The Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, fielded questions from parliamentarians in a new Q&A exercise held during the Parliamentary Assembly’s spring session.
In the course of the exchange, Mr Jagland said the Council of Europe had launched the most extensive action plan in the history of the Organisation in order to support political and constitutional reform and the process of decentralisation in Ukraine. He cited as an example the recent signing of an agreement to set up regional support offices in the country’s 25 regions (oblasts).
“The burden placed on countries where refugees first arrive has to be shared,” said the Secretary General in reply to a question about what Europe could do to help migrants in the Mediterranean. Mr Jagland further stressed the need to improve sea rescue operations, to prosecute traffickers and also to improve economic, social and democratic conditions so as to bring greater stability to the nations bordering the Mediterranean.
The Secretary General told parliamentarians that he would be attending the ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps that was to be held in Struthof on 26 April, at the invitation of the French president François Hollande.
Other topics addressed included the European Union’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and the internet platform to promote safety of journalists and media freedom.
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Anne Brasseur, proposed that a Q&A exercise be held at each session.
