Omar Bongo

The African Union has to act in order to put an end to armed conflicts that undermine the continent, to fight against the devastation caused by AIDS and other contagious diseases, to promote sustainable development of its member states.

My actions to promote peace, the mediation missions which I carried out during many conflicts, which very often occurred between brothers of the same country, are not driven by any ulterior motives or any calculations based on personal ambitions.

Globalization, far from putting an end to power diplomacy between States, has, on the contrary, intensified it.

If the Soviet Union and the United States have not experienced direct military confrontations, on the other hand, they supported, armed and trained Africans, to fight other Africans.

I am in favor of complete freedom of information and of free access to the new communication tools, in particular the Internet.

The principle of responsibility and collective sanctions is incompatible with the Western concept of justice.

When they favor the access of other people to education and health care, the countries of the North not only demonstrate generosity or solidarity, but also implement the principles of respecting and promoting human rights.

For about ten years now, the struggle for democracy and the respect of human rights has been in the focus point - if not a commodity - of political groups aiming to rise to power.

But the Western countries that link their partnership with the poorest countries with respect for democracy also have to consider that they have obligations towards these countries.

There is an idea of democracy produced by one-sided thinking.

The introduction of political pluralism often quickly led to bad results.

In brief, Western democracy, as other political models, is not exportable to all regions of the world.