The third session of the United Kingdom-Thailand Strategic Dialogue was held at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, on 3 January 2018. The session was co-chaired by His Excellency Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and The Rt. Hon. Mark Field MP, Minister for Asia and the Pacific at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Strategic Dialogue was established in 2012 and designed to be a high-level forum for regular consultations between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Thailand on areas of bilateral collaboration as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest, in view of the ever-growing strategic partnership between the two countries. The inaugural session of the Strategic Dialogue took place on 20 May 2013 in Bangkok.

The two sides welcomed this continued high level engagement and again recognised the strength and strategic importance of the UK/Thailand bilateral relationship, especially in international trade, finance and investment; education; science and innovation; security and defence relations; political engagement; and consular cooperation. They welcomed the bilateral cooperation across the board, and discussed ways to deepen and strengthen this work especially as high level contacts have resumed following the EU FAC’s Conclusions on 11 December 2017. Both sides noted the intention to exchange visits at the highest level.

The trading partnership between Thailand and the United Kingdom is strong. Thailand continues to be one of the UK’s largest trading partners in ASEAN. Thailand and the UK committed to working together to ensure trade between our countries faces as few barriers as possible taking into account the Thai-UK Business Leadership Council’s recommendations on market access barriers.

Both sides recognised the need to forge even closer relations to improve upon the existing bilateral trade relationship to maintain dynamism of economic cooperation and prepare our future trade relations in the Post-Brexit environment. Thailand hoped that the current poultry quota would not be affected after Brexit.

The UK is a leading investor in Thailand. Likewise, Thailand is an emerging investor in the UK. Both delegations looked forward to working together to support the implementation of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and Thailand 4.0. The UK side welcomed the opportunities that this presents and will work closely with British companies to highlight the area for investment.

The UK and Thailand welcomed the initiative to focus bilateral cooperation in three sectors where both countries share potential and mutual interests, namely, Aerospace, FinTech, and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

Recognising the importance of people-to-people contacts, the two sides welcomed the continuation of the UK-Thailand Consular Dialogue, which will be held on 19 February 2018. This is an important and productive set of discussions that brings real benefits to the safeguarding of British visitors in Thailand and Thai nationals in the UK.

This year, the discussion will focus on Immigration and Documentary Services and their streamlining so as to provide an effective and efficient service to our respective nationals. The two sides will also discuss ever closer cooperation on tourist safety issues and on prison matters for those of our nationals which are detained, and also explore the possibility of foreign embassies conducting same-sex marriages in Thailand. Finally, both sides look forward to talks on how to improve and support to victims and how child and adult safe-guarding.

The delegations continued discussions on visa procedures with a view to facilitating mobility and travel for tourists, students, skilled labour and residents in both directions while recognising the need to prevent abuses. Thailand reiterated the proposal for a bilateral agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic passports.

The two delegations noted the importance of education and the English language in supporting economic growth and the emerging ASEAN Community. Both sides commended the notable progress made under the Thai-UK MoU on Education Partnership, signed in April 2016, under which more than 6,000 Thai teachers were trained and another 13,500 teachers are targeted. Both sides agreed to further coordinate to elevate our partnership to the national scale as this would contribute to Thailand 4.0. In this connection, the Thai side invited the UK to explore the opportunity of investment in education offered in the EEC.

Thailand and the UK were pleased with the continued success of the Newton UK-Thailand Research and Innovation Partnership. This programme supports excellent scientific collaboration between research organisations from both countries, including joint research on health and agriculture. Both sides recognised the mutual importance and significance of this. Both sides agreed to continue to look for opportunities to enhance science collaboration further in both directions, including to stimulate business potential and start-ups. The UK noted Thailand’s wish to continue cooperation under the Newton Fund.

The two sides welcomed the range of areas of cooperation on law enforcement and expressed hope that the MoU on Combating Transnational Crime and Police Cooperation would soon be signed to provide an overarching framework to strengthen internal law enforcement cooperation in combating organised transnational crime.

Recognising the warmth and depth of the defence relationship, both sides welcomed the increasing military activity levels and looked forward to even greater interaction. The meeting between Defence Ministers in the UK was a notable success and Exercise PANTHER GOLD 17, held in Thailand, delivered a major step forward in interoperability training. It was noted that this was likely to become a regular event in future years. Along with exchange visits, the education and training of officers in each other’s military academies would continue to be a significant pillar of defence engagement.

Both sides agreed to coordinate with authorities concerned to expedite the signing of pending MoUs including the defence related MoU on Logistic and Material Cooperation and MoU on Combating Transnational Crime and Police Cooperation; and Cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The two delegations exchanged views on political developments in Thailand and UK. The meeting discussed the opportunities that the UK’s departure from the EU represented and welcomed the progress towards general election in Thailand scheduled for the end of this year following the necessary legal enactment.

Both sides recognised that the upholding of the rule of law; the protection and enhancement of human rights and democratic values; and an active and strong civil society are key to stable, inclusive, open, and prosperous society. The two sides agreed on the importance of adhering to international legal obligations.

Recognising both sides strong positions on the international scene, Thailand and the UK expressed their resolve to take a lead on global issues in order to promote peace, security, and stability.

The UK and Thailand discussed international collaboration in combating the illegal wildlife trade. The UK invited Thailand to send a high level representative to the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in October 2018.

The meeting noted the importance of maintaining regional stability and order and agreed to further exchange views on global and regional issues including climate change, North Korea, Rakhine State, reform of the UN, Modern Day Slavery, Business and human rights, and developments in ASEAN.

It was agreed that the United Kingdom would host the fourth session of the Strategic Dialogue.

Ploughshare is the UK’s leading defence and security technology transfer company with responsibility for the technology transfer of early stage research and intellectual property from the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

This new agreement gives Ploughshare access to inventions from CAST which will allow industry to secure licences and benefit from world leading technology developed by the Home Office. The initial phase has already begun with three technologies under evaluation for commercialisation.

James Kirby, Ploughshare CEO, commented:

This work extends our reach into wider government and builds upon an agreement signed earlier this year to provide commercialisation services to the MOD Intellectual Property Rights Group, as well as our existing relationship with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). We look forward to supporting CAST in helping it to exploit their intellectual property to benefit both the UK government and industry.

Andy Bell, Head of CAST, added:

This agreement brings advantages to both CAST and its scientists by making our world-leading technologies more widely available and gives us the opportunity to further contribute to UK prosperity. It is also another demonstration of how we are already successfully working with Dstl ahead of CAST’s integration next year.

Ploughshare will incorporate the new technologies into its established approach to industry to develop commercial licensing arrangements and the creation of spin-out companies.

Driver in car taken from the backseat of the vehicle. Credit: guteksk7 at Shutterstock.com.

During December, there were three new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port. seven vessels remained under detention from previous months. A total of four vessels remain under detention at the end of December.

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

4. All deficiencies should be rectified before departure if at all possible.

5. When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and high speed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

• Full details of the ship. The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
• Company. The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
• Classification Society. The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the ship only.
• Recognised Organisation. Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the Flag State
• White (WL), Grey (GL) and Black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag State.

SHIPS DETAINED IN DECEMBER 2017

Vessel Name: PAIVI

GT: 2474

IMO: 9434149

Flag: Cyprus (White List)

Company: Interscan Schiffahrtsgesell Schaft mbH

Classification Society: BV

Recognised Organisation: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: BV

Date and Place of Detention: 24th December at Goole

Summary: Fifteen deficiencies with one grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
18425- Access/structural features (ship)	Damaged	No
01306 – Shipboard working arrangements	Not as required	No
18416 – Ropes and wires	Not as required	No
18427 – Ship’s occupational safety and health policies and programmes	Not as required	No
10106 – Compass correction log	Not as required	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
10135 – Monitoring of voyage or passage plan	Not as required	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Not as required	No
13105 – UMS – ship	Malfunctioning	No
18416- Ropes and wires	Not as required	No
18324 – Cold room, cold room cleanliness, cold room temperature	Not as required	No
09233 – Guards – fencing around dangerous machinery parts	Not as required	No
07113 – Fire pumps and its pipes	Not as required	No
13105 – UMS – ship	Malfunctioning	No

This vessel was released on 30th December 2017

Vessel Name: NORVAG

GT: 2854

IMO: 7704849

Flag: Denmark (White List)

Company: Norresundby Rederi & Shipping

Classification Society: RINA

Recognised Organisation: RINA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: RINA

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RINA

Date and Place of Detention: 13th December 2017 at Grimsby

Summary: Twenty six deficiencies with six grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
Other		No
01107 – Safety Management Certificate (SMC/ISM)	Invalid	No
01137 – Civil liability for Bunker oil pollution damage cert	Invalid	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Missing	Yes
10116 – Nautical publications	Expired	No
04108 – Muster list	Incomplete	No
10126 – Record of drills and steering gear tests	Missing	No
11131 – On board training and instructions	Missing instructions	No
05118 – Operation of GMDSS equipment	Lack of familiarity	Yes
18401 – Medical Equipment, medical chest, medical guide	Expired	No
18305 – Hospital accommodation (Sickbay)	Not as required	No
14502 – Placards	Missing	No
18302 – Sanitary Facilities	Not as required	No
10101 – Pilot ladders and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
11117 – Lifebuoys incl. provision and disposition	Not as required	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	Yes
07199 – Other (fire safety)	Other	No
09232 – Cleanliness of engine room	Insufficient	No
18408 – Electrical	Unsafe	No
18418 – Winches & capstans	Damaged	No
04102 – Emergency fire pump and it’s pipes	Not properly maintained	Yes
10105 – Magnetic compass	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
04109 – Fire drills	Lack of training	Yes
11102 – Lifeboat inventory	Not as required	No
11124 – Embarkation arrangement survival craft	Missing	No

This vessel was released on 20th December 2017

Vessel Name: RMS CUXHAVEN

GT: 1499

IMO: 9218533

Flag: Antigua & Barbuda (White List)

Company: Rhenus Maritime Service

Classification Society: DNV GL

Recognised Organisation: DNV GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: DNV GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: DNV GL

Date and Place of Detention: 7th December 2017 at Ipswich

Summary: Seventeen deficiencies with five grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
10111 – Charts	Not updated	Yes
10135 – Monitoring of voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
10133 – Bridge operation	Lack of familiarity	Yes
11129 – Operational readiness of lifesaving appliances	Not as required	No
01308 – Records of seafarers’ daily hours of work or rest	Incorrect entries	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	No
07118 – International shore connection	Not as required	No
18414 – Protection machines/parts	Not as required	No
18315 – Provisions quality and nutritional value	Not as required	No
01315 – Oil record book	Not properly filled	No
01320 – Garbage record book	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
08108 – UMS – alarms	Inadequate	No
01113 – Minimum safe manning document	Not as required	No
02105 – Steering gear	Not as required	No
07199 – Other (fire safety)	Other	No

This vessel was released on 14th December 2017

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: DOLLY C

GT: 652

IMO: 7222310

Flag: St Vincent & Grenadines (Grey List)

Company: No Information

Classification Society: No Information

Recognised Organisation: No Information

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: No Information

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: No Information

Date and Place of Detention: 29th November 2017 at Falmouth

Summary: Eight deficiencies with eight grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01209 – Manning specified by the minimum safe manning doc	Missing	Yes
01214 – Endorsement by flagstate	Missing	Yes
07111 – Personal equipment for fire safety	Missing	Yes
01199 – Other (Certificates)	Other	Yes
11116 – Distress flares	Missing	Yes
05103 – Main installation	Missing equipment	Yes
10105 – Magnetic compass	Not as required	Yes
14103 – Segregation of oil and water ballast	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2017

Vessel Name: HORIZON GEOBAY

GT: 3502

IMO: 7801556

Flag: Panama (White List)

Company: Horizon Survey Co

Classification Society: ABS

Recognised Organisation: ABS/DNV GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: BV

Date and Place of Detention: 23th November 2017 at Aberdeen

Summary: Twenty deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
10101 – Pilot ladders and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
99101 – Other safety in general	Other	No
10106 – Compass correction log	Not as required	No
06199 – Other (cargo)	Other	No
10114 – Voyage data recorder (VDR)/Simplified Voyage data recorder (S_VDR)	Not as required	No
11118 – Lifejackets inc. provision and disposition	Not as required	No
18408 – Electrical	Unsafe	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Unsafe	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Not as required	No
01213 – Evidence of Basic Training	Missing	Yes
99101 – Other safety in general	Other	No
99101 – Other safety in general	Other	No
01126 – Document of compliance dangerous goods	Missing	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	No
10129 – Navigation records	Not as required	No
16101 – Security related defects	Not as required	No
05115 – Radio log (diary)	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
10138 – BNWAS	Malfunctioning	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Malfunctioning	No

This vessel was released on 5th December 2017

Vessel Name: OCEAN SPIRIT

GT: 1717

IMO: 8325793

Flag: Russian Federation (White List)

Company: F2 Ltd

Classification Society: RINA

Recognised Organisation: RINA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 21st November 2017 at Aberdeen

Summary: Fourteen deficiencies with eight grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
08110 – Closing water-tight doors alarm	Inoperative	Yes
10138 – BNWAS	Inadequate	No
10138 – BNWAS	Malfunctioning	Yes
1110 – Rescue boats	Not ready for use	Yes
10101 – Pilot ladders and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
99101 – Other safety in general	Other	Yes
18317 – Food personal hygiene	Not hygienic	No
10118 – Speed and distance indicator	Inoperative	Yes
13102 – Auxilary engine	Not as required	No
07106 – Fire detection and alarm system	Not as required	Yes
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
10117 – Echo sounder	Inoperative	Yes
18418 – Winches & capstans	Missing	No

This vessel was released on 16th December 2017

Vessel Name: TAHSIN

GT: 1598

IMO: 9055187

Flag: Panama (White list)

Company: Voda Denizcilik IC Dis Tacaret Ltd

Classification Society: NKK

Recognised Organisation: NKK/NASHA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: NKK

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: NKK

Date and Place of Detention: 2nd June at Sharpness

Summary: Thirty six deficiencies with twenty one grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01202 – Certificate for rating for watchkeeping	Missing	Yes
01214 – Endorsement by flagstate	Missing	No
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Invalid	Yes
18203 – Wages	Not according SEA	Yes
18327 – Ventilation (Working spaces)	Inoperative	Yes
10111 – Charts	Missing	Yes
10116 – Nautical publications	Missing	Yes
05106 – INMARSAT ship earth station	Not as required	Yes
11128 – Line throwing appliance	Expired	No
11129 – Operational readiness of lifesaving appliances	Expired	No
03104 – Cargo & other hatchways	Damaged	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
01201 – Certificates for master and officers	Not as required	Yes
01214 – Endorsement by flagstate	Missing	Yes
01218 – Medical certificate	Missing	Yes
01308 – Record of seafarers’ daily hours of work or rest	Missing	Yes
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Not as required	Yes
10105 – Magnetic compass	Deviation table overdue	Yes
18302 – Sanitary Facilities	Not as required	Yes
18203 – Wages	No records	Yes
18204 – Calculation and payment of wages	No records	Yes
18314 – Provisions quality	Insufficient	No
18316 – Water, pipes, tanks	Not as required	No
18319 – Food segregation	Not adequate	No
18317 – Food personal hygiene	Not hygienic	No
18326 – Laundry, Adequate Locker	Not as required	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Missing	Yes
02105 – Steering gear	Not as required	No
07103 – Division deck, bulkheads and penetrations	Not as required	Yes
11131 – On board training and instructions	Not as required	Yes
07113 – Fire pumps and its pipes	Not as required	Yes
18420 – Cleanliness of engine room	Not as required	No
07106 – Fire detection and alarm system	Not as required	No
18412 – Personal equipment	Missing	No
11131 – On board training and instructions	Lack of training	No
18104 – Recruitment and placement service	Not as required	No

Twenty four further deficiencies were added to the original twelve on 2nd visit to vessel

This vessel was released on 15th December 2017

Vessel Name: MALAVIYA SEVEN

GT: 3001

IMO: 9087312

Flag: India (Grey List)

Company: GOL Offshore Ltd

Classification Society: IRS

Recognised Organisation: IRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: IRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: IRS

Date and Place of Detention: 5th October 2016 at Aberdeen

Summary: Five deficiencies with five grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	Yes
07113 – Fire pumps and its pipes	Not as required	Yes
18203 – Wages	Missing	Yes
01220 – Seafarers employment agreement (SEA)	Invalid	Yes
18204 – Calculation and payment of wages	No records	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2017

Vessel Name: SEA TRIDENT

GT: 964.

IMO No: 7393169.

Flag: PANAMA (white list)

Company:

Classification Society: Expired

Recognised Organisation: Expired

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC:

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC:

Date and Place of Detention: 17 June 2016, West Cowes

Summary: Seventeen deficiencies with seventeen grounds for detentions

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01101 – Cargo ship safety equipment cert	Expired	Yes
01102 – Cargo Ship safety construction cert	Expired	Yes
01104 – Cargo ship safety radio cert	Expired	Yes
01108 – Loadline cert	Expired	Yes
01117 – IOPP (International Oil Pollution Prevention cert	Expired	Yes
01119 – International Sewage Pollution Prevention cert	Expired	Yes
01124 – International Air Pollution Prevention cert	Expired	Yes
01137 – Civil liability for bunker oil pollution damage cert	Expired	Yes
01199 – Other certs (Certificate of class)	Expired	Yes
01201 – Certificates for master and officers	Missing	Yes
10111 – Charts	Not updated	Yes
10116 – Publications Nautical	Not updated	Yes
11108 – Inflatable liferafts	Expired	Yes
11116 – Distress flares	Missing	Yes
07109 – Fixed fire fighting extinguishing installation	Not as required	Yes
07110 – Fire fighting equipment & appliances	Not as required	Yes
01140 – Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance	Missing	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2017

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO (General Cargo)

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Unregistered.

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification Society: Unclassed.

Recognised Organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and Place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2017

Notes to Editors

• The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector at www.seavision.org.uk

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on: +44 (0) 2380 329 401 Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.

I have the honor to make this statement on behalf of the following 44 participating States: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America and my own country, Denmark.

We make this statement in the same week where we celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; a collective commitment to recognize and protect the equal dignity, freedom and rights of every human being.

Nearly seven decades later, we deeply regret that we are witnessing a continuing deterioration in some participating States in the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, all of which are essential to the realization of comprehensive security. At the same time, we regret that the participating States were unable to reach consensus on draft decisions addressing these challenges.

As highlighted in the Vienna Declaration adopted by the OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference, the fight against terrorism and violent extremism must go hand in hand with the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

However, in certain parts of the OSCE region, the space for civil society is rapidly shrinking, both online and offline, and attacks on human rights defenders continue to increase. There are attempts to silence civil society, human rights defenders and free and pluralistic media through restrictive legislation, intimidations, or even violent acts and murder for which those responsible go unpunished. Women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence, and LGBTI persons experience hate crimes and violent ill-treatment.

These policies and practices not only violate or abuse human rights and fundamental freedoms, they are also often counter-productive, as they increase mutual suspicion in society, undermine trust in the rule of law and marginalize vulnerable communities.

For these reasons, we speak out when human rights and fundamental freedoms are violated or abused. Whether it is human rights defenders facing reprisals for their actions, or persons being harassed, bullied or attacked because of who they are, whom they love or what they believe or say. We will challenge harmful stereotypes, combat myths with facts, and speak out against discrimination on all grounds. We recall our commitments and hold ourselves and each other to account. There may be times where we cannot prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

We commend all individuals and organizations who work tirelessly to safeguard our commitments on human rights and hold governments accountable for their actions. They deserve our recognition and deepest respect. Our defense of and support for Human Right Defenders and civil society are not simply a matter of principle.

When people can freely exercise their human rights, fundamental freedoms and civil society thrives, and minorities are not marginalized, societies are more resilient and peaceful. When women and girls can pursue unlimited opportunities, a country realizes its full potential. When free and pluralistic media can inform the public, abuses of power, corruption and disinformation are uncovered.

We commend the work of the OSCE autonomous institutions, ODIHR, the HCNM and the RFOM, for their efforts to stand up for human rights, thereby contributing to our common security. Their work, mandates and institutional independence are essential to the promotion and protection of fundamental freedoms and human rights.

We will continue to take forward the principles that underpin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international covenants and the Helsinki Final Act and stand up for human rights, across the OSCE region, and worldwide.

Finally, we also would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to the Austrian Chairmanship for its tireless efforts to strengthen the Human Dimension.