MONGOLIA TAKES COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES PRESIDENCY

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ On Saturday, a ceremony took place to transfer a presidency of the Community of Democracies (CD) to Mongolia from the Republic of Lithuania that chaired this organization for two years.
It happened during the CD's Ministerial Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The presidency has been passed by Audronius Azubalis, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs who said that his country did its best to ensure that the goals of the Community are consistently pursued, and thanked all the countries that had supported Lithuania. Then he has passed the CD flag to the President Ts. Elbegdorj.
The U.S Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary R.Clinton has expressed a confidence that Mongolia will successfully chair the CD.
After the ceremony, Ts.Elbegdorj and Azubalis have called a press conference. The President has briefed about principles to be maintained by Mongolia in chairing the CD. It is needed to strengthen a justice and to improve the court system, main criteria of the democracy, and to considere the civil participation as important. He has said Mongolia will pay a great attention to matters such as strengthening NGOs, the democracy's educational system, solving corruption.
During the Ministerial Conference, some meetings have been held, for example, an individual meeting between the State Head and Mr. Larry Diamond, an outstanding scholar and a professor of Sociology and Political Science at the Stanford University, with Mrs Kim Campbell, a former Prime Minister of Canada.
B.Khuder