Eastern European Policy Conference (Institute of International Affairs)

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Charles Trenython
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Eastern European Policy Conference (Institute of International Affairs)

Post by Charles Trenython »

It's a pleasure to be here today at the Institute of International Affairs speaking on Eastern Europe. It is a distinct honour to be visiting this conference on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom. As a military veteran of 35 years, and having spent some fleeting time in Eastern Europe during my service, which sadly I cannot talk about, I find myself with some particular affinity with the region.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, it has been a pleasure to see that the former-Soviet development states that the citizens of countries can determine their fate by direct democracy. As a collective, we must never stop striving to establish, maintain, and promote direct democracy across Eastern Europe. We have seen the benefits of empowering citizens throughout the ages. Giving them the power to choose their Governance promotes free thought, new progressive ideas, and constant self-reflection on what they can do better for their citizens as a nation.

This goal is one of many areas where Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom's citizens stand shoulder to shoulder. We support them in their desire to determine the course of their country. It is easy for me to come here and offer words of praise, but we need to make sure we back it up with action. Through the International Development office of the British Government, we intend to work with NGOs, the European Union and individual states as international observers in the electoral process. These actions aim to ensure that nations' citizens can no doubt their democratic process's integrity and that their voice is being represented. Be under no illusion: we are here to help. We will be directing part of our aid budget to fund organisations directly who have a proven track record of promoting democracy in countries. Not only that, but a healthy democracy must continue to allow NGOs to operate without restriction.

We are here to help against the enemies of democracy. We have a proven record with our allies in NATO to act when we see a threat to fair and legal Governance, where Governments themselves request help or the international community has the legal authority to intervene and ensure the collective protection. We have been abundantly clear without intent in recent interventions in Kosovo and the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where Governments requested the assistance of NATO.

Whilst talking about defence is a wider goal, we must address the issue of crime across not just Eastern Europe, but Europe as a whole. Whilst as sovereign member states we may have different laws, we have a responsibility with each other to respect the rule of law. We should work as one to ensure that criminals working across borders can be tracked down through the sharing of intelligence and strengthening extradition treaties where appropriate. Most of all, we must stand up for a fair judicial system which doesn’t discriminate and assumes innocence until proven guilty. Differing laws in states is inevitable and acceptable - an unfair judicial system is not. We will only work with countries who continue to sustain a fair judicial system with proper checks and balances to protect the victim. The United Kingdom is leading the way with a recently passed Victims Bill of Rights which provided a clear set of legally binding principles for victims of crime. In the latest budget, we dedicated £45 million to these goals. In 1985, the United Nations outlined a declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power back in 1985, stating victims 'should be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity.'. Victims are 'entitled to access to the mechanisms of justice and to prompt redress, as provided for by national legislation, for the harm that they have suffered.'. We want to be leading the way on this issue to provide compensation to victims of crime and will help other countries implement this common-sense legislation; it should not have taken the time it has since that declaration to act on this issue.

A healthy democracy is a quality I consider essential to peace in a country, as well as the surrounding region. Working together on the objective of democracy is just one way we maintain peace in Europe. We must find commonality in defending against common enemies and promoting our role in contributing to the world’s collective peace. It is essential to have that common collective goal. It is why I think it is vital that NATO and Eastern European states will mutually benefit from working together to combat terrorism and extremism at every turn. They are the blights of any society, so sharing intelligence is a vital step in ensuring the safety of families and citizens’ safety across Europe. We want to strengthen the relationship between NATO and Russia, ensuring peaceful collaboration takes place.

We can have a more sustained impact on world peace by the pursuit of multilateral nuclear warhead reduction. We must work together to find agreeable ground on the reduction of active and stockpiled nuclear weapons. We must move on from the era of fear constructed in the Cold War and slowly reduce the number of nuclear warheads deployed by all nations. We are now in the 21st Century, surely it is time now in the modern world where we can abandon the principles of mutually assured destruction in favour of international solidarity and trust and mutually assured safety.

We can no longer preach to the world about how so-called rogue nations shouldn’t seek nuclear weapons on the one hand but advocate for the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the interests of a single nation. Everyone is responsible for creating safety and peace for their nations, but world peace is so much bigger than one nation. It requires multilateral collaboration, pragmatism and genuinely progressive thinking; I look forward to discussing this issue with the main nuclear players in the near future.

It is in this vein, that I want to personally advocate for greater participation across Europe in the Partnership for Peace (PFP). I intend to promote an expansion of membership in the PFP throughout Eastern Europe to those member states who do not already participate. I also intended to work with NATO allies to encourage greater levels of participation in the program, with enhanced levels of joint military exercises to increase readiness against threats against Europe, progressive discussions about joint planning for natural disasters and most importantly build trust between European nations. We will all be better prepared for any threats that might lie ahead. There is more than brings us together than divides us. Defence as a collective is infinitely more effective than the defence as one.

Participating in these programs and continued collaboration I feel is an ideal method to shape the narrative and explore closer collaboration via the European Neighbourhood Policy to explore potential EU membership. We are clear that the United Kingdom is keen to work with these countries across Europe but the terms have to be clear on the issues I have mentioned throughout this speech. A fair and healthy democracy, a fair judiciary, tough on the rule of law and supporting victims of crime are key qualities.

In this speech, I have used the pronoun of ‘we’ an awful lot. The language is no coincidence. It is a clear indicator that the United Kingdom wants to be partners to all in Eastern Europe and to achieve our common goals, it is much better to work together than be apart. We want to empower our citizens to promote prosperity, safety and peace across the European continent and I feel strongly about making this a reality. Thank you for your time.
CHARLES TRENYTHON MP | Labour MP for Burton
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (2000-present)
Secretary of State for Defence (2000-present)
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Re: Eastern European Policy Conference (Institute of International Affairs)

Post by Marty »

The ideas expressed in the speech are all fine, and most definitely cerebral enough for Chatham House. However, apart from the academics and policy professionals on the panel and in the audience at the Conference, your attempt to reach a broader audience is hampered by one thing: a lack of focus. You see, the speech touched on all the parts of Eastern European policy - and that's good. But at the same time, it doesn't really present a very clear, compelling narrative of how all these parts belong together. As my A-team colleague Blakesley never tires of saying: 'show, don't tell!'

You could've been helped to focus by the speech invite - which didn't include the question of European membership for nothing. This one loomed writ large over the early 2000s as the hurrah following democracy's final victory over Communism (as well as British interest in diluting the influence of France and Germany) all provided impetus towards these member states joining. I expected you to exude some of that triumphant 'let's draw them in to democracy' language, and it all seemed just a little bit dry and cerebral.

Not a bad overview of your policy, though.

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