Secretary of State Clinton to Meet Spanish Leader Friday

Posted July 1st, 2011 at 1:50 am (UTC-5)
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's heads to Spain Friday, on her diplomatic trip to Europe aimed at promoting freedom of expression and information.

During her two day visit, Secretary Clinton plans to meet with President Jose Louis Rodriquez Zapatero for talks on several topics including, Afghanistan, trade and the economy.

On Thursday in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, Clinton told democracy supporters that for every advance in information technology, there are forces trying to use such tools as a means of subversion and repression.

Lithuania was the second stop on Clinton's European tour. The U.S. top diplomat earlier visited Hungary.

She urged Hungary to strengthen its democratic institutions in the face of sharp criticism that the eastern European nation is becoming more autocratic. She also asked Budapest to commit to an independent judiciary, free press and government transparency.

Critics of the Hungarian government have said that a new constitution and media law introduced this year threaten the country's democratic freedoms.

In Hungary and in Lithuania Clinton drew parallels between the democracies in transition in Eastern Europe and the political and social changes in the “Arab Spring” nations of the Middle East and North Africa.

The United States has repeatedly expressed concern about the crackdown on freedom of expression in Belarus, where authorities routinely harass and jail peaceful anti-government protesters.