Conference on the 50th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act,
held under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic

THE HELSINKI PROCESS IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER:
SECURITY, COOPERATION, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

16 September 2025, Bratislava, Slovakia
09:00 – 17:00 (CEST)

PROGRAMME OF THE CONFERENCE*
08:30 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 9:10 Opening remarks
SYLVIA TIRYAKI, Chair of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Slovakia
09:10 – 9:25 Address of the President of the Slovak Republic
PETER PELLEGRINI, President of the Slovak Republic
09:25 – 11:15

Panel 1: The Helsinki impulse for European dialogue 

• BAKYT DZHUSUPOV, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• JÁN KUBIŠ, Former Secretary General of the OSCE from 1999 to 2005
• JORDAN WARLICK, Policy Advisor at the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)
• TEA JALIASHVILI, First Deputy Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
• WALTER KEMP, Director of Communications, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)

Moderator: Ján Šikuta, Former President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic

11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00

Panel 2: The Helsinki Process & Active Citizenship Platform 

• MIROSLAV KRUTINA, Chair of the Czech Helsinki Committee
• MACIEJ NOWICKI, Chair of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland
• ANDRÁS K. KÁDÁR, Co-Chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee
• SYLVIA TIRYAKI, Chair of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Slovakia

Moderator: Dagmar Kusá, Political Scientist

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:45

Panel 3: Human rights in the Helsinki process 

• RÓBERT DOBROVODSKÝ, Public Rights Defender in Slovakia
• KLÁRA ORGOVÁNOVÁ, Director of the Roma Institute
• DUŠAN ROZBORA, Ambassador, Diplomatic Academy of Karol Rybárik, Comenius University in Bratislava
• JERGUŠ SIVOŠ, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of National Memory

Moderator: Dagmar Horná, Political Scientist

15:45 – 16:00 Conclusion
JANA KOTOVÁ, Chair of Misia 89

 

* The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the programme.

Concept note

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Slovakia (HVS), in collaboration with the civic association Misia 89 and the Office of the Public Rights Defender in Slovakia, under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic and with the financial support of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak republic, is organising a one-day Conference on the 50th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act (HFA), titled Helsinki Process in the New World Order: Security, Cooperation, and Human Rights.

The conference will recall the significance and legacy of the HFA, and of European cooperation, particularly in the context of current geopolitical challenges to human rights, and democracies worldwide. It will be attended by experts and representatives from international organisations, academia, civil society, government, public sector, and the general public.