RIGA - The biggest challenge to preserving democracy in Latvia at the moment is the alienation of citizens from power, said Ineta Ziemele, judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU), in an interview on TV3 this morning.
Assessing the experience of the world and Latvia after regaining independence, Ziemele acknowledged that it is difficult to preserve democracy and that it is a daily struggle.
The biggest challenge has long been the alienation of citizens from power, and this remains the case, said the EU Court of Justice judge, calling for very serious action at both the expert and communication levels to reduce this alienation. "This alienation is a huge, huge risk for Latvia and, incidentally, for other democracies as well," said Ziemele.
She reminded that the strength of democracy lies in human freedoms-the more each person has state-supported opportunities to make decisions freely, the more self-sufficient and secure society is.
At the same time, Ziemele acknowledged that not everyone considers democracy to be the best system of government and that autocratic tendencies are spreading in many parts of the democratic world, including Latvia.
When asked to assess whether President Donald Trump has undermined the democratic system in the US, Ziemele replied that despite autocratic tendencies, the principle of balance still operates there-the courts are independent, the people are civically active, the media operates freely, and this absolutely distinguishes the US from Russia, for example.
"With regard to the US, we must see how this whole process will proceed constitutionally," said the EU Court of Justice judge, reminding that midterm elections are expected in the US at the end of this year.
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