Last week, IDEA published the report "Global State of Democracy: Building resilience in a pandemic era".
"Unfortunately, the report concludes that since 2016, the number of countries moving away from democracy is about three times the number moving toward it. The world is becoming increasingly authoritarian," Volmer said.
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Editor: Helen Wright
