Media advisory
OSCE Cordoba conference on combating anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance draws high-level interest
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VIENNA, 25 May 2005 - Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel, the writer Jorge Semprun, and Simone Veil, the President of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, are among high-level speakers who are invited to address an OSCE conference on combating anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance, in the Spanish city of Cordoba on 8 and 9 June.
Other key participants who have announced their attendance at the event include the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Romania, as well as the Governor of the State of New York, George Pataki. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain will preside over a lunch reception on the first day of the conference.
The two-day meeting will address issues such as anti-Semitism and the media, Holocaust education, responding to hate-motivated crimes and fighting intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, Christians, and members of other religions.
In addition to the six conference sessions, there will be four workshops focusing on issues such as freedom of religion or belief and intolerance towards Roma and Sinti and other groups.
The conference will be held at Cordoba's Congress Palace. Most of the proceedings will be broadcast live via closed-circuit TV into an adjacent Media Centre. Side events and workshops will be accessible to journalists or broadcast on CCTV.
On the second day of the conference, on 9 June, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Rupel will hold a press conference at 13:00 in the Media Centre.
Accreditation forms and related technical information for journalists are available on the OSCE website: www.osce.org/item/9735.html, as well as on the Spanish Foreign Ministry website: www.mae.es/cordoba. The press cards can be picked up at the entrance to the Media Centre. On-the-spot accreditation will also be available but entry cannot be guaranteed if the Media Centre is full.
While computers and phone connections will be made available in the Media Centre, it is recommended that journalists bring their own laptops and mobile phones. Strict security measures will be in operation throughout the conference period and pooling will be necessary in most cases for photo-journalists and cameramen.