The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, will visit the Czech Republic from 22 to 24 March on the latest leg of his tour of the accession countries. During his visit, the Ombudsman will meet with the Czech Public Defender of Rights, Mr Otakar Motejl, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cyril Svoboda and the Minister of Justice, Mr Karel Čermák. Mr Diamandouros will also address students at Masaryk University in Brno on the topic "Democracy, the rule of law and the ombudsman".

Commenting on the upcoming visit, the Ombudsman said: "With just over one month to go before enlargement, I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with my Czech counterpart and with Czech citizens to raise awareness of the rights linked to European citizenship, including the right to complain to the European Ombudsman".

Programme

On Monday 22 March, the European Ombudsman will have a discussion with his Czech counterpart, the Public Defender of Rights, Mr Otakar Motejl in Brno. This should help further develop co-operation between the two offices so as to ensure that citizens' rights in the Czech Republic are fully protected. Mr Diamandouros will then meet the President of the Constitutional Court, Mr Pavel Rychetsky and the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Mr Josef Baxa. In the afternoon, Mr. Diamandouros will address students at Masaryk University's Faculty of Law.

On Tuesday 23 March, the Ombudsman will meet the Chair of the Committee on Petitions of the Chamber of Deputies, Ms Zuzka Rujbrová. Following his meeting with the Vice-Chair of the Senate, Mr Jan Ruml, the Ombudsman will speak on the topic of "The European Union: rights, remedies and the European Ombudsman" at a meeting with citizens organised by the European Parliament's Office. Later that evening, the Ombudsman will attend a dinner hosted by the Minister of Justice, Mr Karel Čermák.

On Wednesday 24 March, the Ombudsman will meet the Chair of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr Lubomír Zaorálek. He will then meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cyril Svoboda. The official visit will end with a press conference organised by the European Commission's Delegation at the EU Information Centre.

Background

The European Ombudsman is currently undertaking an information tour of the ten accession countries in order to inform citizens of their rights. The Czech Republic is the seventh country on the Ombudsman's tour, with trips planned to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland before 1 May.

 

For further information, please call Rosita Agnew, Press Officer, tel. +33 6 78 16 06 19.