"I would like to warmly welcome all participants of the conference and thank the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship and ODIHR for its organization in cooperation with Armenia.

We are glad to host the OSCE Conference in Armenia, which symbolizes the high level of cooperation between Armenia and the OSCE and Armenia’s strong engagement within the Organisation.

The theme and the focus of the conference are timely and well-chosen. It provides an ample opportunity for addressing the contemporary challenges faced by Christians and members of other religious groups.

In the OSCE, we have developed a broad range of commitments to combat racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Semitism and intolerance, including against Christians, Jews and Muslims, and to prevent and respond to hate crimes. There is a consensus among participating States that adherence to these commitments is crucial for the maintenance of peace, stability and security. Thus, it is high time now to ensure that the OSCE possess effective mechanisms and experience to assist participating States in taking appropriate action to protect Christians and members of other religions.

The civil society groups and organisations are essential in the struggle against discrimination and intolerance. I hope that the two-day ODIHR workshop, which took place in Yerevan prior to this conference helped to further identify the areas where the civil society can with its added value. The protection of Christian communities and members of other religious groups is one of the priorities of Armenia. Tomorrow we will have an opportunity to present our national experience in this regard and discuss how to further streamline this topic in the agenda of the OSCE. Thus, we are looking forward to interesting and fruitful discussions tomorrow.

I am glad to welcome ODIHR Director, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir and would like to pass her the floor’’.