Statement
21 April 2009
Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Nyamko Sabuni, Minister for Integration and Gender Equality
Statement by Carl Bildt and Nyamko Sabuni on the Durban Review Conference: final outcome document adopted
The fact that we now, in the late afternoon, managed to get the Conference in Geneva to approve the final document - a result not least of the EU's very determined negotiations - is a great success.
We have successfully pushed issues, including the importance of freedom of speech as a basis for democracy and in the struggle against racism, the importance of protecting people who have been subject to different forms of discrimination, the role of civil society including defenders of human rights, and the situation of the Roma.
The final outcome document also includes a key reminder to the world of the importance of never forgetting the Holocaust.
The EU has played a proactive and constructive role in bringing about a document that focuses on the implementation of the commitments made by states with regard to the fight against racism and in preventing a result that would undermine human rights.
It is also extremely important that the final outcome document does not contain any references to verbal abuse of religions, which the EU believes do not belong to a document on the protection of human rights.
The same applies to references to the situation in the Middle East including Israel, since such references would have been one-sided in a document of global relevance. Here too, through the EU, we have maintained a hard line.
Since the Czech Republic chose to leave the Conference, Sweden, as incoming President, has spoken on behalf of the Union in the conference debates and will also be representing the EU in the remaining negotiations.
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson(journalists only) Press Secretary to Carl Bildt
+46 8 405 54 73
+46 70 356 30 32
email to Anna Charlotta Johansson Yoav Bartal
Press Secretary to Nyamko Sabuni
+46 8 405 12 90
+46 70 357 51 94
