Challenges for democracy and human rights still exist in Europe today (6)

The following news release has been republished here courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Lithuania

Taking part in the events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Organization‘s for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 17 May in Warsaw, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius noted that the activities of the Office were still important nowadays.

"ODIHR came to being in an era of monumental change in Europe. Even though Europe’s face has been genuinely transformed during these last two decades, many of the challenges that we faced then still remain to be addressed today”, said the Vice-Minister who was representing OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Audronius Ažubalis at the event.

Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius also highlighted the unique efforts during the twenty years to promote the core goals and aims of the OSCE: human rights, democratization, good governance and rule of law, tolerance, trafficking prevention, fair, free and credible elections.

The event was attended by Speaker of Poland‘s parliament (Sejm) Grzegorz Schetyna, heads of the OSCE institutions, former heads of ODIHR and representatives of the OSCE participating states.

On 18 May as a representative of the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship, Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius delivered a speech at the seminar on the role of political parties in the political process which was held by ODIHR.

The Lithuanian official highlighted the important role opposition parties play in the political process: "Just as parties in power should never confuse themselves with the state, likewise political disagreement should not be confused with disloyalty to the state or a monopolistic claim to represent the people. It seems self-evident, but must be repeated: the role of the opposition is to oppose - to criticize, contrast, question and offer alternatives”.

Created by the OSCE participating states in 1990, ODIHR is based in Warsaw. Its mandate includes election observation, democracy promotion, human rights, tolerance and the rule of law across the entire OSCE region. ODIHR has held more than 150 election observation missions in the OSCE countries.

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