Finland to raise the issue of discrimination against Roma during Finnish Chairmanship of the OSCE
Press release 122/2007
8 June, 2007
Finland intends to pay special attention to the status of Roma during the Finnish Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe next year, Aleksi Härkönen, Head of the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, said in the OSCE Conference Combating Discrimination, held in Bucharest. Within the next few months, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR, will prepare a report on the implementation of the OSCE Action Plan to improve the status of Roma in the OSCE area. In the future follow-up of the Action Plan, Finland considers cooperation with the European Council and the European Roma and Traveller Forum, ERTF, important.
The OSCE High-Level Conference on Combating Discrimination and Promoting Mutual Respect and Understanding is currently being held in Bucharest on 6-8 June. The conference is a follow-up to the Conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance Spain organised in Cordoba in June 2005.
The conference is attended by representatives of 56 OSCE member states, 11 partner countries, and other international organisations and NGOs. The Finnish delegation is chaired by Aleksi Härkönen, Head of the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Additional information: Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen, tel. +358 (0)400 330 406