Latvia’s ex-president calls for dialogue to prevent bloodshed
By Nigar Orujova
It is necessary to expand the political dialogue in the world in
order to prevent bloodshed, Latvia's ex-president Vaira
Vike-Freiberga said at the second Global Shared Societies Forum in
Baku on April 28.
The second Global Open Society Forum that is being held in Baku is
a suitable platform for such a dialogue, according to
Vike-Freiberga, the co-chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International
Center and President of the Club of Madrid.
She went on to add that the dialogue between various nations and
countries is a part of the mission of the Club of Madrid, which was
created about 10 years ago.
"Those who have gathered at this forum, intend to lead the world
forward, to the future. And everyone has his own opinion, which we
want to hear," she said, adding that Club of Madrid works on social
projects.
"We should continue the dialogue to define the mechanisms for
maintaining the territorial integrity and to respect for human
personality, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly," she
added.
In an interview with Trend and the Azerbaijani State Committee on
Work with Diaspora, Vike-Freiberga also said she would like to
learn the Azerbaijani language, if the life was a little
longer.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga also touched upon the creativity of eminent Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi saying Latvia learned about him during the Soviet period, at the same time Western people got familiar with Nizami's manuscripts. Europeans and Americans interested in art, evaluate Nizami as a brilliant personality.
"Unfortunately, there is no complete translation of his Khamsa (five long narrative poems). Translation of the Khamsa to English, French, German, Russian, Chinese and Spanish is important for me. Naturally, it is hard to translate the poetry, which is 900 years old. But this surely should be done. I would like to conduct research on the poetry and structure of Nizami Ganjavi's works as I am interested in poetry," Vike-Freiberga added.
The forum is being attended by over 150 prominent public and political figures from 54 countries, former heads of states and governments, who are the members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Club of Rome and Club of Madrid.
The forum's agenda includes such issues as foundations of open societies, conflict settlement methods in difficult situations, multi-governance for ensuring sustainable development process and the need for institutional frameworks, as well as other important issues.
The forum is planned to hold broad discussions on such issues as practical work in the area of domestic economic growth policy, creation of conditions for high-quality education and other social services, strengthening the role of women in society, as well as the natural resources for sustainable development and the role of global boundaries, clean technologies and unity of "green energy".
During the discussions on the conflict settlement in difficult situations, the rapporteurs will share their experience and knowledge in the conflict settlement and social integration area, and will also exchange views on the basic principles of integration and openness, which may be useful in addressing the existing problems.