[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                  INNOVATIVE MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP 
                   IN CENTRAL EUROPE: FOUNDING 
                   MEMBERS OF THE PACT OF FREE 
                   CITIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

       SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND CYBER

                                 OF THE

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                            December 2, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-94

                               __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
        
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]        


       Available:  http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://
                            docs.house.gov, 
                       or http://www.govinfo.gov
                       
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
46-226PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                        
                     
                     COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                   GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York, Chairman

 BRAD SHERMAN, California              MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking 
 ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey                  Member
 GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia	      CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
 THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida	      STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
 KAREN BASS, California		      SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
 WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts	      DARRELL ISSA, California
 DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island	      ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
 AMI BERA, California		      LEE ZELDIN, New York
 JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas	              ANN WAGNER, Missouri
 DINA TITUS, Nevada		      BRIAN MAST, Florida
 TED LIEU, California		      BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
 SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania	      KEN BUCK, Colorado
 DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota	      TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
 ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota		      MARK GREEN, Tennessee
 COLIN ALLRED, Texas		      ANDY BARR, Kentucky
 ANDY LEVIN, Michigan		      GREG STEUBE, Florida
 ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia	      DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
 CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania	      AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas
 TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey	      PETER MEIJER, Michigan
 ANDY KIM, New Jersey	              NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
 SARA JACOBS, California	      RONNY JACKSON, Texas
 KATHY MANNING, North Carolina	      YOUNG KIM, California
 JIM COSTA, California		      MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida
 JUAN VARGAS, California	      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
 VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas		      
 BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois              

                      Sophia Lafargue, Staff Director

               Brendan Shields, Republican Staff Director
                                 ------                                

       Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber

          WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts, Chairman

SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             BRIAN FITZPATRICK, 
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia             Pennsylvania,Ranking Member
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey		     ANN WAGNER, Missouri
THEODORE DEUTCH, Florida	     ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois,
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island	     BRIAN MAST, Florida
DINA TITUS, Nevada		     DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota	     AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas
JIM COSTA, California		     NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas		     PETER MEIJER, Michigan
BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois

                    Leah Nodvin, Staff Director
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               WITNESSES

Vallo, Matus, Mayor, Bratislava, Slovakia........................     8
Karacsony, Gergely, Mayor, Budapest, Hungary.....................    14
Hrib, Zdenek, Mayor, Prague, Czech Republic......................    22
Trzaskowski, Rafal, Mayor, Warsaw, Poland........................    30

                                APPENDIX

Hearing Notice...................................................    53
Hearing Minutes..................................................    54
Hearing Attendance...............................................    55

                              DECLARATION

Declaration submitted for the record.............................    56

            RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

Responses to questions submitted for the record..................    57

 
INNOVATIVE MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP IN CENTRAL EUROPE: FOUNDING MEMBERS OF 
                        THE Pact OF FREE CITIES

                       Thursday, December 2, 2021

                          House of Representatives,
                Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the
                             Environment and Cyber,
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.

    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m., 
via Webex, Hon. William R. Keating (chairman of the 
subcommittee) presiding.
    Mr. Keating. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee will 
come to order and without objection, the chair is authorized to 
declare a recess of the committee at any point and all members 
will have 5 days to submit statements, extraneous material, and 
questions for the record subject to the length limitations in 
the rules.
    To insert something into the record please have your staff 
email the previously-mentioned address or contact our committee 
staff directly.
    Please keep your video function on at all times even when 
we are recognized by the chair. Members are responsible for 
muting and un-muting themselves. Please remember to mute 
yourself after you finish speaking.
    I will mention that there will be some delays in some of 
the back and forth with our witnesses because of translation 
time that would occur. And consistent with House Resolution 965 
and the accompany regulation staff will only mute members and 
witnesses as appropriate when they are not under recognition to 
eliminate background noise.
    I see that we do have a quorum. I thank all our members 
that are here and that will be joining us. I now recognize 
myself for an opening statement.
    Pursuant to notice we are holding a hearing today entitled, 
``Innovative Municipal Leadership in Central Europe: Founding 
Members of the Pact of Free Cities.''
    I want to thank you all for being here, thank our witnesses 
given the time zone issues we have for their participation. It 
is extremely important.
    As many of you know this month is an important month for 
the Biden Administration as they hold the Summit for Democracy. 
This event will bring together nations of similar values and 
principles to share best practices in democratic resiliency. 
Many of the nations invited have made great strides in terms of 
democratic development including those in Central and Eastern 
Europe.
    After the fall of the Berlin Wall 32 years ago the 
countries of Central and Eastern Europe made the transition 
from communism to democracy, developed market economies, and 
integrated into the transatlantic community. These countries 
are now members of the European Union, a union founded on 
economic integration, but bound by common values such as 
freedom of the press, rule of law, and an independent 
judiciary. Together they sought to protect the basic human 
rights of their citizens while working to ensure access to the 
fundamentals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
    In addition, these countries have become strong national 
security partners of the United States and other members of the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As such, Congress continues 
to develop and support these security alliances and work 
together with our European partners to address joint security 
challenge. This is the one advantage we all have together in 
the face more malign activities in the world today.
    In addition, these countries have become strong national 
partners and, unfortunately however, in recent years many of my 
colleagues and I in the transatlantic community, including 
civil society organizations like Freedom House, which assesses 
levels of democracy around the world, have become increasingly 
concerned with some policies and rhetoric that have emerged in 
Central Europe.
    Slovakia. Freedom House notes that, quote, ``While civil 
liberties are generally protected, democratic institutions are 
hampered by entrenched discrimination against the Roma 
community and growing political hostility toward migrants and 
refugees,'' unquote. Then they notes that, quote, ``Political 
corruption remains a problem.''
    In the Czech Republic Freedom House asserts that several 
corruption scandals and political disputes have, quote, 
``hampered normal legislative activity,'' unquote, and that, 
quote, ``a liberal rhetoric and influence of power for business 
entities in the political arena are becoming increasingly 
visible.''
    In Poland the rapid economic growth experienced since 1989 
has benefited some parts of the country more than others. 
Freedom House believes that this disparity in wealth has 
contributed to, quote, ``a deep divide between liberal and pro-
European parties and those purporting to defend national 
interest and traditional Polish Catholic values,'' unquote.
    The Law and Justice Party, which has led the government of 
Poland since 2015, has encouraged anti-LGBTQI+ policies and 
attitudes, politicized the judicial system threatening to 
reverse much of Poland's democratic development. An increase in 
nationalist homophobic and anti-Semitic rhetoric has fueled 
concerns about the safety of minority communities in the 
country.
    While Freedom House ranks Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and 
Poland as, quote/unquote, ``free countries,'' there is no doubt 
there is work to be done to protect marginalized communities, 
uphold the rule of law, and to crack down on corruption 
activities.
    Finally, and most concerning, since 2019 Freedom House has 
classified Hungary as, quote/unquote, ``party free.'' Hungary 
is the first EU member State to ever be designated as partly 
free. Following the election of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 
2010, the governing Fidesz Party has published through 
constitutional legal challenges and they have pushed through 
constitutional legal challenges rather that have allowed the 
party, doing what Freedom House describes, to consolidate 
control over the country's independent institutions. These 
changes also, according to Freedom House, hamper the operation 
of opposition groups, journalists, universities, non-
governmental organizations who criticize the government
    [inaudible] that the government finds unfavorable.
    In recent years the Central European University has 
forced--to find a new home in Austria, employees of the Moscow-
based Russian International Investment banks were given 
diplomatic status, independent journalism has been threatened 
by de facto government control over much of the media, and the 
government has adopted legislation restricting the rights of 
transgender individuals, to name just a few concerning policies 
of course that we have seen in Hungary.
    Overall, there is no doubt of the seriousness of the 
concerns regarding democracy in Central Europe. Malign 
influence in the region, particularly from Russia and China, 
encourage democratic backsliding, to slip further and further 
away from the ideals of our transatlantic alliance.
    Although the scope is different in the U.S. than it is in 
Europe, we are also dealing with threats to our Democracy 
through malign influence campaigns, disinformation, and more. 
Notably Freedom House has downgraded the U.S.' global freedom 
rankings by 11 points over the last decade.
    Only together as a transatlantic community can we tackle 
many of the problems facing our democracies. To meet these 
challenges and many others our four witnesses here today launch 
the Pact of Free Cities.
    The Pact, launched in 2019 as an alliance of Central 
European mayors, has pledged to protect and advance liberal 
democracy, recognizing the challenges of democratic development 
in the region, and establishing joint initiatives to solve 
climate, housing, and many other social issues that face these 
cities. The Pact has since expanded from the original Visegrad 
four capitals to include over 20 cities from Los Angeles to 
Taipei who have joined in the fight to solve the world's 
challenges.
    Recognizing the progress being made in the Pact today I 
have invited the founding four members of group: Matus Vallo of 
Bratislava; Gergely Karacsony of Budapest; Zdenek Hrib of 
Prague; and Rafal5 Trzaskowski of Warsaw. I have invited them 
to share with us the policies and programs they have initiated 
in their home cities.
    And we are so proud to have you as witnesses here today.
    As we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic here and around the 
world, local leadership is critical in times of peace and times 
of crisis to respond and prepare for emergencies, as well as to 
develop initiatives and innovative solutions to local and 
global challenges.
    For example, in the United States during the previous 
Administration our country moved away from climate change 
commitments, but local leaders here in the U.S. from State and 
municipal governments rose to the occasion and undertook 
environmental initiatives to reduce your carbon footprint.
    As such, like many of our people that are listening here 
today, I have read a lot about the local policies and programs 
developed by these mayors, these leaders, and I am eager to 
hear from them directly. I am proud to have the mayors here 
today and hear of their successes and their failures.
    With that, I welcome an opening statement from our ranking 
member, Mr. Brian Fitzpatrick, and then we will call on the 
mayors in alphabetical order to present their testimony.
    I now turn to Ranking Member Brian Fitzpatrick for his 
opening remarks.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Good morning and thank you, Chairman 
Keating.
    [Speaking foreign language] and thank you to our witnesses 
for joining us today.
    The cornerstone of this committee is the defense of 
democratic values around the world. We do so by supporting the 
rule of law, independent media, peaceful assembly, religious 
freedom, and the ability to participate in the political 
process, and these democratic values form the backbone of the 
transatlantic bond between the United States and the European 
allies. The strength of our NATO alliance is inextricably 
linked with the strength of our democracies.
    As recognized in the Brussels NATO Summit communique 
earlier this year autocrats in China and Russia are actively 
leveraging predatory investments and hybrid tactics to subvert 
Western institutions. Their coercive policies stand in stark 
contrast to the fundamental Western values that we all share. 
And our like-minded allies and partners need to prove that 
democracy, not autocracy, can provide more for the citizens of 
the world.
    I have been encouraged by some of our witnesses' efforts to 
stand up to the Chinese Communist Party and their bullying and 
denouncing the threat it and Vladimir Putin pose to all of our 
democracies. And I would like to hear more from Mr. Hrib whose 
approach if fighting authoritarianism has encompassed many 
topics we have covered in this very committee, from meeting 
with civil society leaders like Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya to 
defending Uyhgur survivors of the CCP concentration camps.
    Your efforts have included some of the most pressing issues 
on the planet. And particularly your efforts to strengthen 
relations with Taiwan are incredibly commendable and we thank 
you for them and we encourage you to continue to do that.
    Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia have recently welcomed 
Taiwan's foreign minister and opened dialog to bolster 
strategic cooperation. Please keep this going.
    With that, I would like to hear more about your 
decisionmaking and standing up to the intimidations of the 
Chinese Communist Party and what more the transatlantic 
alliance could do to stand united in the face of their coercive 
behavior.
    Mr. Karacsony, you have also faced the subversive influence 
of the Chinese Communist Party. When the proposed construction 
of China's Fudan University threatened to spread Beijing's 
influence at the expense of Hungarian taxpayers, you took a 
strong stand in opposition. And I would like to hear from you 
on what motivated you to take these strong and principled 
stances. And we encourage you to continue to do that.
    Poland and Mr. Trzaskowski have spoken out extensively on 
Putin's most glaring malign influence project, Nord Stream 2. I 
agree with your assessment that gas must never flow through the 
Nord Stream 2 pipeline and your condemnation of Russia's 
increasingly aggressive posturing. Please continue do that. And 
we encourage that and we support that.
    Firm opposition and clear-eyed recognition to the 
authoritarian threats are necessary to ensure freedom and 
democracy prevail around the globe. These goals must not be a 
partisan issue. The de-stabilizing malign actions from Moscow 
and Beijing and the threat that they pose to democracies across 
the globe demand and deserve our full attention and I look 
forward to hearing from you all today on these very, very 
pressing matters, particularly as it relates to the existential 
threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party and the Vladimir 
Putin regime.
    With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, ranking member.
    And I will now introduce our witnesses. Again thank you for 
being here and thank you for your commitments to democracy.
    First, Mr. Matus Vallo is the mayor of Bratislava in 
Slovakia. He has served in that position since 2018 and he is 
an architect by trade and an urban activist, someone who has 
brought those skills to his position. Welcome.
    Mr. Gergely Karacsony has served as the mayor of Budapest, 
Hungary since 2019. He previously served as the mayor of 
Budapest's 14th District, as well as a member of the Hungarian 
Parliament. I want to note for the record that Mr. Karacsony 
will speak in English for his opening statement but use 
simultaneous translation for the question and answer portion of 
today's hearing.
    Mr. Zdenek Hrib has been mayor of Prague, Czech Republic 
since 2018. He is a member of the Czech Pirate Party and the 
first member of the party to be elected as mayor in the Czech 
Republic.
    Mr. Rafal5 Trzaskowski is the mayor of Warsaw, Poland since 
2018. In 2020 Mr. Trzaskowski was a Civic Platform candidate 
for the presidency of Poland. In 2014 he served as Deputy 
Minister of Foreign Affairs for Poland. In 2013 as Minister for 
Administration and Digitalization.
    I now recognize each witness for 5 minutes and without 
objection your prepared written statement will be made a part 
of the record.
    Mr. Vallo, you are now recognized for your opening 
statement.

      STATEMENT OF MATUS VALLO, MAYOR, BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKI

    Mr. Vallo. Thank you very much. I hope you can hear me.
    Chairman Keating, Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, distinguished 
members of the committee, me and my colleagues, mayors from 
Central European capitals, we are honored to have the 
opportunity to be here today to discuss the situation in 
Central Europe and in our cities and to present our 
collaborative activities.
    The four us--of us here today created the Pact of Free 
Cities 2 years ago from a very specific moment. The voters in 
our four capitals expressed a clear vision for an alternative 
to the corrupt and populist national governments. We realized 
that the mandate given to us exceeds the boundaries of our 
capitals.
    Then we have became whatever we thought, dressed with 
civility or not, standard bearers for democratic hopes of many 
in our countries. That is a mission we take seriously and to 
better delivered we have team up so as to share experience to 
encourage each other, but also to jointly represent the hopes 
of our countries abroad as we are doing today.
    We are speaking to you at the moment of rising anti-
democratic sentiment in many national governments worldwide. 
Across the world public trust and the liberal democracy has 
weakened partly because of our democratically elected leaders 
are failing to lead. Central Europe is in the eye of the storm. 
Our democracies are young and therefore more vulnerable to then 
countries with strong democratic institutions and centuries of 
democratic tradition.
    We are still searching for a new identity that will define 
us in 21st century. We're no longer countries in transition. 
We're no longer defined by being ex-communists. But what kind 
of societies exactly do we aspire to be that has not been 
settled yet?
    Western liberal democracies should be an H.R. model, but 
Western democracies themselves are under pressure from 
populists at home. Countries with much longer democratic 
traditions that ours have fell in victim to the populist bug. 
The global crisis of democracy has encouraged back home in 
Central Europe. When you no longer have a clear beacon to 
follow, it becomes easier for populists to pedal alternatives.
    We democrats sell the idea of a positive future, but that 
is often too distant, blurs things. Far-right leaders sell the 
idea of hate which is immediate, almost tangible and sadly far 
to catch.
    They say that when the goes gets tough, the tough gets 
going, and that is what the mayors on the screen in front of 
you have done. We believe that the best way to represent 
democracy through direct experience. When people experience 
trust and freedom on local level, it ceases to be that distant 
destination which may never be reach. It is here and now and if 
it can work in a city-wide and in a country. If cities can have 
transparent public institution that deliver a good service, 
which is very important with services, why should the Nation 
not have the same?
    That is what we do. We stand as an example. Where the 
national governments are failing, the cities and regions 
continue to be island of freedom and democracy, not only 
serving their citizen, but also service as an example to others 
in our nations.
    Honorable Member of Congress, owing to our intertwined 
history and cultural proximity we can stand together stronger 
as the mayors of free cities in Central Europe and offer each 
other solidarity, mutual support, and collaboration in good 
times and bad.
    We in Slovakia closely watch difficult situation of our 
colleagues in Hungary and Poland who have to stand for the 
basic pillars of democracy because we know that democracy is in 
fact fragile everywhere and we must stand up for it together. 
We all must stand together.
    In 2020 general election in Slovakia people voted for 
radical change after the tragic murder of journalist Jan Kuciak 
and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova. The Slovak people clearly 
rejected the sitting government with its close ties to 
corruption. The new ruling coalition has declared war on 
corruption and is committed to high standards of transparency.
    Unfortunately the reality of governance, especially in 
COVID-19 pandemics, is proving that the anti-corruption agenda 
itself, however sincere, is not enough for effective leadership 
of the country. The crisis need trustworthy leaders who can 
stand up together and fight for the common good. If they do 
not, any political program can slip into the empty and 
dangerous populism.
    This is why I strongly believe that is mainly the building 
of trust that lead us through the tough times and it's 
extremely important to investigate. If we as a city leaders 
manage to renew the trust of our democratic institution, our 
cities could mediate and implement the key cultural change 
since the imminent threats, whatever it is a climate crisis or 
democratic crisis, can be only overcome through a completely 
new political culture and profound changes to the way of life 
and thinking of our societies.
    Let's stand in this uneasy fight for democratic and 
positive future together. Thank you very much for attention.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Vallo follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Keating. Well, thank you, Mr. Vallo.
    I will now turn to Mr. Karacsony. You are now recognized 
for your opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF GERGELY KARACSONY, MAYOR, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

    Mr. Karacsony. Chairman Keating, Ranking Member 
Fitzpatrick, distinguished members of subcommittee, I am 
honored to speak with you today on behalf of the people of 
Budapest. Today I will speak about the decline of democracy in 
Hungary. I will also speak about the mayors in Hungary and 
internationally are doing to safeguard democratic principles.
    Honorable members, just as in the United States the global 
financing crisis in 2008 hit very hard in Hungary. Orban Viktor 
exploited social discontent and built a new form of hybrid 
regime between democracy and autocracy. The government forced 
through a new constitution, changed the electoral law, crushed 
civil society, and occupied the media. In foreign policy the 
government broke with Hungary's pro-European and transatlantic 
orientation. Declared-_an opening to the East and drastically 
increased collaboration with Russia and China.
    Hungary's two most expensive public investment projects 
both serve the interest of these countries. The Budapest-
Belgrade railway, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, is 
being financed by a Chinese loan. Similarly, the nuclear power 
plant in Paks is financed by Russia serving Russian interest. 
The details of both contracts are kept secret.
    The governments also employs Putin's methods. Last year the 
speaker of the National Assembly told Hungarian Intelligence 
Services that the opposition is the greatest national security 
threats in Hungary. Yet their actions speak just as loud as 
their words. From 2018 Pegasus spyware has been used against 
Hungarian journalists, businessman and opposition politicians, 
and there is no sign that intelligence operations have stopped.
    Honorable Members of Congress, there is hope. I assure you 
that the Hungarian government's values do not mirror those of 
Hungarian society. Millions of my fellow citizens embrace a 
very different political agenda. In 2019, these voters made 
their voice heard when the democratic opposition won key 
positions in Budapest and in many other cities and towns. 
Running these cities and towns became more difficult because 
the central government chose to financially squeeze opposition-
led local governments. Yet we managed to showcase once more the 
value of a democratic, respectful, and inclusive governance--to 
Hungarian citizens.
    This, together with the democratic opposition running 
together for the first time in the more than a decade provide 
us with a unique opportunity to defeat Orban's nationalist 
populism in April next year and restore Hungary's rightful 
standing in the transatlantic alliance.
    Honorable Members of Congress, lastly, on the Pact of Free 
Cities. We believe that cities, where democracy was born, have 
a responsibility to protect it and improve it. We are proud to 
represent a broad ideological spectrum who say no to tribalism 
and illiberalism and aspire for a livable, equitable, and truly 
democratic future.
    Recognizing that the values and challenges that our 
initiative is based on transcend the Central-Eastern European 
Region, we have decide to expand our alliance. And cities 
worldwide are answering our call. Earlier this year 21, city 
leaders from all over the world signed on to the new Pact of 
Free Cities declaration. More mayors will be joining soon.
    The Pact stands ready to work with American cities and U.S. 
Congress to address all that threatens to undermine our 
democracies. Thank you for your attention.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Karacsony follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Keating. Thank you for those very significant 
statements and we look forward to questions as we go forward.
    I will now turn to Mr. Hrib. You are now recognized for 
your opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF ZDENEK HRIB, MAYOR, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

    Mr. Hrib. Chairman Keating, Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, and 
distinguished guest members--distinguished members of the 
subcommittee, it is a great honor for me that you have invited 
me to speak at this platform alongside by colleagues from 
Central European capitals, and I am happy to provide a few 
remarks on the State of democracy in the Czech Republic and on 
the role of the cities in defending global democratic 
principles and human rights.
    Considering the increasing urbanization worldwide, it is 
inevitable that cities are important stakeholders in defending 
freedom and democracy, and this brought Prague, Budapest, 
Bratislava, and Warsaw together to establish the Pact of Free 
Cities in 2019. And another driving force was our shared 
concern about the State of democracy in our respective 
countries.
    Just to name a few examples from Czech Republic, in the 
previous decade the government of the business tycoon Andrej 
Babis was accompanied by an unprecedented conflict of interest 
and his way of governing and his scandals undermined the rule 
of law, press freedom, and other crucial democratic values. 
President Zeman dragged the Czech Republic closer to China and 
Russia and the Czech foreign policy experienced a diversion 
from human rights agenda and the fear of migration became a new 
political topic misused by populist politicians.
    I became the mayor of Prague in 2018 representing the Czech 
Pirate Party and one of my aims was to restore Prague's 
reputation as an open-minded, liberal democratic, and 
progressions city, which is a stronghold of the human rights 
and local leader in tackling climate change.
    And I have been strongly promoting these values 
domestically often in opposition to the national government. 
And I have been also actively voicing concerns of violations of 
human rights abroad. This is a moral duty of liberal democratic 
politicians. For instance, Prague has been supporting the 
Belarusian democratic opposition. We have fostered a brilliant 
relationship with Taiwan and Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.
    And just a few weeks ago Prague hosted the General Assembly 
of the World Uyghur Congress and I had the privilege to meet 
Uyghur survivors from the Xinjiang concentration camps. And I 
was horrified to hear what they had experienced then. I would 
like to use this opportunity to call on the international 
community to work toward ending these concentration camps, the 
forced labor, forced organ harvesting, and this Uyghur 
genocide.
    I would like also to emphasize my belief that truly 
democratic and liberal cities should not be servile to 
illiberal countries such as China and Russia which try to 
exercise their business-related and political influence also on 
the municipal level.
    And currently Czech Republic is going through a crucial 
political change. The populist government of Andrej Babis is 
being replaced. The new coalition is pledging to restore 
democratic principles and the rule of law in the country and I 
would like to emphasize that this positive development in the 
Czech Republic does not mean that Prague would be less 
dedicated to the mission of the Pact of Free Cities. On the 
contrary. Our experience with the previous populist government 
was a reminder of the fragile nature of democracy. And there is 
a lot of work ahead in order to strengthen the vital values in 
our society and Prague is ready to keep supporting our 
partners.
    So in addition to the original aims I see an important task 
for the Pact nowadays. We should promote the link between human 
rights and the crucial contemporary global challenge of climate 
change. So in September 2022 Prague will be hosting the Pact of 
Free Cities Summit during the Czech Republic's EU presidency. 
And this will be an opportunity to bring all the member cities 
of this growing alliance together and to voice our readiness to 
fight for democracy, human rights, and the fairer, cleaner, and 
more resilient society.
    And before I conclude I would like to quote the former 
mayor of Denver, Wellington Webb. He said, ``The 19th century 
was a century of empires, the 20th century was a century of 
nation States, and the 21st century will be the century of 
cities.'' And I would like to slightly modify this great quote 
by adding that we need to strive toward a century of 
responsible, sustainable, and truly democratic cities. This is 
how we make a real difference and help the world. Thank you for 
your attention.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Hrib follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, Mr. Hrib.
    I will now turn to Mr. Trzaskowski. You are no recognized 
for your opening statement.

     STATEMENT OF Rafal5 TRZASKOWSKI, MAYOR, WARSAW, POLAND

    Mr. Trzaskowski. Chairman Keating, Ranking Member 
Fitzpatrick, distinguished members of the subcommittee, on 
November 1989 Lech Walesa addressed the United State Congress 
with his famous we the people speech. Today the populist 
government in Poland is trying to write is own version of 
history and wipe out Lech Walesa from history books. Can you 
believe that?
    It is only because of the courage of our teachers that 
Polish children still learn about or historical hero.
    Poland has not yet been turned into an undemocratic regime 
thanks to the strength of the parties of the parliamentary 
opposition and the courage and dynamism of our civil society. 
As the opinion polls clearly demonstrate, if the opposition 
were to be united, it would win the next parliamentary 
election.
    Honorable Members of Congress, Poland is a battlefield 
between freedom and authoritarianism, between democratic 
society and the populist government that tries to paralyze or 
politicize the independent institutions meant to control the 
excesses of unbridled governmental power. In times when the 
international context in Poland's neighborhood is so volatile 
the Russians are amassing troops of the Ukrainian border, the 
Kremlin is weaponizing energy policy, and Lukashenko has his 
hand in provoking the migratory crisis on our eastern border. 
The transatlantic community cannot afford to have a weak link 
in part of Europe.
    Regrettably I just confirm the negative developments taking 
place in our country enumerated by the chairman confirming the 
assessments of independent experts. Regardless of what the 
populist government in Poland claims, the knowledge of these 
developments is well known and is a source of concern for the 
friends of Polish democracy. I therefore confirm that most 
importantly the constitutional tribunal has been turned into a 
partisan buddy which rubber-stamps the illegal actions of the 
government.
    The government unleashed a vicious media campaign against 
the LGBTQI community and is trampling over women's rights 
proposing a draconian anti-abortion law. Moreover, the 
constitutional tribunal has recently issued a very 
controversial ruling undermining or membership in the European 
Union. The Polish public media became a blunt propaganda 
instrument of the governing party which at the same time is 
also trying to limit the freedom of independent media. The 
government also restricts the prerogatives of local communities 
excessively centralizing power in its hands.
    Honorable Members of Congress, Poland still is a democracy 
because the overwhelming majority of Poles have not given up 
their fight. Over the past years we have seen hundreds of 
thousands of men and women gathered on the streets of Poland to 
protest against the government. And the measures described 
above have been met with a staunch opposition of the civil 
society. The iron will of the freedom-loving Poles has not been 
broken. We will fight for an open free society which cherishes 
common values and diversity.
    Honorable Members of Congress, I would like to appeal to 
you and everyone in the U.S. Government sustain your commitment 
to Poland, countries of the region, and Europe as a whole. Keep 
on promoting the values of democracy and human rights, support 
civil society, NGO's and the local governments' initiatives. 
And above all do not lose hope for Poland because the 
democratic forces will be back.
    Honorable Members of Congress, illiberal democracy is an 
oxymoron. You either stay true to the common values of 
democracy or you slide into authoritarianism. We must protect 
the common values of democracy together.
    U.S. engagement in Europe and in Poland guarantees our 
peace, freedom, and democracy. The chairman is absolutely 
right. If a vacuum is created in our part of Europe, it will be 
filled by malign influence from Russia and China. We all need a 
strong eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance, democratic 
and resilient, and most importantly inoculated against 
manipulation and propaganda.
    We see our membership in the European Union and NATO as 
well as strong relations with the United States of America as a 
guarantee of our independence. That is why we treat the 
commitments to overall security of the continent and the world 
so seriously. But solidarity of all partners is required in the 
face of serious threat, therefore I strongly urge the U.S. 
Congress to prevent Russia from having a leverage against the 
EU and NATO members in the form of Nord Stream 2 and introduce 
further sanctions on the Russian regime.
    Honorable Members of Congress, regardless of what happens 
in Poland today do not lose hope. I remain confident that 
Poland will be back as a strong, proud, and democratic member 
of the transatlantic community. We the signatories of the Pact 
of Free Cities remain committed to uphold the democratic 
values, protect minorities, fight for tolerance and 
transparency, and realize the common ambitious goals of the 
Western community.
    Whatever the government is not doing we are doing it. We 
teach tolerance across the schools, we prioritize women's 
rights, we support independent cultures and NGO's, and we 
seriously fight for climate change--with the climate change 
because that's what the proud citizens of Warsaw and of Poland 
expect from us. Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Trzaskowski follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Keating. Thank you very much and be assured we are not 
giving up in Poland. Be assured that we understand in all your 
countries how important our relationships are in a 
transatlantic way.
    And be assured, too, that all of your testimony here had a 
common thread of making sure that basic democratic freedoms are 
our core and our strength. We certainly have security needs 
together, and under greater threats than we have seen in 
decades, yet democracy and our security needs do not travel in 
different lanes. They travel together and are strengthened 
together. And your opening statements, of all of you, indicates 
how important that is going forward. So I thank you for your 
testimony.
    I will recognize members for 5 minutes each. And pursuant 
to House rules all time yielded is for the purpose of 
questioning our witnesses. Because of the virtual format of 
this hearing, I will recognize members by committee seniority 
alternating between Democrats and Republicans. If you miss your 
turn, please let our staff know and we will circle back to you. 
If you seek recognition, you must un-mute your microphone and 
address the chair verbally.
    I will now recognize myself for 5 minutes with questions.
    I thank all of you for the work you are doing, and you are 
terrific examples of how the importance of major cities, 
municipalities, and obviously their importance to the 
surrounding communities of cities--how important that is. And 
you have raised issues of transparencies of contracts, and 
freedoms of the press, basic human rights issues, all cores to 
what we are dealing with.
    And you understand in all of your roles that this isn't--
these aren't issues that end at the city barriers. They 
transcend not only the cities, through the suburban areas, 
through the country as a whole, but globally. And along those 
lines I have noticed your work and the Pact of Free Cities' 
work on climate change.
    Here in our own country during the last 4 years as some 
of--we reneged on some of our commitments here in the U.S. 
globally, which we have now moved forward to reconstruct, but 
so many of our States and cities moved forward during this 
period so importantly. So I would ask all of you if you would 
like just to jump in to talk about the work you have done on 
climate change and how your work has been so important and 
transformative and how it translates to the people you 
represent.
    Maybe perhaps I will start with Mr. Vallo and then the 
others can jump in.
    Mr. Vallo. Thank you very much. We of course I'm having a 
lot of support in United States, I mean, as mayor of Warsaw, 
Rafal5, or members of--from Bloomberg called Bloomberg Harvard 
City Leadership Initiative. And we taking lot of know-how from 
different American cities and from this organization as well.
    And we--one of the main thing of course for us to fighting 
climate change is everything is green. We have this program 
called 10,000 Trees. I know it's not a million trees like New 
York City, but we have 10,000 Trees on--and we are planting lot 
of trees. And of course we know the effect of trees today. Is 
not only scientifically better base effect. We know how--what 
is happening to raining water on CO2, but it's also very 
important for health of our citizen. And this is just one of 
the programs we working lot of public space. That's something 
we kind of have in this program of new--of completely renewal 
of public space in Bratislava that's very important for us.
    Very important agenda again is our minorities. We have, as 
every city in the world today, problem with citizens without a 
home. We're spending lot of effort, energy of trying to ensure 
everybody can own a bed for the night and own a house. And 
that's very important for us.
    So we trying to just go with this already tested and 
already working agenda of other cities which are maybe a little 
bit more years in the game and trying to follow good examples. 
And this is important.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you so much.
    I would just like to see if Mr. Trzaskowski might want to 
also add to this and reassure him that we had Lech Walesa here 
in this committee as a witness just a couple of years ago. And 
I saw him connect to younger people here as he did back home so 
importantly. And the climate change issue also connects 
generation. What have you been doing?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Yes. Yes indeed. When Lech Walesa was 
having his famous speech I was working at the Capital Hill for 
a month with John Dingell.
    But when it comes to what we are doing when it comes to 
fighting climate change, I mean, you know, our government, the 
conservative governments of Poland, of Law and Justice, is very 
lukewarm toward the idea of global warming. And unfortunately 
of course they've taken some commitments, but unfortunately 
they're not very diligent in implementing the. So it's again 
the cities which have to do it on our own.
    And I've declared that Warsaw will be carbon-neutral by 
2050, even with our very difficult energy mix. And we are doing 
a number of things in Warsaw. Of course raising awareness, 
prioritizing public transportation. We invest billions of euros 
in public transportation. We're greening our city. We're 
eliminating coal-powered stoves. We are helping citizens in 
using renewables and we are paying for that. We are doing quite 
a lot in order to actually meet the priorities of the European 
Union and of the world because we have to take some of that 
responsibility ourselves.
    Mr. Keating. Right. Well, thank you. And I make note of the 
fact that our Secretary of Energy for the United States, 
Secretary Granholm, one of her first stops was in Poland. And 
it opens the door, not just there, but around the world, for 
important cooperation between the U.S. and all our--
particularly our transatlantic allies, which will create not 
just a greener environment, but also more jobs and more 
independence security-wise from other powers that do not share 
our values. So there is a tremendous opportunity in this area 
for mutual growth.
    And I wish I could go to everyone, but my time has expired, 
and hopefully some of the other members will followup with 
questions in this regard.
    So I will now turn for questioning to Representative 
Meuser.
    Mr. Meuser. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. And 
for Ranking Member Fitzpatrick.
    Thank you very much, mayors, for joining us this morning. 
Incredibly interesting and informative. Thank you.
    In your cities over the course of the 20th century of 
course survived Nazi occupation, Soviet communism. Throughout 
the Soviet era we saw uprising notably in Hungary, in Prague, 
in 1968. Solidarity movement in Poland. The Velvet Revolution 
in 1989 brought an end to communism in Czechoslovakia.
    So today freedom is again under threat. China continues to 
crack down on Hong Kong's autonomy and threatens Taiwan. Russia 
similarly is cracking down on opposition and threatening 
various sovereignties of its neighbors and the militarization 
of the Ukraine border.
    So, Mayor Hrib, you have been a strong supporter of Taiwan 
and Tibet hosting Tibetan and Taiwanese officials and replacing 
Beijing as Prague's sister city of Taipei. So Mr. Mayor, how 
has Beijing responded to these actions?
    Mr. Hrib. Well, thank you very much, Representative Meuser, 
for this question.
    Well, the fact is that of course they are trying to 
threaten us and the logic or their narrative, or actually it's 
not mainly the narrative that will be--would be told by them. 
They are using some sort of proxies to speak up for them.
    So for example, in Prague we have found that a company, 
which is business interests in China, because they have a 
company which sells the mobile phones on installments there, 
and is by the way company owned by the richest Czech guy. This 
is recently. However, they have created a whole network of 
politicians, journalists, sort of academical people to support 
their view of China. And they have these invoices of payments 
and--for the exact jump down in this manner. And this was all 
published because this--it leaked into the media. And in this 
way they are trying to form the public opinion.
    So for example, their primary narrative is that if we 
damage the relationship with China, the economy of whole 
country will be damaged. But specifically in case of Czech 
Republic; I'm not sure about the other V4 countries, but I 
believe it could be pretty much the same, the business 
influence of China is actually why it's overrated, because for 
example the promises of billions for the investment from China 
into Czech industry, but actually only a fraction of them 
happened and they were not investments. They were merely 
acquisitions of already existing sports clubs, breweries, and 
other things. So it was not about investments with know-how 
transfer or creating new jobs and so on.
    So when for example we have done this trip to Taiwan with 
our chairman of the upper chamber of our parliament, Milos 
Vystrcil, there was a huge, huge threats from China about the 
imPact of this trip on the Czech economy. And the net result, 
the net result was that some Chinese company was not--canceled 
their plan to buy 11 pianos from a Czech company, which meant a 
loss of 5 millions of Czech crowns, which is roughly tens of 
thousands of euros. And these pianos were actually immediately 
bought by a sponsor of music, of classical music in Czech 
Republic and they were donated to schools. So this is----
    Mr. Meuser. Mayor, I think we are out of time.
    Mr. Hrib. Yes.
    Mr. Meuser. Thank you. I appreciate it.
    And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    I think you are on mute, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Keating. See, they are already muting us.
    Thank you very much for your testimony and your 
questioning.
    I now turn to the vice chair of the committee, Ms. 
Spanberger.
    Ms. Spanberger. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    I want to say thank you to all of our guests today. Thank 
you for being here and to answer our questions, and your 
opening statements were extraordinary. These virtual hearings 
really do allow us to engage with experts and government 
officials from around the world, so I appreciate you making the 
time to speak with us.
    Mr. Trzaskowski, I would like to ask you a couple questions 
to begin with. The United States and Poland have a strong 
security partnership through the NATO alliance, but as we know 
the types of security challenges that localities are facing 
continue to evolve. So I would really like to hear more about 
how Warsaw is working to build some resiliency against the 
emerging security challenges, be they climate change or cyber 
security, or other kind of on-the-ground physical threats. What 
efforts are underway in Warsaw to combat these security threats 
and is there any structure of engagement internationally that 
exists?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, you know, I mean, obviously today 
there are threats of very different nature because we see 
what's happening on the eastern border of Poland where, you 
know, the migratory crisis is being created helped by 
Lukashenko and his regime.
    We also see what's happening on the border of Russia and 
Ukraine. And of course it gives us a lot of grounds to be 
worried.
    But for us on the level of the cities, you know, the 
biggest threats are of course the threats of a hybrid nature 
because, you know, the war is now waged differently.
    So first of all, there is a question of our resilience when 
it comes to energy, and that's why, you know, I--in my 
introductory statements, I was so strong about Nord Stream, and 
that's why we do so much to fight climate change, not only 
because we have to save the planet, but also because we cannot 
allow Russians and others to use energy as a leverage. That's 
why we invest as much as we can in renewables. That's why we 
green our cities. That's why we increase the resilience.
    But of course there is also a problem of cybersecurity. 
And, you know, we the mayors cannot do a lot because this is a 
responsibility of the because but what we try to do, we try to 
talk to the kids. We try to introduce programs at schools where 
we teach what manipulation is and how it can be used and to 
sift information so that students know what they're talking 
about. But unfortunately this populist government is trying to 
push all the NGO's out of schools because they want to have 
schools for their own purposes where they try to introduce a 
bit of propaganda. So they're pushing out NGO's who for example 
teach tolerance or teach resilience when it comes to cyber.
    We do what we can.
    Ms. Spanberger. Interesting. And in terms of engagement 
with companies that might be imPacted by cyber attacks, what is 
the structure in terms of your ability as the mayor of such a 
large city to either be part of the education--you mentioned to 
students for issues related to propaganda, but how about to 
companies and to commerce within your city in terms of the 
threats that exist online to them?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well again, you know, this is a--this is a 
problem which needs to be addressed on--on the governmental 
level. I was a Minister of Digitization, you know, 7 years ago, 
so I know this problem pretty well. We on the local government, 
we cannot do much, but there is a lot we can do together 
because at the end of the day when we talk about cyber, we need 
to collaborate within NATO, within the European Union. We need 
to talk to the big giant American companies when it comes to 
resilience.
    I will just give you one example: Recently the government 
used the Pegasus. This is like a device produced in Israel 
which allows to catch terrorists. But Apple had to actually 
send a warning to one of our prosecutors that the government in 
Poland is using it against prosecutors. And sometimes there are 
doubts whether it is using such instruments against the members 
of the opposition.
    So we need to address these questions. We need to ask these 
questions. And you also need to ask these questions to the 
Polish government because there are quite serious doubts about 
that. And of course there is a question of regulating the big 
tech companies. We can only do it together, the European Union 
and with the United States of America, because we need to 
protect the free speech and we need to protect the 
possibilities that, you know, technology gives us, but we need 
to also be quite worried about cybersecurity and that, you 
know, those capabilities can be used for adverse purposes by 
populist governments.
    Ms. Spanberger. Thank you for that. My next question, which 
you actually got to in your answer, was focused on how 
democratic values and human rights--we see them across the 
world or are under threat and what the role that cities can 
have in strengthening and revitalizing some of these 
principles. You spoke about making sure children are aware of 
propaganda. Certainly the example that you gave of prosecutors 
being monitored.
    I do hope that in the future, Mr. Chairman, we can talk 
about how the international community can support cities and 
leaders like Mayor Trzaskowski as they are working to fight 
those threats that exist.
    So thank you very much for your answers.
    Thank you to all the witnesses.
    Mr. Chairman, I yields back.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you very much.
    And thank you for your comments on bringing home the point 
now renewables create energy independence and how critical that 
is to our security right now. All these issues overlap.
    Now I turn to Representative Pfluger for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I do not want to 
start this conversation by immediately disagreeing on 
renewables and energy independence, but what we are talking 
about here is base load power. Base load power--and I come from 
a district--I am sorry this was not the line of questioning I 
was going to start with, but my district produces more wind 
energy than the entire State of California. And it is wonderful 
the State of Texas.
    When I have talked--I have had dozens of conversations 
with--from the Baltic States through Central Europe and all the 
way into the Balkans, and one of the major concerns that I am 
hearing from every single country is the malign influence that 
is being basically held hostage on the energy front.
    And, Mr. Chairman, I agree with the need to diversify 
sources, and that is not only the type of energy, but it is 
also the--where the energy originates from.
    And so what I would like to focus on, and maybe we will 
start with Dr. Trzaskowski, but I would like to hear from all 
of you on the Three Seas Initiative. We have had a pledge of 
billion dollars, 300 million, an initial tranche that has been 
delayed, and I kind of want to hear how that would counter the 
influence that we are seeing in things like the Nord Stream 2 
pipeline.
    Dr. Trzaskowski, over to you. Thank you for all the 
witnesses, but I will start with you and then like to get to 
the other witnesses as well.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. A pertinent question. Very important. I 
mean, that's the problem, that some of those countries actually 
use energy as a leverage and use energy security to influence 
the situation in countries such as Poland. And that's why all 
the initiatives that we have mentioned are so important. It is 
very importance to work within NATO and within the European 
Union to counter that.
    And we have created an energy union. We have created quite 
a lot of tools to give us independence, but unfortunately, you 
know, there are some decisions on the table which try to sort 
of go round it. And when you mentioned the initiative of Three 
Seas, fine. That's another initiative which can actually make 
us a bit more independent, for example, of the Chinese 
influence. You know, they've invented this form of 16+1 in 
order to have more influence in the Balkans, especially in 
those countries which are not members of the European Union. So 
this is immensely important for us to use all of those 
initiatives in order to make us stronger, more resilient, and 
more independent.
    And at the end of the day we need to collaborate. We, the 
European Union and of course the United States of America, 
because we are the beacons of freedom. And only us working 
together we can actually counter those malign influences. And 
that's why it is so incredibly important that countries such as 
Poland and Hungary remain democratic. We cannot have the weak 
link here.
    Mr. Pfluger. Well, thank you for that and I appreciate the 
acknowledgement of all the initiatives, specifically Three Seas 
countering CCP influence, or others.
    So and I will just open it up at this point to anyone that 
has an opinion on the delay of the funding that has been 
promised to the tune of $300 million through this Three Seas. 
Can anyone speak to whether or not that is hurting? Or how it 
would help would be a better way to pose this question.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, Congressman, I will just say one 
sentence: I mean, if the European Union upholds its commitments 
as it always does because we are a member of this 
organization--but if the United States stay committed and help 
us in investing, then there is no room for other investment. No 
one can, you know, show us a carrot and try to say that they 
have a better idea. That's why it is absolutely crucial that we 
keep your engagement in Europe. Then there is no room for 
anyone else.
    Mr. Pfluger. Well, that is kind of point that I am----
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Europe and the U.S.
    Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. Trying to make is that our 
commitment needs to be our commitment.
    Mr. Vallo, just over to you. I do not know if you have any 
thoughts on this.
    Mr. Vallo. Just very, very few words. I mean, in all of 
this, I mean, nobody's happy to be forced in the corner by 
energy crisis, that what was happening during these weeks and 
here. I mean, the--I point to point out a word Mayor 
Trzaskowski already mentioned is collaboration. That's only way 
how we going to survive. We are this small nation here with our 
neighbors, which are much big country as Hungary, Poland, and 
also Czech Republic. So we are completely depend on EU right 
now and we are completely been on good collaboration with this 
V4 countries and our--their democracy is absolutely necessary 
also for us.
    Mr. Pfluger. Well, thank you.
    Does anyone in the last 15 seconds have any thoughts on 
Lithuania's decision to pull out of the 17+1 and to fully 
support Taiwan?
    Mr. Hrib. Well, if I may just say one sentence. Of course I 
support that, that that is a thing that is very, very--always 
very specific to us as a country and the points of it. For me 
as a medical doctor I would perhaps like to emphasize, and I 
always emphasizing that if I'm asked about this question about 
supporting Taiwan, I would like to support the membership of 
Taiwan in WHO because that is something that has been proven 
that is crucial nowadays as we face the global pandemic as they 
obviously knew it's coming. They have prepared and they're 
experience is crucial if we look on what have Chinese down and 
how they basically lied to the world.
    Mr. Pfluger. Well, mayor, thank you.
    Mr. Chairman, my time is expired, but thank you for this 
hearing, the opportunity with the witnesses giving us their 
testimony.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, representative.
    The chair recognizes Representative Susan Wild for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mayor Vallo, you write in your testimony that ``the climate 
crisis is also a democracy crisis and the viability of our 
democracies will be tested by their capacity to face the 
existential danger of global warming and ability to mitigate 
its negative imPact on our societies.''
    My question is about the intersection of these two 
challenges. We are seeing an alarming tendency of xenophobic 
leaders on both sides of the Atlantic who oppose strong action 
on the global climate crisis while seeking political gain by 
demonizing the growing numbers of immigrants, refugees, and 
asylum seekers who seek safe harbor at least in part due to the 
many direct and indirect ways that the climate crisis is de-
stabilizing their societies.
    How do you assess this dual crisis and what lessons have 
you learned from your time as mayor that can help us find 
solutions particularly when it comes to helping people see 
through attempts to scapegoat and divide our societies?
    Mr. Vallo. Thank you very much. I mean, the--for me what I 
learn in the last few years is that any reform, any--maybe 
sometimes, of course data base decision as--for this is very 
important to have a trust of our citizen. That the main thing.
    And of course, climate crisis--today we have a data which 
is saying exactly what is going to happen in next years and we 
know--everybody who believes data and science know that climate 
crisis is here. It's happening. But you still have people--you 
have president and prime minister who are saying that is not an 
issue.
    So the trust to--general trust not only in politics, but 
only to the scientists and in numbers and in everybody who 
wants to be transparent. And democratic is absolutely critical 
here. And this is what we are doing in a very small scale in a 
half-million city, Bratislava. We're trying to build a good 
trust and a good relationship with our citizen.
    Ms. Wild. All right. Thank you.
    And I would like to direct my next question to Mayor 
Trzaskowski. Sir, you write in your testimony, ``The Polish 
public media, the biggest media outlet in our country, funded 
with taxpayer money, ceased to be an objective source of 
information, but instead formed a part of the ruling party's 
propaganda machine aimed at fighting the opposition.'' This is 
still your quote. ``I experienced that during the Presidential 
election in 2020 when all public news programs openly turned 
against my candidacy spreading crude propaganda and 
misinformation at the time openly supporting my opponent.''
    Can you elaborate for us on some of the specific ways the 
Polish public media worked to undermine your candidacy and 
support the incumbent president?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, you understand to--you need to 
understand one thing: I mean, the Polish public media is first 
of all funded by taxpayers' money, and this is the only channel 
which can be reached everywhere in Poland. I mean, other 
independent channels, by the way which are under attack by the 
Law and Justice government, are much more difficult to reach.
    And, you know, I'm almost 50, so I remember the communist 
propaganda. It was much more subtle that what they do now on 
public TV. And it's not only campaign where all the independent 
institutions said that the campaign in Poland was still free 
but not fair because all the outlets were attacking me, 
presenting manipulations all the time, twisting facts, and of 
course spending much more time covering the president.
    But it's more that they use it actually to stoke fears. 
That they've started a vicious campaign against the LGBT+ 
people. That they're saying incredible things about refugees 
and they're magnifying the threats. The threats are there. 
Let's not minimize them. We need a strong border in Eastern 
Poland, but we cannot simply allow for this propaganda to 
spread because manipulations are then spread all around Poland. 
And they're using it all the time constantly to do that.
    And that's why it is very problematic in Poland to wage a 
normal fair campaign because you can spend just a small amount 
of money and all the State institutions, propaganda included, 
are used against the opposition. And that's why the government 
is also undertaking the peace government, the conservative, the 
populist government is now undertaking to actually limit the 
freedom of other independent outlets and press.
    One example to end this: A State-owned company, an oil 
company was asked by the government to buy local press. And 
they bought newspapers, you know, in order to kill some of 
those local newspapers and turn them to the government and 
against--and again sell propaganda.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you. We are seeing the buying of media 
outlets throughout your country as well, so I am very sensitive 
to that. Thank you very much, mayor.
    And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yields back.
    Mr. Keating. Very interesting line of questioning.
    Chair recognizes Representative Deutch for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Deutch. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for 
calling this hearing.
    Thanks to the mayors for participating.
    I want to echo what some of our colleagues have said. I 
think this is not just an interesting hearing. It is critical 
to the way that we think about Europe, to the way that we think 
about the challenges in Europe. And I have to say to all of the 
mayors who are participating, your words today and the way that 
you govern and the commitment that you show to liberal 
democracy is inspiring and I am really grateful for this 
opportunity.
    I want to followup on some of the conversation about the 
Pact of Free Cities and that the members of the Pact of Free 
Cities are looking ahead to the Summit for Democracies that the 
Biden White House is going to be hosting. I would like to know 
whether the Pact of Free Cities is participating in the Summit 
for Democracy and what you would like to see as local leaders 
result from the Summit for Democracy since in your countries 
what you are doing is so critical to that effort to sustain 
democracy?
    So, Mayor Trzaskowski, I guess we can start with you.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, the problem today is that if we 
really want to meet the challenges that are before us head on, 
you cannot do it without the cities. I mean, if you really want 
to fight climate change, if you want to resolve the problems of 
education, migration, and so on and so forth, we need to do it 
together. And that's why it is very important to also recognize 
the role of the cities.
    And for example, when our friends in the European Union, 
but also in the U.S. are exacerbated by our governments, I 
mean, why it is absolutely crucial that we talk to each other, 
that we keep on supporting the NGO's, that we keep on fighting 
for minorities, and that we keep on realizing common 
priorities.
    And that's why we decided to actually set up the Pact of 
Free Cities and that's why very different cities from all 
around the world, from Paris to London to Los Angeles are 
joining because we have the same problems.
    And we're doing the benchmarking. We are learning from one 
another what to do. We are adopting best practices in order to 
meet those challenges head on. And that's why I'm very much 
satisfied that there is a side event on Monday that the mayors 
were invited to. I will be there with the mayor of Minneapolis 
and Jakarta.
    Mr. Deutch. Great. Thank you.
    Mayor Karacsony?
    [The following statement and answers were delivered through 
an interpreter.]
    Mr. Karacsony. Yes, thank you. Thank you very much for the 
question. It's especially important for Hungary since now we 
hear in the Hungarian press today, and unfortunately soon in 
the international process--we heard that Hungary wasn't invited 
by the Biden Administration to this democratic summit. I think 
this is a clear signal about the future of democracy. U.S. 
would like to talk with countries who are building and not 
demolishing democracies. And now the Hungarian government is 
trying to ban the EU to join in this summit and say that the EU 
cannot represent all countries since Hungary is not invited.
    This is a rather typical way of reasoning from Viktor Orban 
who always equals himself to the Nation, to the whole of the 
Nation and he always says that he's representing all of the 
European Unions and as a government if they are criticized, he 
always says that every criticism is directed to the whole of 
the Nation. And now is trying to block the EU participation on 
this summit and say that EU cannot talk on behalf of Hungary.
    When I was invited to this forum, I'm not speaking on 
behalf of Hungary. I try to speak on behalf of the population 
of Budapest and about the values that I believe. Of course in 
democracy you cannot represent everyone at the same time, but 
everyone has the right to express their opinion. And the fact 
that the Hungarian government is blocking the EU's 
participation on this summit I think it's a message to all 
friends of democracy about the Hungarian government's opinion 
on democracy.
    And I'm sorry that I have to apologize because of this 
approach. I ask you not to equal Hungary to Viktor Orban and 
his government. Thank you.
    Mr. Deutch. Your words are very important and very well-
taken by us.
    Mr. Chairman, I do not know if I have time for one quick 
question. I will just put it on the table; perhaps we will 
answer it later.
    Mr. Keating. Because of the delay in the translation, yes, 
take a little bit more time.
    Mr. Deutch. I appreciate that. I want to circle back to 
Mayor Trzaskowski again just one last time.
    There was a recent restitution law adopted by Poland that 
effectively prevents Jewish and non-Jewish families who were 
persecuted by the Nazis from receiving restitution for property 
seized during World War II. We saw some overtly anti-Semitic 
rallies around Poland last month. President Duda denounced 
those, but I am wondering if you could speak to what has been 
done in Warsaw to protect the Jewish community specifically in 
response to the rise in anti-Semitism and whether the Jewish 
community feels safe in Warsaw, and Poland more generally?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Yes, unfortunately we had those incidents 
in Poland that we are all ashamed of. And it's very good that 
President Duda denounced. And those guys were actually caught 
by police and they will be prosecuted.
    We do everything we can to protect all the minorities in 
Warsaw, and unfortunately, for example, on our national 
holiday, Independence Day, you know, the government allowed for 
the quasi-fascist organizations to actually take over that day 
and organize the festivities. And I was in court fighting so 
that these elements could not organize rallies on the streets 
of Warsaw. And I won.
    But the government at the end of the day decided to--to--to 
sort of given an umbrella to some of those elements. And make 
no mistake, some of those guys are--are--are just, you know, 
nationalistic elements. But unfortunately the things that they 
said of course should never be condoned. We do everything that 
we can to protect minorities. That's my job. I'm the mayor of 
the city.
    You know, we need to--not to meddle with--with the affairs 
of those who get by and protect all of those who are weaker: 
minorities, senior citizens, people with disabilities. That's 
what we do. That's our mission, the mission of the local 
government.
    Mr. Deutch. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Chairman, I'm going to finish again just where I 
started. This has been an inspiring hearing. I am so grateful 
to our witnesses, to these mayors and I look forward to 
continuing these conversations to advance democracy in Europe 
and ensure that continuation of the strongest possible liberal 
democracies. And I thank you very much. Yield back.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you. And I couldn't agree more with the 
tenor and the remarks and the significance of our witnesses' 
testimony, how inspiring that is.
    Now our next member that will have questions is a former 
mayor and a person that had a leadership role in our national 
associations with mayors. And now he is a Congressman and he is 
recognized--so it is one of your colleagues--recognized for 5 
minutes. representative Cicilline.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 
this hearing.
    And thank you to these extraordinary mayors for being here. 
And those of us who served as mayors are not at all surprised 
that mayors are going to save democracy around the world. And 
just thank you for the cities--the organization you founded. We 
always tout cities as the great innovators, the incubators of 
great ideas, the place in government closest to the people. And 
so the work that you are doing to preserve democracy around the 
world is extraordinary and, as Congressman Deutch said, really 
inspiring to hear. And we as Members of Congress want to 
support you in every way that we can.
    And so my first question is to Mayor Trzaskowski. You 
talked about the vicious campaign against the LGBTQ community 
and obviously the diversity of cities is one of the great 
strengths of cities. Could you speak a little bit about the 
national government was doing and how we can productively work 
with you and other cities to help support vulnerable 
populations, whether it be LGBTQ community, the Jewish 
community as Congressman Deutch mentioned, or other 
marginalized communities?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Congressman, thank you very much for--for 
that question. It is very important.
    Warsaw was always a proud city, a proud city of its 
diversity. We had a huge Jewish minority before the War. We had 
other minorities, A German minority, and so on and so forth. 
And we will always fight for diversity in our city. And we are 
in agreement in all the cities on--in Poland that that's what 
we need to do. And that's why we protect minorities.
    I was one of the first mayors to sign the LGBT charter in--
in Warsaw because I wanted to protect the minority. I wanted to 
allow for--for more tolerance in schools. I--I wanted to 
actually talk about this subject. We've created, for example, a 
shelter for people from LGBT community who are just thrown out 
of their houses.
    And I was viciously attacked by the media, the--the public 
media outlet and by the government because they cynically 
wanted to use that as an argument to fight mayors in Poland. 
And then when I was running a Presidential campaign they used 
it against me because they wanted to stoke up xenophobia and--
and--and homophobia. For example, the--the--you know the--the 
president of the republic was on record saying that--and other 
officials saying that--that LGBT is not--those are not people, 
but ideology and so on and--and so on and so forth.
    But we will keep on fighting because we think that--that 
our beautiful cities should remain open and--and transparent 
and we will not allow anyone to--to attacked our citizens who--
who--who have full rights. And as I said, that's our mission. 
Whoever is attacked in Warsaw will be defended by--by me and 
by--by the people who--who work with--with me. We will never 
allow it. And--and again, it was just used cynically by the 
government because they--they always undertake such attacks 
when they see or think that they can score some points.
    Mr. Cicilline. And may I ask, Mayor Vallo and--whether or 
not the role of social media--what role it has played in terms 
of disseminating information that has led to the undermining of 
democratic institutions, the marginalization of minority 
populations and what role that has played in your country, in 
your city?
    Mayor Vallo?
    Mr. Vallo. Can you hear me?
    Mr. Cicilline. Yes.
    Mr. Vallo. Ah, perfect. I mean, today we're already know 
that what we thought that is going to be a instrument for 
democracies, better democracy is becaming a instrument of hate. 
This is what we strongly feel that social--some social networks 
are not protecting the democracy enough, just giving the--a 
stage to do hate speech, to populism and to people who are 
pressing hard to minorities. That's also what happen in 
Slovakia, I think around all the Europe.
    So in my case again I'm going back to the trust and the 
regime with the citizen. What we are trying to do is to 
explain, to communicate and to really show we have all the 
instrument. We--if we are not the populist, we are liberal 
mayors let's say, we have all the instrument how to fight it to 
show our results, to show the work. The work must be done. 
That's the only way how we--how we can--can show people the 
democracy is--is working.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you.
    I am just going to get in one last question. Mayor 
Karacsony; I hope I am pronouncing that OK, I had a very 
interesting conversation with Prime Minister Orban when I 
visited Hungary and he said there are three areas of common 
interest: economics, security, and human rights. When I pressed 
him about the human rights issue, he said isn't two out of 
three enough? I tried to make the case that they are related 
and two out of three is not enough.
    But would you speak a little bit about the role of the 
Chinese and Russian investments in Hungary and how that is 
imPacting the--or influencing the trajectory of democracy in 
Hungary and how we can effectively work with you as a mayor of 
a city to promote democracy and human rights?
    Mr. Karacsony. Once Prime Minister Orban Viktor said that 
you shouldn't see--look at what I say, but what I do. So this 
is how you can translate his politics.
    So he says something. He does lip service and he says that 
he serves human rights and democracy, but at the same time you 
can see that he does everything what you can see in Poland, 
these--these attacks against different communities. For 
example, here in Hungary again there's an attack against sexual 
minorities.
    It is very important to point out that democracy and 
pushing it, marginalizing it and opening toward the Russians 
and Chinese, these two go hand in hand. And as I have mentioned 
earlier, the Hungarian government is eager to build on the 
investments form Russia and China. And obviously is paid by 
Hungarian taxpayers, but they serve Chinese and Russian 
interests.
    And I would like to draw your attention to the fact that 
thank the European Union, we thank the commission. There's a 
representative, a Hungarian representative who is responsible 
for the Western Balkans' expansion and they did everything to 
increase Chinese influence there.
    The Budapest-Belgrade railway is closely connected with the 
thought that China wants to have oversight over critical 
infrastructure so that they can have access to West Balkans' 
ports so that they can get Chinese goods to Europe through 
these ports. So they have economic interests and Hungary does 
not have any economic interests here. Only those companies 
which are close to the Fidesz Party, the ruling party.
    For me the expansion of the European Union is very 
important and--but at the same time I think the EU and the U.S. 
should closely follow not only EU countries, but also the 
Western Balkans region where there's a very strong Chinese 
influence. And Hungary is something like a Trojan horse, 
everything the EU, because it wants to represent this influence 
within the EU and this way they weaken our international 
reliance.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you so much.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yields back.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
    And the chair now recognizes Representative Titus from 
Nevada for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you to our mayors. It has been most interesting 
and very impressive and reassuring as we see democracy 
backslide in so many parts of the world to hear your values and 
what you all are doing.
    We heard a little bit about the harassment in one 
Presidential campaign, but just speaking politically is being 
such a popular mayor in your city a good stepping stone 
politically to run for a national office when you might find 
yourself with some support from over here?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, yes, of course, you know, there is 
this understanding, increasing understanding that democracy at 
the local level is very important. So when you're doing a good 
job at your home town or at your regional level, that allows 
you to actually carry the banner of democracy, of values, of 
freedom further. Yes, that's true.
    Ms. Titus. That is reassuring. Let me ask you this: in the 
U.S. with our Federal system there are a number of laws and 
constitutional provisions and systemic features that make local 
governments have to cooperate with the Federal Government. They 
do some of the implementation, some of the carrying out of 
policies. Sometimes there are too strings attached. It could be 
both good and bad.
    You do not seem to have that relationship generally with 
the national government, but I think in the case of Hungary 
have you seen some negative imPact from this power you are 
gaining through the Pact?
    And in the case of Prague in the Czech Republic are you 
seeing something positive coming from the fact that your party 
is now part of the national coalition? Is it really just 
political or are there systemic things that also affect that 
relationship? Anybody.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, I mean, you know, I'll--I'll just 
say three sentences. I mean, the problem is that the national 
government is treating local government almost as an enemy. So 
they're trying to do whatever they--they can to take away our 
prerogatives, to take away our money. For example, half of the 
taxes stay in the local government. So now they're changing the 
tax code in order to--to--to actually take money away from us. 
So it is problematic.
    And even when we fight together the pandemia, you know, we 
try to collaborate, but unfortunately, you know, the government 
is introducing politics into that as well. That's why, you 
know, we have to keep on fighting because local government is 
so important.
    Ms. Titus. Any other mayor want to comment? Budapest mayor?
    Mr. Karacsony. Unfortunately we have a similar process in 
the past years. In the past 2 years since I've been mayor of 
Budapest our city has lost 40 percent of our income and this 
loss was not because of the pandemic. It was mainly because of 
governmental steps which targeted the drowning of our city. And 
they do not look at us as a partner who are legitimate 
partners. They look at us as a power challenge and they know it 
all too well that if the municipality is successful, then it 
will be visible that they are not so strong. They only want to 
have power and they want to influence politics.
    With such an amount of loss of money you are just unable 
to--to manage that. And for us next April the elections are 
going to be of key importance. A lot of things will be decided 
in the year of 2022 in Hungary, among others the fate of 
municipalities because. Without money even the best mayor 
cannot do anything for the development of the city.
    Ms. Titus. Now that the Pact of Cities has--Free Cities is 
growing I think from 4 to about 20, does this strengthen your 
power, or what are--do you find international partners and 
things that you can work on across lines, even if you cannot 
work with your own governments?
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Yes, of course because at the end of the 
day--you know, today what really counts is access to knowledge, 
access to facts, you know, that we can actually look at the 
best practices that we can benchmark together. We are doing it 
in very different fora. As mentioned by Mayor Vallo, we for 
example were fortunate to participate in Bloomberg Harvard 
Initiative, but we also--Warsaw is the only city from the 
region which is part of the C40 organization which fights 
climate change.
    But the Pact of Free Cities also allows us a platform to 
collaborate. And for example, we are lobbying within the 
European Union so that at least a small part of the money can 
be used directly with the local government so that it doesn't 
go through the national government. But we can realize certain 
projects together such as for example taking the diesel-powered 
buses off the streets of European cities. We are very much--
much more--much more effective when we do it with other cities 
such as London, or Paris, or--or--or Florence, or Milan.
    Ms. Titus. Well, thank you very much.
    Mr. Chairman, I think a lot of this is worth pursuing, 
getting----
    Mr. Hrib. Sorry.
    Ms. Titus. --[inaudible] because it is quite and valuable.
    Mr. Hrib. Sorry. If I may add just a short comment on this. 
Actually I believe that the situation of my colleagues in 
Poland, in--in Warsaw, in--in Budapest, in Hungary is actually 
much harder than our position here judging from the information 
from them and the situation on the--with the media and so on, 
and also with the funds.
    But actually we have experienced recently; that means a 
year ago, actually a similar situation when the central 
government had lowered the taxes, which would be a--a good 
thing, but at first they didn't have a relevant savings plan. 
And second, they actually lowered the taxes that is used for 
financing the cities. So they basically took the money from us.
    And this is actually how authoritarian regimes start. They 
take away the money from the cities. That means that they are 
usually subsidy programs. Only the friends got the subsidies. 
And if you suddenly became a non-friend; you were a friend but 
you became a non-friend, that means that probably some audit or 
some--some--some people will come and they will try to 
criminalize you for, for example, some form or problems with 
the subsidy. And there is always some. And this is actually I 
think the way how the authoritarian regimes start. And this was 
a situation that was very, very imminent in Czech Republic a 
year ago, but we have--had opposed that and we had let's say at 
least partially saved the situation.
    Ms. Titus. Interesting. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you 
all.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, Representative. The Chair 
recognizes Representative Costa for 5 minutes. Is 
Representative Costa here? I can see him on the screen. 
Representative Costa. OK. We'll move to Representative 
Schneider. You're recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank 
all of our witnesses today, not just for sharing your vision, 
experiences, and perspectives with us in this hearing but for 
what you guys are doing collectively and with your colleagues 
in the Pact.
    You know, I've been struggling to conceptualize the threats 
to liberal democracy, small L and small D, and earlier in that 
conversation the term nationalist populism, which is as good a 
definition of the opposite of liberal democracy as I can think 
of. And I believe it was Mayor Trzaskowski who said that the 
national governments are treating the cities as the enemy. And 
the flip side of that is also that the cities and the work you 
are doing in defending and protecting and nurturing liberal 
democracy is a challenge to those who are seeking power and 
trying to establish their legitimacy for their nationalist 
aims.
    So my broad question for the group is what do you see as 
the biggest threats to the ongoing ability of the Pact to hold 
together and to continue to nurture and develop liberal 
democracy? And second backup question to that is what can 
United States and to the extent that we can be involved as the 
U.S. Congress do to support your efforts, in addition to giving 
you a forum like we have today.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Well, Congressman, if I may, of course, we 
will persevere. We will keep on collaborating, and nothing will 
change that. But, of course, you know, why the local government 
is under attack in Poland and why they are trying to take away 
money from us institute centralized programs and then they 
distribute money according to political criteria? Because we 
are independent, you know. All the independent institutions are 
under attack because the government does not, the current 
government does not like independent institutions. But we are 
strong enough and then, you know, the civil society is strong 
enough for us to be effective.
    But at the end of the day, yes, I mean, they take away 
prerogatives, they take away the money; but we keep on doing 
what we are doing. And the important thing is that and that's 
what I said in my opening remarks is that you need to stay 
committed, the United States of America, the European Union, 
and we need to do whatever we can to support networks such as 
the Pact of Free Cities or other networks that we collaborate 
with, with, for example, the cities of, you know, the mayors of 
the cities of the United States, because we can really do a lot 
of things together, exchange information and so--for example, 
we were working together throughout the pandemic, and the 
information that we had from our American colleagues helped us 
a lot in managing better our hospitals.
    So there's a lot we can do, I mean, helping directly. And 
it's not only a question of money. It's a question of creating 
fora, you know, supporting institutions or networks that really 
help us do what we do.
    Mr. Schneider. Thank you. I do not know if any of the other 
mayors want to add to that.
    Mr. Trzaskowski. Maybe I just want to outline everything 
Mayor Trzaskowski just said. I mean, we are on the same place, 
we are in the same place, and it's very, for us, important to 
keep the collaboration going on. And, of course, any help from 
outside, any help to any network which is fighting for 
democracy here in Europe is a big help.
    Mr. Schneider. Great. Thank you. And before I go to my next 
question, Mayor Vallo, the sign behind you, it always seems 
impossible until it's done, I love that quote. A variation, 
quoting someone, our former Secretary of State Condi Rice, is 
making the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect. I think 
that's the challenge we all face in serving our communities and 
ensuring liberal democracy is the path we can all proceed.
    Let me turn again to Mayor Trzaskowski. I'm sorry for 
butchering your name, but, following up on what Congressman 
Deutch touched on, and I appreciate your answer about rising 
anti-Semitism, and we're seeing it not just in Europe but 
across the globe, and very much appreciate your answer. But 
speaking to, more broadly, the Jewish community in Poland, and 
this probably can apply to communities everywhere, what are you 
saying to the community to tell them that there is a place for 
them in Poland in Poland's future and that they're safe and 
secure in their homes?
    Mr. Vallo. Yes. Thank you very much for that question. I 
would just add one thing because you said what the United 
States can do. I mean, what we are doing in Poland and Hungary 
and Czech Republic and other cities, you know, we are 
supporting the nongovernmental organizations which do a lot of 
work for us. They fight homophobia, they work with minorities, 
they help refugees, and so on and so forth. That's why we 
should keep on supporting them.
    But answering your question, I mean, I wanted to say that, 
you know, Poland is one of the safest countries in Europe. And 
when it comes to safeguarding, you know, the rights, the 
constitutional rights of the minorities, we do whatever we can. 
And I have to say, honestly, that there is no agreement of the 
conservative governments to attack, for example, our Jewish 
minority. I mean, it's not happening. Unfortunately, sometimes 
they create an atmosphere in which, you know, those 
nationalistic elements can actually do what they do.
    But I can assure you that the Jewish community in Warsaw is 
safe. We are doing everything to collaborate with them, and, of 
course, they're part of our DNA, part of our culture, in 
Warsaw. And, of course, they have an incredibly important part 
of our life. That's why we support the Museum of Polish Jews 
where we show the contribution of Polish Jews to our Nation, to 
the development of Poland. That's why they're springing up, you 
know, Jewish schools in Warsaw and other cities and the Jewish 
culture is incredibly vibrant in Poland. And we will keep on 
supporting that because that's what gives us richness and 
diversity that Warsaw was always so well-known for, and we will 
keep on doing that, regardless of whatever happens.
    Mr. Schneider. Thank you. I appreciate that. Just in 
closing, I had a chance to first visit Warsaw in 1990. Before 
World War II, Warsaw was one-third Jewish, and it's part of the 
history of Poland. I'm grateful for your remarks, and, to 
everybody, thank you again for all you're doing. I look forward 
to continuing our conversations and working to make sure that 
we're supporting what you all are doing but also collaborating 
to do this work around the world together.
    And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back, and thank you 
for this hearing.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, Representative. And I thank all of 
Committee members that participated. With all that's going on 
around Congress right now, we had amazing participation from 
our members because of the interest of the mayors that were 
here today. Your comments have inspired, informed, and I hope 
create a continuation of a dialog that we can have on the 
important issues, the shared values that we have.
    While we were here in this hearing, the world goes on. And 
I'll inform you that, during this time, the U.S. has announced 
sanctions, further sanctions, against Belarus for their actions 
targeting migrant smuggling and victimization of migrants. And 
also Russia has issued a warning of fight in the separatist 
Donbas region, as they describe it, as they term it.
    So we can see going ahead the challenges that we have in 
front of us, the threats to security and military action and 
aggressiveness, the use of economic factors, particularly 
energy, to break this union, to break this greatest strength 
that we share together, our coalition, our European--U.S. 
coalition for our shared values and for democracy.
    I hope those that, from an authoritarian standpoint, 
realize and I hope this hearing was greater proof that these 
type of aggressive actions, these heavy-handed actions, these 
authoritarian actions, potentially these military actions, will 
never be ultimately successful if we hold together in unity and 
we surround ourselves and the core of shared values and beliefs 
in democracy.
    And when you look at this, from any of those standpoints, a 
security standpoint, our military standpoint, an economic 
standpoint, the strong pillars of our major cities remain one 
of the most critical elements of this united strength. So your 
leadership, what you said today, your beliefs, your courage in 
going forward is not just important to the present, but we will 
face continued and, I'm afraid, greater challenges in the near 
future. And this alliance to our trans-Atlantic and shared 
democratic beliefs, which all four of our witnesses displayed 
today with great strength and courage, will continue to inspire 
all of us in this coalition as we go forward.
    So I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the time you've 
taken, the content of what you've said, the strength of what 
you've conveyed, strength in democracy and strength that will 
be, I believe, a bond to the people you represent because, 
ultimately, it's those people in our countries and we cannot 
fail to recognize this. And I think there were some comments 
that were made before about do not give up on us. We look to 
your people, as you do as mayors, as the strength. So we look 
to continue to work together, even given greater challenges we 
may face.
    So thank you so much for being here. This is one of the 
most important hearings that we have had, and it was because of 
your participation and what you had to say. So I want to thank 
you and remind the members we have 5 days to submit statements, 
extraneous materials, and questions for the record, subject to 
the rules of this committee.
    Again, thank you for this important hearing. And with that, 
this hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, the above-entitled matter went off the record 
at 11:57 a.m.]

                                APPENDIX
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                              DECLARATION
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                                 [all]