Although he has long discarded his anti-American baggage, Mr Solana must know that the alliance which is now promoting democracy in the ex-communist world has not always insisted on democracy within its own ranks.
Another insisted that "democracy is the abortion of an individual's rights".
Throughout this period the government has insisted that democracy in Zanzibar was going swimmingly.
But Baroness Verma, an energy minister, insisted local democracy is being strengthened rather than diluted with county councils still playing a "really important role" in the consultation and planning processes.
In any case, there are significant exceptions (Samos, Mytilene, Chios, Miletus, Potidaea, and possibly Boeotia) to the generalization that Athens insisted on democracies.
The term was meant to insist that democracy comes in many forms, and that "Russian democracy" will develop in its own way and at its own pace.
On Sunday, the antiracism advocacy group S.O.S. Racisme organized a protest in Paris against "religious fundamentalisms," insisting that democracy requires "the absolute right to blasphemy".
In briefings delivered in the bubble of their own security bunkers, Paul Bremer and military officials continue to insist that democracy and stability are taking root in Iraq.
Which is the cause and which the effect, however, is not so clear.When an autocracy brings stability, as it has done in China, an approving middle class may be less likely to insist on democracy.
There seems to be an overwhelming effort on the part of broadcasters to insist on democracy, accountability and giving the public a genuine chance to hear what the parties stand for.
