Several thousand people took part in the 'Equality Parade', which passed through the streets of Warsaw on 15 June. Among them was a huge truck with a sound system and a DJ, organised in a joint effort by the Embassy of Norway in Warsaw and the Council of Europe. It was the first time an embassy took part in the parade.
-It is perhaps a bit unusual for an embassy to be involved with a big truck with a DJ in a parade like this. But the parade is promoting common European values which are also priorities for Norway, said ambassador of Norway, Karsten Klepsvik.
The parade float had several foreign diplomats on board and distributed t-shirts, umbrellas and shoulder bags to the crowds to promote the EEA and Norway Grants and inform about the Council of Europe's No Hate Speech Movement to which the Grants are a strategic partner.
Watch the video from the parade.
Mobilising against hate speech
The No Hate Speech Movement is based on human rights education, youth participation and media literacy and the objective is to take action against hate speech online in all its form – not to limit freedom of expression.
Through the EEA and Norway Grants, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are mobilising against hate speech in Europe. The Grants provide funding worth €147 million to NGOs in Central and Southern Europe and encourage activities promoting tolerance and non-discrimination.
What is hate speech?
Hate speech, as defined by the Council of Europe, covers all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin.