Commissioner for Protection of Equality, Brankica Jankovic, met with the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Tobias Flessenkemper, on the occasion of the extension of cooperation in the field of protection of equality and strengthening the capacity of institutions for more efficient suppression of discrimination.

Jankovic and Flessenkemper discussed the activities assigned to Commissioner for Protection of Equality within the project “Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Serbia”, which relate to conducting and analyzing a research on hate speech in the media, as well as training journalists and editors on recognizing and combating discrimination and hate speech, especially against the LGBT population, Roma and other minorities, which will include representatives of REM, the Press Council and journalists’ associations.

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade extended full support of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality and emphasized the role of the Commissioner’s institution in the process of promoting equality, protection of human rights and creating a more tolerant society that respects diversity.

The project “Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Serbia” is part of the program “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe aimed to support beneficiaries in implementing human rights reforms and harmonization with EU standards and attainments.