OSCE Mission to Skopje raises awareness about right of free access to information

The OSCE Mission to Skopje and the National Commission for Protection of the Right of Free Access to Public Information organized a roundtable discussion about “Exercising the Right of Free Access to Public Information” on 14 November 2013 in Gostivar. The event brought together mayors, presidents of municipal councils, administrators and media representatives from 20 different municipalities.

Participants aim to raise public awareness about this right. In his opening remarks, Marcus Rolofs, the Head of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, underlined that “in a democratic society freedom can only be protected if citizens have access to information and ideas”.  Public institutions must assure equal and equitable rights of citizens to information, “regardless of age, race, gender, religion, disability, cultural identity, language, socio-economic status and political adherence”, he added.