Entitled innovative municipal leadership in Central Europe. I want to thank you all for being here. I thank our witnesses, given the time zone issues we have, for their participation. It is extremely important. As many of you know, this month is important for the Biden Administration as they hold a summit for democracy. This event will bring together nations with similar values and principles to share best practices of democratic resiliency. Many of the nations invited have made Great Strides in terms of Democratic Development, including those in central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of the berlin wall 32 years ago, the countries of central and Eastern Europe made the transition from communism to democracy, to market economies and integrated into the Transatlantic Community. These countries are now members of the European Union, founded on economic integration and values such as freedom of the press, rule of law and an independent judiciary. Together they protect the human rights
I want to thank you all for being here. I thank our witnesses, given the time zone issues we have, for their participation. It is extremely important. As many of you know, this month is important for the Biden Administration as they hold a summit for democracy. This event will bring together nations with similar values and principles to share best practices of democratic resiliency. Many of the nations invited have made Great Strides in terms of Democratic Development, including those in central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of the berlin wall 32 years ago, the countries of central and Eastern Europe made the transition from communism to democracy, to market economies and integrated into the Transatlantic Community. These countries are now members of the European Union, founded on economic integration and values such as freedom of the press, rule of law and an independent judiciary. Together they protect the human rights of the citizens while working to ensure access to the fundam
I see we do have a quorum and thank all our members joining us. I recognize myself for an opening statement. We are holding a hearing today entitled innovative municipal leadership in Central Europe. I want to thank you all for being here. I thank our witnesses, given the time zone issues we have, for their participation. It is extremely important. As many of you know, this month is important for the Biden Administration as they hold a summit for democracy. This event will bring together nations with similar values and principles to share best practices of democratic resiliency. Many of the nations invited have made Great Strides in terms of Democratic Development, including those in central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of the berlin wall 32 years ago, the countries of central and Eastern Europe made the transition from communism to democracy, to market economies and integrated into the Transatlantic Community. These countries are now members of the European Union, founded on eco
Three city. Thank you for being here. We think our witnesses for their participation. It is extremely important. As many of you know, this month is an important month for the Biden Administration as they hold the summit for democracy. This event will bring together nations with similar values and principles to share best practices and democratic resiliency. The countries of central and Eastern Europe went from communism to democracy. They integrated into the transatlantic committee. These countries are now members of the European Union. A union founded on economic integration but bound by common values such as freedom of the press, rule of law and an independent judiciary. Together, they sought to protect the basic human rights of their citizens while working to ensure access to the fundamentals. These countries have become Strong National secured partners of the United States and other members of the nato. Such, Congress Continues to develop and support these security alliances and wo