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Ambassador Ivo Šrámek chaired OSCE Human Dimension Committee meeting on Democratic institutions

On Friday, 28 February 2020, the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the OSCE and Chairperson of the OSCE Human Dimension Committee, Ambassador Ivo Šrámek, chaired the first thematic Human Dimension Committee meeting in 2020 which was dedicated to the topic “Democratic institutions: Promoting Comprehensive Security through Strengthening Democratic Institutions and Practice”.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Šrámek stressed that strong democratic institutions, respect for the rule of law and the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms are essential prerequisites for achieving a comprehensive security. Strong pluralistic democratic institutions, which guarantee the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms and inclusiveness, are the best foundations for ensuring safety and security of people. However, in today’s world, democracy is facing multiple challenges, and we need to counter them urgently and comprehensively. One of the challenges is the declining trust of general public in democratic institutions, Ambassador Šrámek pointed out.

The meeting provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the challenges for democracy and democratic institutions in today’s world and sharing best practices how to address them. The invited guests included Mr Kyriakos Kyriakou-Hadjiyianni of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly; Mr Marcin Walecki of ODIHR; Ms Vukosava Crnjanski Sabovic, Director of CRTA (Serbia) and Mr Jeffrey Goldstein of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. In their presentations they focused in particular on the work of parliaments, issues of institutional accountability, transparency and openness, including various open government and open parliament initiatives, as well as the involvement of civil society. Furthermore, they discussed the role of professional and ethical standards and codes of conducts in strengthening parliaments.

Within the meeting voluntary reports on the implementation of OSCE commitments were presented by Estonia and North Macedonia.