Unfortunately, human rights are coming under increasing pressure in the OSCE region. The role of the OSCE annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, the largest human rights conference in Europe, is therefore all the more important.

Security and stability go hand in hand with respect for human rights. They are not mutually exclusive, as some countries would have us believe. Human rights therefore have a prominent place on the OSCE’s agenda. Where other countries want to downplay the human dimension of the OSCE, we will work to counter it. Here, the active participation of civil society is a particularly crucial factor – an active and critical civil society is one of the pillars of vibrant and functioning democracies. At this year’s conference in Warsaw, we intend to focus on the protection and safety of journalists, the problem of hate crime and the preservation of the rights of Roma and Sinti, in dialogue with representatives of civil society and others.

I also plan to meet representatives of Polish non-governmental organisations and the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights to discuss the problems confronting civil society, its scope for action and challenges in connection with the ongoing judicial reforms.