Almost two years after the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom had to close its office in Sri Lanka it has taken up its project work again. On invitation of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Ulrich Niemann, Head of the Foreign Department of the Foundation, and Chitranganee Wageeswara, State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka, exchanged the cooperation agreement. “The experience and expertise of the foundation is of great value for the reform process in Sri Lanka,” Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva said. “We are happy that the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom is here again.”
In December 2013, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for the Freedom had to close its office in the capital Colombo after 45 years, as a commencement of the liberal project work was not possible under the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his authoritarian regime. With Rajapaksa voted out of office in the beginning of 2015 and the parliamentary elections in summer, Sri Lanka has shown its will to begin democratic and rule-of-law reforms. The foundation will support this political change.
Press contact: Doris Bergrmann, Press Spokesperson of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for the Freedom, , Tel. 030-28 87 78 54, Mobile: 0151 12 65 63 91, www.freiheit.org