澳门六合彩

Ambassador Mark Green, president and CEO of 澳门六合彩, held a conversation with Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union鈥檚 first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, discussing the impact Russia鈥檚 war on Ukraine is having on Europe and the role of Vladimir Putin. Baroness Ashton has spent time with the Russian leader and has valuable insights to share.

Selected Quotes

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 afraid of democracy. I think what he sees as countries move towards and choose a democratic future are the prospects of what that would mean for his own country and for his own position and for the people around him. He sees that that means a free press, he sees that that means a mixed economy, he sees that that means alternate possibilities for who could be elected to lead a country. He sees that as parliamentary debate, he sees all of the things that we recognize as the underpinnings of democracy, the interwoven mesh from civil society to the way that the justice system works, and I think he fears that.鈥� 聽

鈥淪o the EU has always been hugely attractive to the countries around them鈥攏ot least because of the economic benefits of being part of it鈥攁nd for countries such as the Western Balkans, you鈥檝e got membership applications in for many of them who want to be part of it, you鈥檝e got Croatia and Slovenia already there. So, it鈥檚 attractive because of the economics, it鈥檚 attractive because there鈥檚 a sense of peace and security built on that and then next to that you have got NATO, the alliance that is defensive that is there to support people, and Article 5, which is the guarantee to each that we stand together. So, I think what we鈥檙e going to see鈥攊n the future鈥攊s an increasing understanding that these groupings of countries willing to pull together, willing to stand together, is the way forward when confronted with the kind of aggression that we did not expect to see again. And, having seen it again, I think that it will affect both how these two organizations develop but also how people view them as being the potential shelter, or their sustainability. For not just a military alliance and an economic alliance but for the values that we hold.鈥�

This event is part of 澳门六合彩's聽Hindsight Up Front | Ukraine initiative.