Miklos Haraszti appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

VIENNA, 9 March 2004 - Miklos Haraszti has been appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media with effect from 10 March 2004.

In a letter announcing Haraszti's appointment for a period of three years, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said: "I am very pleased with this decision and look forward to our future collaboration. I wish you every success in the new job."

Haraszti, a Hungarian writer and former dissident, was born on 2 January 1945 in Jerusalem. He studied Hungarian Language and Philosophy at Budapest University. In 1976 he was one of the founders of the Hungarian Democratic Opposition Movement. In the 1980s he edited the underground periodical Beszelo.

In the early 1990s he became a member of the Hungarian Parliament. He is the author of several books, including "A Worker in a Worker's State" (Paris, 1983) and "The Velvet Prison" (New York, 1987).

The task of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media is to observe relevant media developments in OSCE participating States and, in close co-ordination with the Chairman-in-Office, to advocate and promote full compliance with OSCE principles and commitments in respect of freedom of expression and free media.

The first OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve of Germany, held the position from January 1998 until December 2003.