Cheney’s Speech about Democracy in Lithuania
10 May 2006

On May 4, US Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a conference in Lithuania on the subject of democracy.  Most of the coverage about the speech has focused on Cheney’s critical remarks toward Russia’s backslide from democracy.  Cheney also spoke to the value of the European Union and NATO in strengthening democracy.  He commended the Baltic region and other ex-Soviet states for their success in democratization, calling them “the very front lines of freedom in the modern world.”   Excerpts from his speech are listed below:

On What Democracy Is:

There is no single model of democracy; our systems vary according to the unique traditions of our countries, the languages we speak, and the events and the heroes of our history. Yet healthy, self-governing, forward-looking societies have the same basic strengths. Democracy starts with citizens casting their votes, but that is only the beginning. Elections must be fair, and regular, and truly competitive. Men and women must be free to speak their minds -- and here a simple test is proposed by the former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky: "Can a person walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm? If he can, then that person is living in a free society. If not, it's a fear society."

On Civil Society and Rule of Law:

In a democracy, the state itself has only limited authority over the lives of its citizens, because the true strength of a nation is found in the institutions of civil society -- the family, communities of worship, voluntary associations, and free enterprise. Each person is entitled to freedom of conscience -- not merely the right to hold a religious belief, but to practice that belief and to share it with others. Citizens deserve basic guarantees of equal treatment under the law, and minority groups should be safe from oppression. Protecting civil society and upholding individual freedom requires the rule of law -- and that is at the very heart of government's reason for being. Government meets this obligation by ensuring an independent judiciary, a professional legal establishment, and honest, competent law enforcement.

The Relationship between Democracy, the European Union, and NATO:

The United States is proud to work in partnership with a growing European Union. And we're proud that NATO has grown into a greater force for peace and stability than ever before. The young democracies in our great alliance have renewed it -- bringing energy, and wisdom, and moral clarity to the councils of Europe. For them, the experience of tyranny is real, and recent. So they understand the need for vigilance against danger, the duty to call evil by its name, and the responsibility of free peoples to defend the innocent and to confront the violent. In the years ahead, more nations will make the tough decisions, and do the hard and essential work, to meet the standards for NATO and EU membership. America looks to the day when you are ready to join those institutions, and they are ready to join you.

On Belarus:

All of us are committed to democratic progress in Belarus. That nation has suffered in major wars and experienced terrible losses, and now its people are denied basic freedoms by the last dictatorship in Europe. With us today are democracy advocates from Belarus. We welcome you to this conference. I had also expected to meet today with the opposition leader, Alyaksander Milinkevich -- but he was recently put in jail by the regime in Minsk. The regime should end this injustice and free Mr. Milinkevich, along with the other democracy advocates held in captivity. The world knows what is happening in Belarus. Peaceful demonstrators have been beaten, dissidents have vanished, and a climate of fear prevails under a government that subverts free elections and bans your own country's flag. There is no place in a Europe whole and free for a regime of this kind. The people of Belarus deserve better. You have the right to determine your destiny. And your great nation has a future in the community of democracies.

On Russia:

America and all of Europe also want to see Russia in the category of healthy, vibrant democracies. Yet in Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade. In many areas of civil society -- from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties -- the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people. Other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive, and could begin to affect relations with other countries. No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation. And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor, or interfere with democratic movements.

Russia has a choice to make. And there is no question that a return to democratic reform in Russia will generate further success for its people and greater respect among fellow nations. Democratization in Russia helped to end the Cold War, and the Russian people have made heroic progress in overcoming the miseries of the 20th century. They deserve now to live out their peaceful aspirations under a government that upholds freedom at home, and builds good relations abroad.

None of us believes that Russia is fated to become an enemy. A Russia that increasingly shares the values of this community can be a strategic partner and a trusted friend as we work toward common goals. In that spirit, the leading industrialized nations will engage Russia at the Group of Eight Summit in St. Petersburg this summer. We will make the case, clearly and confidently, that Russia has nothing to fear and everything to gain from having strong, stable democracies on its borders, and that by aligning with the West, Russia joins all of us on a course to prosperity and greatness. The vision we affirm today is of a community of sovereign democracies that transcend old grievances, that honor the many links of culture and history among us, that trade in freedom, respect each other as great nations, and strive together for a century of peace.