New OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media addresses Permanent Council

VIENNA, 11 March 2004 - The newly appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti today delivered his first address to the OSCE Permanent Council, the organization's main decision-making body.

"In my work, I will not differentiate between the West and the East, between new and old democracies," said Haraszti, who assumed his post on 10 March.

"All the 55 participating States of OSCE have pledged to adhere to our common principles of a democratic society, and I know all of them wish to belong to this great community of democracies, the community of the Northern hemisphere in fact. And alas, a feature that we all share in common is that no country is perfect."

Haraszti outlined three areas that he would focus on in the near future: libel and the need to decriminalise it, freedom of expression and the Internet, and the relationship between freedom of the media and national security concerns.

He said that "the greatest challenge is to find the right measure when choosing between the different tools that are at the Representative's disposal. The right balance is needed between observation, co-operation, recommendation or sometimes protestation in order to achieve the greatest possible impact, always having in mind that our actual aim is helping."

Miklos Haraszti, a Hungarian writer, human rights activist and politician, replaces Freimut Duve of Germany who retired after six years as the first Representative of the Vienna-based OSCE institution.

The task of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media is to observe relevant media developments in OSCE participating States and to provide assistance where necessary.