III OSCE

At the end of this year precisely 20 years will have passed since the official establishment of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM). This institution started functioning as of January 1993, built up by the successful first HCNM Max van der Stoel. As a lead-up to this anniversary the European Centre on Minority Issues in Flensburg, Germany, organized a one-day conference called 'HCNM 20 Years On' on the 6th of July 2012 which was addressed by the present HCNM, Knut Vollebaek. It was also at this very place that the first HCNM made his first public speech as High Commissioner in 1993.