Commissioner for Human Rights

The inaugural meeting of the “Visegrad Group (V4) and Western Balkans Expert Network” on the rule of law and fundamental rights was held in Warsaw on the 12-13th March 2013. The event was entitled “The main challenges for Ombudsmen in the 21st century” and was co-organized by the Office of Human Rights Defender and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

The Expert Network was established under the Polish Presidency in the Visegrad Group (July 2012 - June 2013) and aims at intensifying the cooperation between the Ombudsmen offices in the region. The meeting was hosted by Professor Irena Lipowicz the Ombudsman of the Republic of Poland and H.E. Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ombudsmen from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia discussed ways how to respond effectively to challenges to the human rights protection in times of crisis, exchanged experiences in fields of antidiscrimination standards, the prevention of torture and the protection of rights of people with disabilities. Possible frameworks of future cooperation were taken into consideration, e.g. through the use of EU pre-accession funds, twinning projects or the cooperation within international ombudsman organizations. 

Pursuant to the plenary discussion a meeting between prof. Irena Lipowicz and Mr. Igli Totozanim, the ombudsman of Albania was held. Mr. Totozani forwarded an invitation to prof. Lipowicz to pay a working visit to Albania in autumn this year. He stressed that the meeting in Tirana could lead to the exchange of specific experiences between both ombudsman offices.