26.05.2010

On May 6-9, 2010 in the Spanish city of Malaga, an international conference was held on the European social citizenship. It was prepared by 13 Spanish organizations with cooperation of other European organizations. The Open Republic Association was invited by AEDH to participate in the conference. Our association was represented by Elżbieta Petrajtis-O’Neill, who was a panelist in one of workshops. 

On the first day, plenary sessions were held with participation of many outstanding guests, such as Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Diego Lopez Garrido, Spanish Secretary of State in the European Union, Josep Borrel, the former Speaker of the European Parliament and many others. They discussed the major problems facing EU – social exclusion, immigrants, violence against women etc. 

The second day was filled with workshops on different subjects. The workshop, in which OR representative participated, was entitled: Defense of social rights and human rights versus social exclusion. There were three panelists- Pierre Barge presented the general overview of EU and the problems it has to cope with, Rafael Lara Batllerla discussed situation in Andalusia, e.g. living conditions in refugee camps. Elżbieta Petrajtis-O’Neill briefly presented the activities of OR and discussed three projects realized by our Association (Law against Hate, Open to Others – School of Openness, and the currently implemented project, to which OR is a partner, relating to primary level education of Roma children).