TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Representatives from Ukraine and Russia will meet in Bali this week for the 15th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), an Indonesian ministry official said. The forum will be held in Nusa Dua on 8 December.

During the sidelines of the Bali Civil Society and Media Forum in Nusa Dua, Tuesday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy Teuku Faizasyah said that from the list of participants Ukraine and Russia are listed.

Teuku said that presumably the countries will be represented by their Ambassadors. "They have confirmed that they will attend from Jakarta if I'm not mistaken—from Jakarta to Bali," he said.

In the context of today's geopolitical tensions, Faizasyah said that the BDF is the right forum as it is the only one that can bring together even conflicting countries.

In this forum, participating countries can learn from each other about democratic practices and what can be taken from the political process to ensure that the general needs of the public are channeled.

"Discussion is a good thing, like it or not the challenges are the same. Geopolitics has the same challenges, energy challenges, and others, so we'll see," he said.

This year's theme of the Bali Democracy Forum is 'Democracy in a Changing World: Leadership and Solidarity'. The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that 57 participating countries and 70 observing countries as well as international organizations have signed up to take part in BDF 2022.

Antara

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