Authoritarianism spreads when democracy grows timid. We, liberal democrats, will not be timid. We will stand with the people of Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, with the Hong Kong’s exiles, with the heroic defenders of Ukraine, – British MP James MacCleary said in his speech.
He spoke about the challenges to democracy in the UK and around the world and said that it is important to resist those who destroy democratic values.
“It has never been more important for us as British parliamentarians to stand against those who would erode and diminish our hard-fought democratic freedoms, both here [in Britain] and abroad…
In Georgia, for example, the stakes could not be higher. Last November, the Georgian government suspended European Union accession talks, a choice that outraged a nation where polls consistently show overwhelming support for European integration.
Since then, demonstrators have filled Rustaveli Avenue almost daily, braving batons and water cannons to say that “our future is ours.”
Over the summer, the Georgian Dream government started arresting opposition leaders. Just a few weeks ago, I was informed that my friend and leading opposition leader, Giorgi Vashadze, had been arrested. And just yesterday, another leading opposition Elene Khoshtaria was arrested. The heinous crime of which she is accused? – Damage to the Tbilisi mayoral election posters.
How we respond to these challenges to democracy defines us, as much as it defines the countries that are seeing their rights diminished…
Democracy is not merely a ballot box. It is a citizen in Tbilisi protesting without fear. It is a journalist in Belgrade exposing corruption without a midnight knock at the doors. It is a student in Hong Kong refusing to be silenced by Beijing. It is a citizen of Ukraine voting for the future under Russian fire…
Authoritarianism spreads when democracy grows timid. We, liberal democrats, will not be timid. We will stand with the people of Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, with the Hong Kong’s exiles, with the heroic defenders of Ukraine, and with every community fighting to have their voice heard,” MacCleary said.
James MacCleary: Authoritarianism spreads when democracy grows timid – we will not be timid and we will stand with the people of Georgia
