Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe (OSCE) Human Rights Meeting Should Discuss Media Freedom, Curbing Neo-Nazism - Russian Envoy

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)  Human Rights Meeting Should Discuss Media Freedom, Curbing Neo-Nazism - Russian Envoy

Russia expects the topics of ensuring various rights, including media freedom, eliminating statelessness as well as countering nationalism

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2018) Russia expects the topics of ensuring various rights, including media freedom, eliminating statelessness as well as countering nationalism and neo-Nazism to be discussed at the upcoming Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), Russian Permanent Representative to OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said.

The envoy said in a statement, released on Sunday, that this year's meeting would be conducted without an adopted agenda for the first time.

"In the course of the Warsaw meeting, we do expect the participating States and civil society to inclusively discuss the issues of ensuring economic, social and cultural rights. Questions of the elimination of statelessness, especially with regard to Latvia and Estonia, the countering of aggressive nationalism and neo-Nazism, getting the upper hand in Ukraine and some European countries, the preservation of historical and cultural heritage, and inadmissibility of discrimination in sports and interference in private life should not be omitted as well," Lukashevich said in a statement.

Lukashevich continued saying that he was sure that migration-related topics as well as issues surrounding discrimination against Muslims and Christians would be high on the meeting's agenda.

"We hope that the practice of restrictive measures against the media and pressure on journalists for political reasons will get a higher visibility at the forum and proper international expertise. It cannot be more relevant, given the discrimination and reprisals having been exercised against Russian media in Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France, the Baltic countries and some other OSCE participating States," the envoy added.

The diplomat also mentioned discrimination against minorities in the OSCE area, particularly in Ukraine, and the need to establish common rules and standards for election monitoring as the topics that were likely to be discussed during the OSCE forum.

Lukashevich also expressed regret that the HDIMs were undergoing a deep crisis over the double standards and biased policies pursued by the OSCE.

The HDIM is one of Europe's largest annual human rights conferences. This year, the forum is being held on September 10-23 in Warsaw.