LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY IN EASTERN EUROPE AND FUNDACJA IDEE

It is with regret that I announce the formal liquidation, or dissolution, of Fundacja IDEE, informally known as IDEE-Warsaw. This decision was taken — in fact, forced upon us — because of the high debts and improper management of the former executive board and staff of Fundacja IDEE. Liquidation, in the legal sense, is the only means to try to deal with the situation.

Fundacja IDEE was begun in 1992 by the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe in Washington D.C. and I have had the privilege to be its president for that time. For many years, it played an important role in the development of the Centers for Pluralism program and Network, producing the Newsletter, developing a database, and facilitating cross-border exchanges. We are proud of its work for most of this time.

Unfortunately, in the last years, the managing board and staff changed its behavior and began to treat Fundacja IDEE as a means for their personal well-being, to misuse grants to maintain a bloated staff and salary structure, and to actively conceal from the president, who had provided general freedom to act to the managing board and maintained mostly a supervisory role, information about both its financial and other activities. After being patient too long, IDEE, as the founder, and I, as president, finally took action on September 15 by suspending the activities of the organization. The full report of the acting director, Mrs. Irena Zofia Romaszewski, on the findings of her review of the organization’s situation, and the formal legal justification for the organization’s dissolution explain the issues involved in more detail. While it is surprising to find such behavior as described in her report within the community of the Centers for Pluralism, it is not surprising generally; we have seen examples of this happening toorganizations in all the countries of the region.

The Centers for Pluralism will continue and its Network, I believe, will continue to grow in numbers and strength. The Centers for Pluralism is a voluntary association of organizations and people having shared values and a shared vision for the future of the region. I wish to emphasize that the dissolution of Fundacja IDEE is a singular event and the result of its unique legal relationship to IDEE. Indeed, Fundacja IDEE was a reluctant exception to IDEE’s principle to work only with partners in other countries, indigenous NGOs. Recent events have only served to strengthen IDEE’s belief in this principle. We ask everyone involved in the CFP Network to continue their work to build common programs, share common experiences, and generally to strengthen the building of democracy and civil society in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. IDEE in Washington will do all it can to facilitate, promote, and support these initiatives and to ensure the continuation of the Centers for Pluralism and its programs. If you have any questions or wish to communicate with IDEE, please email me at idee@idee.org. 

Sincerely,

Irena Lasota
President, Fundacja IDEE
November 15, 2002