Rule of Law. Liberty of the Many, or Duty of the Few?

Open Estonia Foundation and the European Commission’s Representation in Estonia organised an online forum, titled "Rule of Law: Liberty of the Many, or Duty of the Few?" on the rule of law in the EU on January 13, 2021.

The forum discussed what rule of law means in practice in today’s EU, what it means to all interest groups and citizens in society and how can civil society protect the rule of law.

The forum’s keynote speech was held by Věra Jourová, the vice president of the European Commission for values and transparency. The following panel discussion included the former Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute and OEF Chair, Kristi Raik, and Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, a professor at TalTech and the Chair of supervisory council of Estonian Human Rights Centre.

As one of the highlights of every year, Open Estonia Foundation has been organizing Open Society Forums already for 24 years now. Over the years, we have brought together opinion leaders from Estonia and abroad to debate on topics related to open society, democracy and politics in general. Former speakers include George Soros, Martti Ahtisaari, Jeremy Rifkin, Robert Putnam, Timothy Garton Ash, Pippa Norris, Andrei Illarionov, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Lilia Shevtsova, Heather Grabbe, Olli Rehn, Timothy Snyder and others. Open Society Forums have always been open and accessible for the general public, starting from school pupils and ranging to the elderly.