Two decades ago, in June 2000, with democratic transitions across the world in a spirit of optimism at the dawn of the new Millennium, representatives of 106 states gathered in Warsaw for the opening Ministerial Conference Towards a Community of Democracies. The Community of Democracies (CoD) was then born as a shared initiative of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek. “He wanted this city - his city - to be known for something other than the Warsaw Pact; the Warsaw Declaration.” – Secretary Albright, speaking of Geremek at the opening conference.