Long after his retirement, Aryeh’s tireless advocacy for the First Amendment — and his belief in defending the rights of those with whom we disagree — continues to guide us at OSF and in work we do.

I was honored to host, alongside @penamerica.bsky.social, an event celebrating the new edition of his landmark book Defending My Enemy. First published in 1979, it remains one of the most important works on free expression in the past half century.

At a time when women hold fewer than a third of parliamentary seats worldwide, the number of female heads of government is falling, and assaults on women’s rights are ascendant, her voice and example matter more than ever.

Proud of my wife, @HumaAbedin, for inspiring so many as part of a powerful conversation on women’s leadership in politics — alongside First Lady of Albania Linda Rama and OSF’s own Pedro Abramovay.

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From scholarships that helped form a new generation of Roma professionals, to the Decade of Roma Inclusion, and to the creation of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture here in Berlin.

And as chair, I remain committed to supporting this vital work for decades to come.

I would like to personally thank Romani Rose for his tireless advocacy, State Secretary Michael Brand and Dr. Manfred Lautenschläger for their remarks and for making this moment possible, and Jewish community leaders in Germany who came to express their support and solidarity.

The Roma make up one of Europe’s youngest and fastest-growing populations. Their contribution to Europe is not a burden, but a source of strength.

Today, we continue that mission through the Roma Foundation for Europe, which I’m proud to support. The Foundation makes a simple but profound case: the future of Europe depends on the full participation of its Roma citizens.

When the rights of one group are threatened, it endangers the rights of everyone. Too few see it that way today, as political rhetoric increasingly reverts to zero-sum thinking — as if rights and freedoms were a finite resource rather than a shared foundation enshrined in law.

Having survived persecution himself as a Jew during the Holocaust, he understood that the test for Europe’s new democracies would be measured not only by their constitutions, but by how they treat all their people. He believed deeply in the dictum: “None of us are free until all of us are free.”

My father saw early on that Europe’s march to freedom had to include the protection of all its citizens.