By Willy Fautré & Hans Noot, Director and Associate Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (07.02.2026) – On 4 February, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) sponsored the launch of the Central Europe Forum on FORB which took place in the framework of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit from 2 to 5 February in various places in Washington DC.
The Forum was held after the IRF Roundtable in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washinton DC. Over 20 people were present in the room and more than 50 had registered online. The launch event had been planned for one hour but had to be prolonged due to the interest of the participants.
The speakers of the first panel were:
· Jan Figel (Slovakia), former EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief
· Peter Zoehrer (Austria), FOREF Europe
· Kristyna Tomanova (Czechia), InterBelief Relief
· Attila Miklovicz (Hungary), University of Pécs
In the second panel, the floor was given to the international advisers of the Forum:
· Greg Mitchell, co-founder & co-chair of the IRF Roundtable with Nadine Maenza
· David Burrows, a practising criminal defence solicitor for over 30 years and Member of the UK Parliament between 2005 and 2017, working with MP Fiona Bruce, former UK Special Envoy for FORB
· Dr. Brandon Taylorian, a Research Fellow at the University of Lancashire in Preston, UK. Brandon achieved his PhD in 2025.
Welcoming remarks (excerpt) by Hans Noot, chair of the Forum and the second panel
“The Central Europe Forum for Freedom of Religion or Belief has been designed as a region-focused, evidence-based platform addressing FoRB issues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slowakia. It is intentionally rooted in civil society and expert engagement. The Forum is not owned, directed, or dominated by any single religious or belief community, nor is it a state-sponsored initiative. Its purpose is to provide reliable analysis and structured dialogue that can inform policymakers and parliamentarians across the political spectrum, both within the region and internationally.
Experts in relevant fields are invited to present their findings by invitation, with a focus on concrete situations and measurable impacts. The core objective of the Forum is to help bridge the persistent gap between commitments made at the OSCE, European Union, and United Nations levels, and their practical implementation at national and local levels.
Meeting four times per year in a rotating format, the Forum operates as a space for informed, honest, and pragmatic engagement. Discussions are guided by evidence, protected by Chatham House Rules when appropriate, and oriented toward tangible outcomes rather than consensus for its own sake. As a forum, its primary function is to share verified information that enables responsible actors to make informed decisions and take meaningful action.
It is a pleasure to welcome all of you who are present here in Washington, as well as those joining us remotely. The hybrid format reflects both the international character of this initiative and our intention to remain accessible and engaged across borders.”
State recognition of religious or belief communities and media: two sources of discrimination. Introductory remarks to the first panel of the Forum chaired by Willy Fautré
“Freedom of religion or belief is not only violated abroad, in countries like China, Iran, Russia… It is also an issue in democracies.
State recognition of religious and belief communities
In Europe, one of the mechanisms generating unequal treatment of religious and belief communities, discrimination, stigmatization, intolerance and hostility is the system of state recognition of religions. Many countries, including in Central Europe, have a tiered discriminatory system.
In the upper category, historical religions having full access to their religious rights but also being granted privileges. In one or several lower categories, other religious and belief communities with fewer rights and considered less respectable. Due to discriminatory laws and administrative obstacles, they are often unable to accede to the top category.
Others are not even recognized by the State as religious or belief groups worth benefitting from the protection of Article 18 of the ICCPR despite the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. They are identified by the derogatory term of “cult” and the media abuses this word.
The media
We defend the freedom of the media and journalists. They are victims of all sorts of political repression in non-democratic countries and they can rightly complain about their increasingly shrinking space of action due to the intrusion of commercial actors and private interests in democratic countries.
However, media and journalists can also be servants of brutal sensationalism because sensationalism sells, and it sells well. When the impact of their work is based on thorough investigation and unbiased analysis, it is a scoop and it is laudable. But when the facts are distorted, manipulated or even fabricated, just to sell, it is a perversion of their information mission because they disfigure the nobility of their profession. And not only that. They cause a lot of damage in the lives of many people that they have stigmatized because of their unconventional beliefs, whether they are philosophical, spiritual or religious.
Entrepreneurs have gone bankrupt, teachers have been fired, psychologists have lost their clients, fathers or mothers have lost some of their parental rights, couples have divorced. Some adhered to the anthroposophy and the education system of Rudolf Steiner like former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl who sent his children to Steiner schools. Some were members of the Scientology like Tom Cruise. Some were Jehovah’s Witnesses like the famous tennis players Serena and Venus Williams.
Unscrupulous media outlets did not criticize and stigmatize such people and their religion because they were famous and could have retaliated by taking them to court but they “courageously” did with anonymous, vulnerable and defenceless believers of the same movements.
It is important to monitor the work of media and journalists when they cover issues related to religious groups and to restore the truth of the facts. It is particularly essential when the victims cannot defend themselves. We at Human Rights Without Frontiers in Brussels help them in their defence.¨
Some prominent figures in the attendance participated in the debate, chaired by Hans Noot:
Mr Eduard Heger, former Prime Minister of Slovakia
Ms Fernanda San Martin Carrasco, the Director of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB)
Two members of the Swedish Parliament
James Lankford from the World Bank,
Mervin Thomas, Founder President of Christian Solidarity Worldwide CSW)
and many other personalities who attended the IRF Roundtable.
Further reading about FORB in this country on HRWF website
