Iranian Minorities in Europe: UNPO Welcomes EU Parliament s Commitment to Countering Iranian Attacks
On 17 December 2020, the European Parliament passed a resolution on Iran focusing on 2012 EU Sakharov Prize Winner Nasrin Sotoudeh and other Iranian human rights defenders. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) strongly supports the resolution s instructions to the European Commission and EU Member States to form an inter-institutional commission to support Sakharov Prize laureats and to strengthen capabilities to counter Iranian interference on European soil. Over recent years the level and severity of this interference has noticeably increased rending EU citizens and residents of Iranian-descent, including those that have received asylum protection within the EU, vulnerable to intimidation, suveillance, and even murder. In this context, the European Parliament s resolution provides welcome guidance to the European Commission and EU Member States on how to addre
Sweden, represented by Mr Robert Rydberg, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Niklas Kebbon, Head of Department for International Law, Human Rights and Treaty Law, handed over the Chairship of International IDEA to the Australian Ambassador to Sweden, Mr Bernard Philip, at the Council of Member States meeting held on 1 December 2020.
Ambassador Philip congratulated Sweden on its successful Chairship in 2020 and highlighted the importance of supporting democracy in the challenging environment it faces and the vital role that International IDEA can play in this regard. Australia is a founding member of the Institute and hosts its Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific located in Canberra. The Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific is a hub for International IDEA’s work efforts to support and defend democracy in the very diverse societies in the region.
"Illiberal democracy", Viktor Orban has told us, is the new wave of democracy. He is in some ways, unfortunately, right. We in the democracy field have been extremely clumsy in responding to this trend. We discuss "backsliding democracies" and "democratic decline", send off worried cables and press releases with a furrowed brow. But what we really are referring to is the rise
International IDEA is delighted to welcome the new Board Members to the Institute and looks forward to working closely with them in the coming years. Starting on 1 January 2021, International IDEA’s Board of Advisers will include:
Mariska van Beijnum from the Netherlands is an internationally experienced expert in the peacebuilding domain and current Director for the Conflict Research Unit in Clingendael Institute. Ms van Beijnum has previously chaired the Board of Advisers of the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
Professor Eva Maria Belser from Switzerland holds a Chair for Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Fribourg and a UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Democracy. Professor Belser is the Co-Director of the Institute of Federalism of the University of Fribourg.