In her opening, Irina Bokova spoke out against recent acts, driven by intolerance and ignorance, that seek to incitehatred against the values and beliefs of other people.
He said it would ask "serious questions" including whether rules for charities were too lax and allowed extremists to prosper, whether enough was being done to disrupt groups that incitehatred, and the problem of extremist groups in universities.
In a strongly worded statement, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Friday that the U.S. respects freedom of expression, but the publication of cartoons that incite religious or ethnic hatred is unacceptable.