Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

BERLIN, 11 June 2013 – Representatives of governments from some 20 OSCE participating States, civil society and Jewish communities will meet in Berlin on Thursday, 13 June for an expert conference on the security needs of Jewish communities in the OSCE region.

The conference, organized jointly by the Ukrainian 2013 OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), will focus on the main security challenges Jewish communities face in the OSCE region, the implementation of OSCE commitments on combating anti-Semitism, and good practices of co-operation between state authorities and Jewish communities in bringing this about.

Rabbi Andrew Baker, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism and Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich, the German Minister of Interior, will address the conference.

Thomas E. Schultze, the Head of Division for the OSCE and Council of Europe in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Floriane Hohenberg, the Head of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department at ODIHR, Dr. Ariel Muzicant, Vice President for Security and Crisis Management at the European Jewish Congress, and Stephan Kramer, the Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, will also take part in the event.

To obtain access to the opening sessions of the conference and the address by the German Interior Minister, which will begin on 13 June at 9.00, journalists need to apply for accreditation today, 11 June, until 17.00 at the latest. They should send an email providing their full name and the media outlet they represent to thomas.rymer@odihr.pl.

The event, entitled “Addressing the Security Needs of Jewish Communities in the OSCE Region: Challenges and Good Practices” will take place at the Berlin Congress Centre, Alexanderstraße 11, Berlin, accessible through the “Haus des Lehrers” (“Teachers’ House”) on Alexanderstraße 9. There will also be a press conference at 13:15, at which speakers from the morning’s sessions will be present.