Dear Friends of Democracy International,

next year a dream will come true: The Danube Democracy Rally. Austria, Slovakia and Hungary all lie along the Danube, Europe’s longest river. We cordially invite you to travel with us through these countries and to engage in an exciting combination of politics and discussion, sightseeing and relaxation.

Austria – Vienna - is currently struggling do develop a system of direct democracy at national level so there is a lot to find out when we will meet with local politicians, activists and academics. On a more touristic aspect, there are voices who claim that Vienna is the most beautiful city in the world. This argument is contested by the other two cities that we will visit: Bratislava, capital city of Slovakia and Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Both countries belong to the only five EU member states that have the right in their constitution to initiate direct democracy. However, both countries face huge challenges. We will discuss what can be done to strengthen democracy in the two new EU member states.

Agenda:

The tour will start in Vienna on Tuesday, 1 April 2014 at 12:00 am. On Thursday evening, 3 April, a speed boat will bring us to Bratislava, Slovakia’s historic and picturesque capital. We will stay in Bratislava until Sunday morning April 6 2014. Then we will move to Budapest. The rally will end on Wednesday 9th of April. The team of Democracy International will assist you through the whole rally.

Registration: First-come-first-serve

We have 40 places for the stay in Vienna, 100 for Bratislava and 30 for Budapest. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to increase these numbers. So we will close the registration as soon as all seats are booked. In other words, we will assign places on the principle of first come first serve. With regards to costs we will help those people who cannot afford all costs. For those who come from far away – and we would love to have as many non-Europeans (singles or families) as possible – please book now. Early booking lowers the costs drastically.

We are looking forward to an exciting spring 2014 with you along the Danube!

Daniel Schily

Contact Daniel for more information about the Danube Democracy Rally, Tel: +49 2203/ 59 28 68, Email:schily@democracy-international.org