World Press Freedom Day 2018

Harlem Désir was appointed as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on 18 July 2017 for a period of three years. Previously, Désir was French Minister of State for European Affairs, attached to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, since April 2014. He was a Member of the European Parliament for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2014, served as Vice-President of the Socialist Group of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 and as First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 2012 to 2014. Harlem Désir co-founded the French not-for-profit association “SOS Racisme” in 1984 to fight against racism, anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination.  In 1989, he also co-founded the international federation of “SOS Racisme”.  He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from the Paris I Sorbonne University. He has been awarded the Olof Palme Prize (Sweden, 1990) and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece, 2016).