Ex-Czechia official to speak at milestone democracy forum in Taipei

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Former foreign ministers from the Czech Republic and the Philippines will speak at the first-ever Forum for Democratic Cooperation (FDC), set to be held in Taipei on Wednesday.

Tomáš Petříček, the Czech Republic's top diplomat from 2018 to 2021, and Delia Domingo Albert, who, from 2003 to 2004, was the first woman to serve as the Philippines' foreign minister, are among the special guests invited to appear at the event.

The FDC is being organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation, which was created by the late Czech President Václav Havel, to get democratic actors to address shared challenges in "an increasingly contested global environment," the foundation said in an earlier press release.

Speaking Tuesday at a press conference previewing the FDC, Jakub Klepal, the foundation's executive director, said Taipei was chosen as the forum's first stop because of the fast-changing geopolitical environment.

"It's a difficult time in the global political situation. It's also a fragile time in the regional situation," Klepal said.

Given the growth of artificial intelligence and the restructuring of the global economy, in which Taiwan plays crucial roles, it is especially timely to hold a conference in Taipei, he said.

Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of European Affairs, which is co-organizing the FDC, welcomed the event making its debut in Asia and being held in Taipei.

MOFA has facilitated discussions by inviting parliamentarians and city councilors from 10 European countries to attend Wednesday's forum, Huang said.

"This is a great event that will highlight democratic cooperation, especially in terms of resilience," Huang said.

"We are also very appreciative of the organizers' efforts in putting together a schedule and program that will feature resilience-building and cooperation among middle-sized and smaller democracies.

Other speakers at the forum will be Tuvaluan Foreign Affairs, Labour and Trade Minister Paulson Panapa, and former Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas, who served in that role from 2021 to 2023, according to the organizers.

Forum 2000 was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.

Havel, a prominent dissident who helped lead the 1989 overthrow of communism, was elected president of Czechoslovakia but stepped down before the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the end of 1992. He died in 2011 at the age of 75.