Statements

110 years ago, the very first International Women’s Day (IWD) was marked and since then it has been recognised by the United Nations, even established in several countries as an official holiday. It is an occasion to commemorate women’s rights and achievements, to raise awareness against gender-based discrimination, violence and different forms of oppression and also take action for more inclusive and just societies. IWD is an opportunity for all of us to not only commemorate and raise awareness on women’s rights and equality, but also to consider how we are generally contributing individually and collectively to a more equal [...]

Russia has been engulfed by massive protests for the last few weeks. The demonstrators protest the widespread corruption in the country and demand the release of Aleksei Navalny. Navalny is a political opposition leader and an anti-corruption activist who was arrested immediately after arriving in Russia on 17 January from Germany where he underwent rehabilitation following his nearly fatal poisoning. Navalny has a long history of voicing against the current Russian administration for their alleged corruption. On the 19th of January, a video was published on Navalny’s YouTube channel, detailing a huge palace which was built using government funds and [...]

On the 14th of December 2020 the Council of the European Union has adopted the Resolution on Encryption – Security through encryption and security despite encryption (1). The resolution requires that “Competent authorities must be able to access relevant data in a lawful and target manner, in full respect of fundamental rights and the relevant data protection laws, while upholding cybersecurity […]”. The text calls for adequate access to encrypted content, while at the same time claiming that no backdoors nor weakened encryption shall be implemented. However, this approach is technically impossible according to more than 450 encryption experts (2)(3), [...]

Creation of the United Nations The world had gone through two devastating and all-consuming wars in less than 30 years of span in the first half of the 20th century. By 1945, it was clear for the war-torn and desolate nations that their joint and firm commitment was necessary to put an end to the war. For this purpose, from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945, more than 50 nations gathered in San Francisco, California, to lead the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), giving a start to the world’s largest international organization. 24 October 2020 commemorates the [...]

One week ago, a long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again resulting in military escalation. The Nagorno-Karabakh region constitutes the center of the conflict. The disputed territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan and has an Armenian ethnic majority which in February 1988 declared their de facto independence, which has not been recognized up to date. The region has been subject to devastating war from 1988 to 1994, which led to the intermediate ceasefire agreement of May 1994 and an ongoing frozen conflict over the past decades. There has been only episodic diplomatic successes within the frameworks [...]

On October 3rd 1990 the German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially became a part of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), thus forming the united German nation as we know it today (1). After the second World War, Germany was occupied by the Allies. Following a period of uncertainty, and facing the imminent Cold War, the former Third Reich and Berlin were split into four sectors. The British, French, and American sector remained united, from which the FRG was founded. The GDR instead replaced the Soviet sector becoming- a one-party state with a dictatorial regime. After years of conflicts and attempted [...]

On Sunday the 9th of August the Belarus Presidential elections ended with Alexander Lukashenko winning one additional mandate in what we believe to have been an electoral process that failed to ensure the necessary standards of transparency recognized by the international community. The Central Election Commission of Belarus (CEC) reported Lukashenko winning with over 80% of the votes. This is in stark contrast to the independent reports about the apparent support for alternative political powers, the numbers and methods of arrests, the influence on the election observation, and other voter suppression methods. The CEC implemented several restrictions with COVID-19 as [...]

It is June, which for many people means Pride month, a month full of celebration, festivities and activities to remember the achievements of LGBTQI+ community. But Pride hasn’t always been a celebration. It started as a protest. A protest by black queer people. This year, it seems, things are going back to its roots. Not only have a lot of Pride events been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the black community has once again taken to the streets to protest. This year’s protest started as an outcry against police brutality against black and people of color in the [...]

The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia is a reminder of the importance of standing for the rights of the LGBTI+ community in Europe and in the world. Even though LGBTI+ rights have seen a steady but slow progress in the past decade, hate speech and hate crimes are still widespread. Over the past twelve months, both ILGA-Europe and the European Parliament have denounced the sharp rise in hate speech against LGBTI+ people online and offline. The Polish LGBTI+ community has endured the strongest backlash against them: the anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party [...]

No crisis can be resolved without accurate and reliable information. Today, on the 3rd of May we celebrate #WorldPressFreedomDay and the fundamental principles of press freedom. Additionally, this day highlights the importance of respecting press freedom worldwide while reminding citizens that in dozens of countries, publications are censored and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered. World Press Freedom Day was first proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at a UNESCO General Conference. This year’s theme of “Journalism without Fear or Favour“ sheds particular light on an [...]