[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 108 (Tuesday, August 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1538-E1540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ADDRESS OF JOHN BRADEMAS AT ROYAUMONT PROCESS CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 4, 1998

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, our distinguished former colleague in the 
House of Representatives from my native State of Indiana, Dr. John 
Brademas, who as Members know, served as Majority Whip of the House 
from 1977 to 1981 and then President of New York University, has since 
1994 been Chairman of the Board of the National Endowment for 
Democracy.
  Earlier this month, on July 9, 1998, Dr. Brademas delivered the 
Keynote Address at a conference in Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece, 
sponsored by the European Union Royaumont Process for the ``Promotion 
of Stability and Good-Neighborly Relations in Southeastern Europe.''
  Because I believe Members will read with interest Dr. Brademas' 
remarks on this occasion, I ask unanimous consent to insert his address 
at this point in the Record:

                  Keynote Address of Dr. John Brademas

       Distinguished guests and friends, I count it a great 
     privilege to have been invited by the distinguished European 
     Union Coordinator of the Royaumont Process, Dr. Panayotis 
     Roumeliotis, and Professor Panayotis Korliras of the 
     Lambrakis Foundation, to offer some remarks at the opening 
     here of this important conference sponsored by the Royaumont 
     Process to Promote Stability and Good-Neighborly Relations in 
     Southeastern Europe.
       In the first place, I feel at home here. My father was born 
     in Kalamata, Greece, and I was the first native-born American 
     of Greek origin elected to the Congress of the United States.
       Second, I am glad to be back in the great city of 
     Thessaloniki, one of the most important centers, culturally, 
     economically, politically and religiously, in this part of 
     the

[[Page E1539]]

     world. I've been in Thessaloniki several times in recent 
     years and always rejoice at the prospect of returning.
       Third, I applaud the purpose of this conference, and I 
     salute not only the leaders of the Royaumont Process and the 
     Lambrakis Foundation but the other sponsors as well, the 
     University Research Institute of the University of Macedonia, 
     the Association for Democracy in the Balkans and the Kokkalis 
     Foundation.
       And what is the purpose of our meeting in Thessaloniki?
       It is to promote the objectives of a timely European Union 
     initiative, the Royaumont Process, which are ``stability and 
     good neighborliness'' in this region, and to do so by 
     bringing together representatives of non-governmental 
     organizations who, if from different countries and 
     backgrounds, have a common interest in the development of 
     civil society.
       The Royaumont Process concentrates on actions needed to 
     spur civic structures and create effective means of 
     communication across national boundaries, at both bilateral 
     and multilateral levels, in Southeastern Europe.
       The countries taking part in the Process are: Albania, 
     Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Federal Republic of 
     Yugoslavia, the Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, 
     Hungary and Turkey as well as European Union Members (like 
     Greece), Russia and the United States.
       The Royaumont Process lays special emphasis on both local 
     citizen involvement and crossborder collaboration and its 
     authors believe, rightly, that dialogue across ethnic lines 
     and national boundaries is indispensable in developing the 
     conditions of peace and stability.
       I think it particularly significant that this conference 
     will concentrate on the role of non-governmental 
     organizations in building and sustaining institutions of 
     democracy and stability in Southeastern Europe.
       Certainly NGOs have played a crucial role in developing 
     democracy in the Western world, they are, indeed, the 
     vehicles of civil society.
       To illustrate my point, only last month I spent several 
     days in Cyprus where I talked with both President Glafkos 
     Clerides of the Republic of Cyprus and with the Turkish 
     Cypriot leader, Ralf Denktash. In my address at the 
     University of Cyprus, I made clear my distress that Mr. 
     Denktash had ordered a halt to contacts between the two 
     communities and I urged a renewal.
       By his action, Mr. Denktash has cut short a most promising 
     practice whereby large numbers of both communities were 
     meeting in regular and structured fashion.
       I talked to a number of persons, not only Greek Cypriots 
     but Turkish ones, who are anxious that such contacts be 
     resumed not only between individuals but between NGOs on the 
     island.
       Indeed, as our meeting in Thessaloniki demonstrates, non-
     governmental organizations are at the forefront of efforts to 
     create regional networks and foster citizen participation. 
     The Association for Balkan Democracy, founded by Costa 
     Carras, Nikos Efthimiades, Rigas Tzeleploglou and Petros 
     Papasarantopoulos, and the Research Institute of the 
     University of Macedonia are good examples.
       I must note here yet another NGO, born in this region and 
     certainly worthy of emulation, the Association of Interbalkan 
     Women's Cooperation Societies. Ably led by its dynamic 
     founder, Ketty Tzitzikosta, the Association brings together 
     on a regular basis women from other NGOs in the region to 
     discuss, teach and develop ways to promote peace and 
     stability--often with a focus on the important areas of 
     social development and environmental concerns.
       Here let me speak to you not only as a former Member of 
     Congress but also as Chairman of an American non-governmental 
     entity, the National Endowment for Democracy.
       NED, as we like to call it, is unusual in the United 
     States, in that it is a non-governmental organization 
     financed with government funds.
       The purpose of NED is to make grants to private 
     organizations in countries that do not enjoy democracy in 
     order to encourage the institutions and practices of a free, 
     open and democratic society--free and fair elections, 
     independent media, the rule of the law and vigorous non-
     governmental organizations.
       Albeit with modest funds, the National endowment has, among 
     its programs in over 90 countries, sought to address some of 
     the obstacles to democratization in Southeastern Europe. NED 
     grants have encouraged the resolution of inter-ethnic 
     conflict, greater political pluralism and economic reform as 
     well as assisted the independent organizations necessary to 
     form the basis of civil society in the region.
       I cannot begin to list all the proposals the Board of NED 
     Board has considered. But let me note a few of the countries 
     for which grants have recently been approved.
       In Bosnia-Hercegovina, with the continuing animosity 
     between Muslims and Croats and where peace remains fragile, 
     NED is helping an NGO in Livno, the Center for Civic 
     Cooperation, in an effort to promote cross-cultural 
     communication and better relations between these two ethnic 
     communities.
       In Bulgaria, despite the victory of non-communist forces in 
     presidential and parliamentary elections, genuine 
     participatory democracy is far from reality. NED is assisting 
     an NGO, the Balkan Forum Civil Association, that teaches 
     people how to be politically active in their own communities.
       In Kosovo NED has supported Kota Ditore, the only 
     independent daily newspaper and one of the few reliable 
     sources of information on political and economic developments 
     in the Balkan countries where Albanians live. In Serbia, too, 
     where Milosevic uses the official media to attack his 
     opponents and to disseminate anti-Western propaganda, NED 
     supports Vreme, a weekly magazine regarded as the number one 
     chronicler of events in Yugoslavia and a leading critic of 
     Milosevic.
       To generalize, and as all of you know better than I, the 
     advance of democracy has proceeded at a different pace in the 
     various states of the region. Given the different 
     circumstances in each, this is not surprising.
       The countries of Southeastern Europe and the New 
     Independent States continue to struggle, economically, 
     politically and, as the strife in Kosovo illustrates, 
     sometimes violently. What the National Endowment for 
     Democracy, with its grants program, has demonstrated, that 
     NGOs can play a crucial role in promoting stability and 
     democracy.
       This observation leads me to tell you of a project on which 
     I have been working for the past two years with several 
     colleagues, including, in the United States, President 
     Clinton's Special Envoy for dealing with the dispute between 
     Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Matthew 
     Nimetz, and in Greece, someone known to many of you here 
     because of his long and constructive interest in Cyprus, 
     Costa Carras, and a prominent citizen of Thessaloniki, Nikos 
     Efthimiades, to establish a Center for Democracy and 
     Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe.
       I am pleased to say that our efforts are bearing fruit and 
     that only this morning we had the first, informal, meeting of 
     the Board of the Center.
       To be located administratively in Thessaloniki, the Center, 
     will devote attention to such fields as education, the 
     environment and a market economy as well as to the practices 
     of a pluralist, democratic society, that is to say, an 
     independent judiciary, free and responsible media, healthy 
     non-governmental organizations, efficient and accountable 
     central administrations and local governments and effective 
     parliamentary institutions.
       Our Advisory Council includes persons from Bosnia, 
     Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of 
     Macedonia, Greece, the Netherlands, Rumania, Serbia, Turkey, 
     the United Kingdom and the United States.
       The purpose of the Center's multinational approach will be 
     to foster greater interchange and understanding among the 
     peoples of the area and to develop networks among individuals 
     and groups committed to the democratic and peaceful 
     development of Southeastern Europe.
       The work of the Center will obviously reinforce the program 
     of the Royaumont Process, and my colleagues and I hope that 
     our two ventures will find ways of cooperating with each 
     other.
       We believe that the Center has now raised enough funds from 
     individual benefactors to be able to employ an outstanding 
     person to direct, in concert with the Board, the programs of 
     the Center which, to reiterate, we want to see carried out 
     throughout this region.
       Of course, if we are to be able to mount a constructive 
     program, we must raise additional funds--from individuals, 
     business firms, foundations and, where appropriate, 
     governmental and inter-governmental institutions such as the 
     European Union.
       Allow me to tell you about the first activity we intend the 
     Center to undertake. To be called the Southeastern European 
     Joint History Project, we want to approach professors at 
     universities and research institutions in the region, 
     secondary school teachers, representatives of the media and 
     leaders from the different religious traditions.
       For example, we should like to bring together professors of 
     Balkan history for seminars, roundtables and other meetings 
     not with the objective of producing a common history but 
     rather better to understand each other's and thereby, as 
     President Clinton said in Sarajevo, ``to make history our 
     friend and not our enemy.''
       I am very glad to say that a brilliant historian, of 
     Bulgarian origin, now a professor of Balkan history at the 
     University of Florida, Maria Todorova, has agreed to help 
     organize the Joint History Project.
       For those of you who have not read it, I commend to you 
     Professor Todorova's splendid volume, published last year by 
     Oxford University Press, USA, entitled Imagining the Balkans.
       Here I observe that I was very pleased to learn from Ketty 
     Tzitzikosta that the Association of the Interbalkans Women's 
     Cooperation Societies will hold a conference in Thessaloniki 
     next October on the theme, ``The image of the `other/the 
     neighbor' in the school textbooks of the Balkan countries'', 
     and I trust that Professor Todorova and Ketty will this week 
     compare notes on how their two efforts can reinforce each 
     other.
       In like fashion, I note that Association for Balkan 
     Democracy is now publishing an impressive bimonthly 
     newsletter, Balkan Horizons, under the editorship of Petros 
     Papasarantopoulos, aimed at promoting political democracy, 
     civil society and nongovernmental organizations in the 
     region.
       A third example of the kind of leadership through NGOs that 
     I believe characterizes

[[Page E1540]]

     the mission of the Royaumont Process is the statement adopted 
     earlier this month in Oslo by business representatives from 
     the Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot communities.
       The fundamental thrust of the declaration is to encourage 
     ``increased contact and cooperation between two 
     communities'', including the relaxation and eventual removal 
     of all restrictions on the free movement of people, goods and 
     service and the expansion of contacts in business, culture 
     and sports.
       I am sure that everyone attending this conference could 
     offer other illustrations of how nongovernmental 
     organizations are, in a variety of ways engaged in efforts 
     that involve men and women of different ethnic, religious and 
     national backgrounds and are thereby laying the building 
     blocks of the peaceful, stable region we all want to see.
       As I have said, the Board of the Center will certainly want 
     to cooperate with the Royaumont Process, and I salute Dr. 
     Roumeliotis, Dr. Korliras and the other organizers of this 
     conference for bringing together so many representatives of 
     NGOs from so many different countries and cultures but all 
     with an interest in the development of a vigorous and vital 
     civil society.
       Allow me then to indicate what I believe should be three 
     goals of non-governmental organizations in this region, three 
     crucial elements in developing the institutions and practices 
     of self government: civil society, security and economic 
     development.
       First, a healthy, vibrant civil society--that is to say, 
     institutions, associations and organizations wholly 
     independent of government, groups through which the bonds of 
     social trust and collaboration are created--is imperative if 
     people are peacefully to express their differences and 
     resolve their disputes.
       A second essential criterion for democracy to take hold is 
     a regional security regime--meaning a cluster of agreements 
     among states to consult with, and provide their neighbors 
     information about, their defense practices, and to agree on 
     principles on which their security policies should be based. 
     Such agreements and assurances are imperative not only for 
     the immediate task of crisis prevention but also for the 
     longer-term goal of helping generate such effective dialogue 
     and understanding among peoples as to diminish persistent 
     stereotypes of one another. If extremely difficult to 
     establish, this factor is nonetheless crucial because no 
     enduring solution to the security problems of the area can 
     rely solely on the continued presence of the United States or 
     Western Europe.
       Third, the growth across borders of economic ties and the 
     integration of markets can be a powerful incentive to the 
     construction of open, pluralistic relations both within 
     countries and throughout Southeastern Europe.
       Business and trade associations, for example, can promote 
     legal reforms that are conducive to freer internal markets as 
     well as stronger commercial ties across frontiers. For 
     indispensable to the long-term growth of domestic economies 
     and trade among nations is the rule of law. Business 
     executives and investors must be able to depend on agreed 
     rules and their effective enforcement.
       I must in this connection, say a special word about 
     corruption, which could be the subject of an entire speech! 
     In the last few years, corruption, long tolerated with 
     apathy, cynicism and denial, has become a target of serious 
     action both national and international levels.
       Theft, bribery and money-laundering are now more and more 
     understood to be major obstacles to economic growth and 
     genuine democracy. Even as 34 nations last year signed the 
     OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public 
     Officials, I believe attention must be paid to the challenge 
     of corruption in the new democracies of Southeastern Europe. 
     Another item for the agenda of our Center!
       If I have not yet exhausted you, I shall conclude these 
     remarks by proposing some questions for our discussion in the 
     next two days:
       What kinds of voluntary, non-governmental associations are 
     most needed in your respective states in Southeastern Europe?
       What is the role of the region's major religions with 
     respect to crafting democracy here?
       What about the obligation of the media--press, television, 
     radio--in stimulating a sense of civic responsibility and 
     genuine accountability by government to the citizenry? How 
     can we assure media free of government control?
       How can schools, colleges and universities encourage 
     respect for people of different ethnic origins, nationalities 
     and religions? How can educational institutions promote 
     understanding of the nature of democracy?
       How can new cultural, economic, educational and social 
     linkages be created to replace old ethnic and religious 
     divisions?
       Ladies and gentlemen, I have spoken of some of the factors 
     that seem to me essential to overcoming, or at least 
     diminishing, the many conflicts in this region and to 
     building societies at once peaceful, democratic and stable.
       And allow me to say once more how deeply impressed I am by 
     the initiative of the Royaumont Process and its collaborators 
     in sponsoring this conference.
       I hope that the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation of 
     which I have told you will have a long and productive 
     relationship not only with Royaumont, but also with the many 
     non-governmental organizations represented here this week.
       How splendid it would be, as we look to a new century and 
     the next millennium, for all the peoples of Southeastern 
     Europe to enjoy the fruits of freedom, democracy and the rule 
     of law!

     

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