Freedom loving friends in Myanmar. You are not alone for your fight. Your outcry for freedom is louder than the gunfire. My message: Don't relax your fight for freedom. There are billions of people watching you, free or unfree. Myanmar must remain free.
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (Mongolian: Цахиагийн Элбэгдорж, Cahiagín Elbegdorj Mongolian pronunciation: [t͡sʰaxiaˈgiːŋ ˈeɮpegˈtɔrt͡ʃ]; also referred to as Mongolyin Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj; born 8 March 1963) is a Mongolian politician who has been President of Mongolia since 2009. He previously served as Prime Minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006. Elbegdorj is considered one of the principal champions in emerging markets and was one of the architects of democracy in Mongolia.
Elbegdorj was one of the key leaders of the 1990 Mongolian democratic revolution that ended 70 years of communist rule in Mongolia, and co-drafted the country's 1992 constitution that guaranteed democracy and a free market economy. Elbegdorj has been labeled by his supporters as a "freedom fighter" and the "Golden Sparrow of Democracy," alluding to a bird that comes with spring sunshine after a long, harsh winter.
Elbegdorj is the founder of the Ardchilal (English: Democracy) newspaper – the country's first independent newspaper – and helped to establish the first independent television station in Mongolia.
His tenure has focused on fighting corruption, environmental protection, women's rights, judicial reform, civic engagement, economic liberalization and privatization, property rights, and the abolition of the death penalty.
On 23 September 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and following the start of the Russian mobilization, Elbegdorj published a video address in YouTube, where he criticised the invasion and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop this senseless killing and destruction." He honoured Russians protesting against their government and instructed Russian draftees not to "shoot Ukrainians" and "kill that country". Elbegdorj also claimed that Buryats, Tuvans, and Kalmyks are "used as nothing more than cannon fodder", and that Mongolia is ready to shelter refugees fleeing Russia to avoid the military draft. He praised the "brave people" of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On 24 January 2023 in Washington, DC, USA, Elbegdorj participated in setting the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The Doomsday Clock's time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board and the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors including 10 Nobel Laureates. Elbegdorj said: "Today our world faces multiple crises. A common thread runs through them all: failure of leadership. We need a collective response rooted in the spirit and values of the UN Charter that can put us back on a pathway to peaceful co-existence and sustainable development."
On 31 August 2020, following the protests by Chinese Mongols against the Chinese authorities’ decision to replace their native Mongolian language in some school subjects with Chinese Mandarin in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, Elbegdorj voiced his support in media, and social media and youtube.com. and wrote a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping