David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome Mr. Gilmore to the meeting. It is nice to see him again. I congratulate him on the work he is doing across the world and in Europe, for Europe and for us. Deputy Clarke has stolen some of my thunder. I was going to ask about democracy on retreat across the world as well. I was taken by the line in Mr. Gilmore's speech that 68% of the world's population now live in autocracies. Many articles are being written on democracy in retreat, and there is worry about that from within and without. We have seen attacks from abroad on democracies. As Deputy Clarke has said, elections are being interfered with over the Internet and so on. There is also interference from inside, from the extreme right and the extreme left in some countries. Mr. Gilmore might comment on where he sees this going and what democracies can do. I am taken by President Biden's initiative on democracy. He is also worried about it and, possibly, about the state of democracy in his country.

Could Mr. Gilmore comment on the impact of the situation in Venezuela on Colombia? I note reports stating that 5.6 million people have left Venezuela. More than 1 million of those have settled in Colombia.

I think they got some legal status recently. Last October the border between the two countries reopened and there were some issues around what is happening there. Will Mr. Gilmore comment on the impact of the latest events relating to Venezuela and Colombia?