TIRANA, March 3/ATA/ For three days in a row, from March 1-3, in the Albanian capital Tirana is being held the largest regional conference in the field of hate speech and defamation.
More than 40 high-level guests, more than 300 physical participants and hundreds more online, divided into seven panels, came up with a series of legal and practical proposals to help prevent hate speech at the regional level.
On the first day of the proceedings, MP Blerina Gjylameti, as a representative of the Albanian Parliament, stressed that hate speech is the primary cause of conflicts that have occurred in the past in the Balkans and what is currently happening in Ukraine.
“We, as Balkans, have witnessed how democracy is endangered by authoritarian leaders and ideas of past centuries of expanding territory at the expense of neighbours. What is happening in Ukraine should serve as an alarm bell for our societies, that democracy is never static. To enjoy its fruits, we must work every day, as MPs, civil society, all actors and decision-makers. Even if for a moment we think that democracy is guaranteed, we are absolutely wrong and we risk losing it,” she said.
The second day of the proceedings started with a panel on hate speech. Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj was a guest alongside the former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov, the candidate for mayor of Pristina Uran Ismaili, Editor-in-Chief of EUROACTIV Karolina Zbytniakowska, etc.
Veliaj stressed how hate speech is unacceptable in the European capital of youth, Tirana, and offered personal examples of how to fight defamation and hatred.
The third day of the proceedings closes today with the conclusions and proposals for which this conference was held.
The conference was organized by the Western Balkans Fund, an international organization established by the region’s foreign ministries, to promote and support regional cooperation by funding joint projects in the fields of science, education, culture, economy, etc.
The Embassy of Japan in Tirana and the Visegrad Fund financially supported the conference. /j.p/p.s./
