Human Rights and Democracy in EU Foreign Policy
Human Rights and Democracy in EU Foreign Policy

Summary/Abstract: The development of democracy and the protection of human rights are dependent on an entire array of factors, among which are economic prosperity, the character of the government, the existence of security threats, ethnic conflicts or conflicts of another nature, level of cooperation with other countries through international and regional mechanisms for human rights protection, and many more. Democratization of societies and respect for human rights within those societies are essential prerequisites allowing for stable and secure societies, societies which will not generate violence, neither in the relation of one society to another nor in the one of a society to its citizens as individuals or social groups. The efforts towards achieving this degree of social development in Europe dates back in history, being conceived in the Magna Carta of 1215 and the French Declaration of the rights of man and citizen of 1789, spanning across to the creation of the modern system of the UN where the promotion of human rights is granted a pivotal role. The adherence to human rights and fundamental freedoms is one of the founding principles of the EU as well, and is, therefore, an irreplaceable prerequisite for its legitimacy.

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