The President of the Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights, Professor Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, participated, in his capacity as former President of the European Court of Human Rights, in a press conference organized by the Hellenic League for Human Rights at the Athens Bar Association. The press conference focused on the challenges and criticisms directed against the European Court of Human Rights ahead of the Ministerial Conference to be held in Chisinau (Moldova) on 14 and 15 May 2026.

The press conference was opened by the President of the Hellenic League for Human Rights, Mr. Lefteris Papagiannakis, while the discussion was moderated by Ms. Eleni Velivasaki. Also participating were the former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights and Professor Emeritus, Mr. Christos Rozakis, as well as the sitting judge and President of the Third Section of the European Court of Human Rights, Associate Professor Mr. Ioannis Ktistakis.

The President of the Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights noted that similar challenges have also emerged in the past, particularly during the Brighton Conference in 2012 and the Copenhagen Conference in 2018.

In the current context, however, the challenge originated outside the institutional framework, beginning with the letter issued by nine Heads of State and Government in May 2025 and the joint declaration by twenty-seven states in December of the same year. Centered on the Court’s case law regarding migration, these texts by the 9 and 27 states — from which Greece was notably absent — amounted to a direct interference with the independence of the European Court of Human Rights.

By contrast, the position paper that is reportedly expected to be adopted in Moldova next week is clearly more neutral and, to a large extent, based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Nevertheless, concern remains over the fact that states continue to focus on the substance of the Court’s interpretative approach toward a vulnerable group, namely asylum seekers and refugees. Such a development could pave the way for similar interventions in the future with regard to other vulnerable groups as well.

The Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights supports the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, a unique institution on the global stage, which has made a decisive contribution to the consolidation and deepening of democracy and the rule of law in 21st-century Europe.