n Europe, the issue of headscarves has the power to expose a variety of social cleavages because it instantly provokes strong stances on matters such as national identity, religion, gender and human rights. This issue also reflects the way in which states set priorities within the broad category of human rights they are obliged to protect. Through her analysis of headscarf bans in Bulgarian schools, Kristen Ghodsee illustrated how a young postcommunist democracy has attempted to create a coherent policy on headscarves while balancing its commitments to multiple constituencies in the US, its fellow EU member states as well as its own diverse population.

Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis, Greek Ambassador to the United States

Mirek Topolanek remarked that, at the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the democratic development of the Czech Republic is entering uncharted territory. To date, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been governed democratically for a record 20 years. Although the legend of Tomas Masaryk is often remembered as the golden age of democratic thought, the first and second republics proved to be only an intermediate step to the authoritarian Communist period. "Twenty years is just the ‘half time,'" Topolanek argued, and the next two decades should be spent ensuring that the new generations continue to appreciate the sacrifices their parents made for freedom and democracy.

Ambassador Riza Turmen, former judge, European Court of Human Rights and columnist for Milliyet (Turkish Daily)