Ombudspersons in Central and Eastern Europe: Strengthening Key Rule of Law Watchdogs

Presentation

• Luka Glušac, Rethink.CEE Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Discussant

• Zuzanna Rudzińska-Bluszcz, Chief Coordinator for Strategic Litigation, Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Poland

Moderation

• Daniel Hegedüs, Fellow for Central Europe, German Marshall Fund of the United States

The establishment of ombudspersons was an institutional milestone of democratization and respect for human rights in Central and Eastern Europe. Decades later, they may become one of the last lines of defense against democratic demise and autocratization in the region.

How can ombudspersons be empowered in the European and domestic political arena to effectively stem authoritarian tendencies? How can politically captured ombudspersons in autocratizing countries be revived as useful and functioning instruments of human-rights protection? And how can ombudspersons serve as important sources of information in the EU’s various procedures relating to the rule of law?

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to invite you to the presentation and discussion of a new policy paper that examines the role of ombudspersons in the current European setting of democratic backsliding and rule-of-law decline.

This event is part of the Rethink.CEE Fellowship, which was established by the German Marshall Fund of the United States in 2018. As Central and Eastern Europe faces mounting challenges to its democracy, security, and prosperity, the Rethink.CEE Fellowship supports next-generation thinkers and activists to conduct original policy research, to offer fresh thinking and perspectives, and to shape effective responses by the transatlantic community.