I have the honor of presenting the report on the activities of the Convening Group of this conference. In the beginning was the idea. In the spring of 1999 a group of countries came forth with an initiative to organize a ministerial on democracy, with a view to strengthen and support the existing democracies and reinforce their capability of cooperation. The intention of the conference was neither to propagate or export democracy, nor, as Minister Geremek put it yesterday, "to preach democracy to the converted". The idea was to initiate a dialogue among democracies on the fundamental concepts and prerequisites of democratic governance to meet the challenges and threats that confront democratic nations on the threshold of the Twenty-first century.

Following its Government's decision, the Republic of Poland agreed to host the conference, together with its heroic, rapidly developing capital of Warsaw which this year commemorates the 20th anniversary of Solidarity - the popular movement that was instrumental in the rebirth of democracy in Poland.

In the summer of 1999, the Convening Group was formed. Representing every region of the world and diverse democratic experiences. Between October 1999 and today, Chile, the Czech Republic, India, the Republic of Korea, Mali, Poland and the United States have been members of the Convening Group. The Foreign Minister of Poland and his Deputy, Ambassador Henryk Szlajfer, coordinated conference preparations and the work of the Convening Group. On behalf of the Convening Group and the other countries gathered here, thank you for your leadership and determination.

After elaborating the original ideas and initiatives, the Convening Group held regular meetings to solicit views from a range of countries on the overall objective of the conference. It started full-scale work based on the generally positive response it had received. In complicated consultative procedures with its own and other ministries and institutions it discussed and resolved a number of complex issues ranging from the Group's composition, invitation procedure and related financial aspects. The group formulated the objective, and drafted the final Declaration and Concept Paper, which you all received many months ago. The group worked untiringly when preparing the conference agenda, in particular the topics for the ministerial panels. The Group coined the name of the conference - "Towards a Community of Democracies".

Throughout the preparatory period, the group devoted immense efforts to fine-tuning all the written conference materials, and also dealt with a plethora of organizational problems and even an occasional misunderstanding or two. With a view to attracting the attention of both the media and the general public, the countries of the Convening Group simultaneously announced to the press their participation in the conference in coordinated events in November 1999 and June 2000. The Convening Group welcomed and supported the parallel meeting of representatives of non-governmental organizations and academic circles, organized by two renowned institutions, namely Freedom House and the Stefan Batory Foundation, under the name of The World Forum on Democracy.

During the preparations of a major international event such as today's conference, not everything could be done in such a way that all the countries would be equally satisfied. However, if the purpose of the Convening Group's efforts war to make this Conference happen, - and there is no question that his was exactly the Group's principal objective - then I believe we are can say that the Group has done its best. I am not quite sure whether it is appropriate for me, at the Foreign Minister of one of the Group's member countries, to extend thanks on your behalf to the Convening Group for its performance. However, on my own behalf, I would like to express my wholehearted thanks to the Group for the magnificent work it has accomplished.

Now let me say a few words on the drafting process for the Warsaw Declaration and the Communiqué of the Conference. from the very beginning we have understood that the Declaration is meant to be a statement of generally accepted principles upon which this meeting was convened. It has never been intended to be a legally binding document or an exhaustive statement about democracy.

During the drafting process (between October of 1999 and now), a large number of delegations submitted substantive remarks and suggestions. The Deadline was extended several times and on June 10, i.e. two weeks before the opening of the Conference, the Convening Group reached the consensus on the Final Draft. I can assure you that the Convening group worked hard to incorporate as many comments as possible, trying to satisfy everybody who has taken part in the drafting process. At the same time, it is fair to admit, nonetheless, that it was unable to reach consensus on all comments received.

As a first-ever initiative to bring together the world's democracies, and operating without the benefit of a secretariat, The Convening Group faced challenges that could not be addressed by the normal mechanisms of multilateral diplomacy. With regard to that, it is remarkable how positive the response of all invited countries to the concept of this gathering and to the declaration was. It is in the spirit of this gathering to begin a process of building a community of democracies based on fundamental democratic principles and practices as expressed in well-accepted international agreements and declarations. And it is in the same spirit that I ask you, on behalf of the Convening Group, to join us this afternoon in adopting the final Warsaw declaration by acclamation.

The Communiqué form the conference, presented on behalf of the Convening Group, has also been edited in an open and cooperative way with all interested delegations. Its aim is to articulate the richness of our discussions and to highlight their main points. It also reflects, however, the open, manifold and to some extent also the debatable nature of the contemporary democratic discourse. It only confirms the fact that we are only at the beginning of a long journey. We understand that many substantive points were raised during panel discussions yesterday that were not reflected in the Declaration. We look forward to addressing and perfecting these issues and concerns in the future.

It is not easy to summarize the results of our four panels. Nonetheless, there is one common denominator characterizing all our discussions. Democratic countries should not only speak about democratic values, but should also, as Aung San Suu Kyi so eloquently put it, use their creative potential to improve their capacity of common action. They should create a "caucus" within existing institutions as a mechanism of dialogue promotion and consensus building. They should meet as often as possible on the occasions of various international meetings, and take the initiative to hold dialogues on various, often controversial, issues in democratic processes. They should strengthen, by the means of their cooperation, the responses of regional organizations to threats to democracy. They should combine their efforts for assisting economically challenged countries. In a nutshell: the conference gave a clear answer to the question whether or not we want to commit ourselves to take concrete steps towards a genuine community of democracies. Yes, such a cooperation was found absolutely necessary to meet the common challenges of our common world, I am also glad that I can report that some countries have already indicated their readiness to follow the Polish example and to host one of the next conferences of the Community of Democracies.

In this sense, the Convening Group does not see that its task is over. We are ready to facilitate our future common activities and we will keep working in order to reach our common goal: to see that democracy successfully endures the test of time and becomes a real architectonic power in our common world; a power humanizing relations among peoples, cultures and civilizations in our post-modern times; a power giving us hope that humankind will make a peaceful transition into a new millennium and that our posterity will live in freedom, having a chance for a better future.

Thank you for your attention. ty will live in freedom, having a chance for a better future.

Thank you for your attention.