Who said what at the Forum?
Austrian President Alexsander Van der Bellen attended the opening of the Fundamental Rights Forum 2024 with a video message emphasizing the importance of human rights and democracy. "To revive the vision of a world in which all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, we must remind all governments of what they committed to 75 years ago in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Alexsander Van der Bellen said in his video message, reminding that the protection and promotion of human rights is an ongoing process.
Aslıhan Bozatemur, a politician of Turkish origin, Member of the Vienna Parliament and President of the Vienna City Council, said in her speech that we live in complex times and emphasized the importance of the forum for human rights and democracy.
Sirpa Rautio, Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, said in her speech that the forum aims to bring together those who want to create a sustainable future and encourage them to find solutions, and that the forum will strive to find new and innovative ways to put human rights at the center of all solutions. Sirpa Rautio also pointed to the election period in Europe and said that it is necessary to be prepared for the changes that the elections will bring.
"With a critical period for human rights, security concerns, rising inequality, rising discrimination and shrinking democratic space, 2024 will be a year of many elections across Europe, including in the European Parliament. We will need to be prepared for the changes this will bring.
In her speech, Vera Jourova, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, said that democracy is under great stress today and that we need to emphasize and debate what democracy means.
"We need to emphasize and discuss what democracy means for citizens, for ordinary people. Multiple crisis, financial crisis, migration, terrorist acts, difficult times with Covid -19, war in Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and the crises are piling up. Crises are a bitter cocktail for citizens to drink for the EU in today's reality. People want to hear realistic solutions. Not grandiose promises. We have to stop crying out to extremists, populists, nationalists and chauvinists. Because that's how they get more support. Instead, we as democrats must work to ensure that democracy works for the people."
In her speech, Maria Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, emphasized that human rights and democracy go hand in hand and drew attention to the problems of democracy:
"The realization of the need to move from the erosion of human rights to the strengthening of democracy can be seen all over Europe today. One of the forms of erosion of human rights is the use and abuse of laws to limit protests and shrink civic space. This is completely wrong. It is contrary to the rights to freedom of assembly and association enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who joined the forum via video message, reminded that leaders have a responsibility to protect the rights of all individuals in every society, saying: "We must act urgently to protect all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social."
The environment, trade and new technological developments were also on the agenda in sessions throughout the forum. Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, which strives to make lobbying democratic and equal for all, said that in addition to elections, people should make more use of lesser-known EU participation tools such as petitions, European Citizens' Initiatives, freedom of information requests, etc. He emphasized that participation in decision-making is not limited to elections, but also to the right to participate in non-electoral settings.
About Fundamental Rights Forum
Organized for the first time in 2016 by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, the biennial Fundamental Rights Forum serves as a space for dialogue to explore and find solutions to the human rights challenges facing Europe.
