
Chairperson - Ms Ilze Brands Kehris
At the eighth meeting of the FRA Management Board on 14 and 15 December 2009 in Vienna, the Board elected Ms Ilze Brands Kehris as Chairperson, replacing Ms Anastasia Crickley, who had been the FRA Management Board's first Chairperson since its launch in March 2007. Mr. Hannes Tretter was re-elected as Vice-Chairperson.
Ms Ilze Brands Kehris, the independent Management Board member for Latvia, is the Director of the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, located in The Hague. Prior to this position, she was the director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights, specialising in human rights in closed institutions and minority rights, anti-discrimination and integration issues. She was Vice-Chairperson of the Management Board of the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) from 2004 to 2007, and has since been a member of the FRA's Executive Board. She was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities from 2006 to 2010, where she held the position of First Vice-President.
On the announcement of her election, Ms Brands Kehris made this statement:
"The decade that started with 9/11 and is now ending with the effects of the economic crisis shows that there is no room for complacency with regard to the respect for human rights within the EU. The FRA's capacity to provide EU institutions and Member States with expertise on fundamental rights, based on analysis of data collected in all 27 Member States, can and should make an important contribution to the formulation of more effective evidence-based policies respectful of fundamental rights within the FRA competences. It is a great privilege to be elected chairperson of the Management Board of the FRA and in this capacity to participate with the excellent FRA team in the further development of the FRA's work, including cooperation with the Council of Europe, IGOs, civil society and other stakeholders."
- Concluding remarks - 7th of May symposium on strengthening the fundamental rights architecture in the EU
(PDF File 33 KB)
- Speech by Ilze Brands Kehris - Auschwitz Liberation 65th Anniversary
(PDF File 78 KB)
- Presentation of FRA Annual Report - Speech by Ilze Brands Kehris (a French version will be available shortly)
(PDF File 81 KB)









