On 17 February of this year, Ombudsperson Mihail Cotorobai met the representative of the  OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, political adviser, Jennifer Croft and OSCE Program Officer in Moldova, Andrei Iovu. The meeting focused on the human rights situation and, particularly, the observance of national minorities’ rights.

Mihail Cotorobai presented the activity of the Ombudsperson Institution,  and emphasized that protection and promotion of the national minorities’ rights is a priority on the  agenda of the Ombudsperson’s Office .  Monitoring the situation in this field, promotion of tolerance and cultural, linguistic and inter-ethnic diversity have been constantly included in the Action Program of the National Institution for Human Rights Protection.

On the request of OSCE representatives, the Ombudsperson pointed out the key problems in observing the rights of national minorities, referring in particular to the situation of Roma people, the latest developments with regards to the social inclusion of representatives of this ethnic minority.

The participants to the meeting expressed their joint interest to cooperate under OSCE projects on promotion and protection of the national minorities’ rights, focusing on the protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms.