The Week Ahead: Key Events and Meetings

The Council of Europe will launch a continent-wide Campaign for the Safety of Journalists at an international conference organised in the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. To be held under the theme “The Pen is mightier than the sword? Meeting today’s challenges to freedom of expression and the safety of journalists”, the conference will address issues such as the current threats to the freedom of expression and the safety of journalists and the challenges to journalism in times of war and crisis – with the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine in the background.

Speakers at the opening at 9 am on 5 October include Minister of Culture of Latvia, Agnese Logina, a representative from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, and Council of Europe’s director for Information Society and Action against Crime, Hanne Juncher.

Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General, Bjørn Berge, and Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Latvia and head of the Latvian delegation of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, will close the event at 12.30 pm on 6 October.

The conference will be open to the media. Media accreditation requests should be sent to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia ([email protected]) by 3 pm on 2 October.

The event will be live-streamed on the conference website.

Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

During its plenary session, the Venice Commission will have on its agenda for adoption or endorsement 18 draft opinions concerning 10 states: Armenia, Bulgaria, Chile, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine.

Draft annotated agenda - Contact: Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 3 90 21 50 27

2 October, Ljubljana (5 pm, Slovenian Museum of Modern Art, Cankarjeva ulica 15)

A round table discussion will be co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Slovenian Ministry of Culture on the theme: “Free to Create: Artistic Freedom in Slovenia and in Europe today”.

Slovenian State Secretary for Culture, Marko Rusjan, and Council of Europe Director of the Directorate for Democratic Participation, Matjaž Gruden, will be among participants. The discussion will be followed by the launch of the Slovenian contribution to the Council of Europe’s digital exhibition “Free to Create, Create to be Free”.

Contact: Tatiana Baeva, tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41

2 October, Strasbourg

The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) will publish a report for Cyprus assessing the measures taken to prevent corruption and promote integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies.

GRECO and Cyprus - Contact: Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 3 90 21 50 27

2-4 October, Serbia

Axel Schäfer, one of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, will make a fact-finding visit to Belgrade and Novi Sad.

Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93

3 October, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing seven judgments concerning Denmark, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Türkiye.

More information – ECHR Website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08

3 October, Riga

A conference on the Right to a Fair Procedure in Anti-Doping Proceedings will gather more than 80 sport experts to define how to make anti-doping procedures fairer for athletes.

The conference will be co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Latvian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers aiming at analysing the national and international anti-doping procedures and identify good practices and possible gaps in legislation and in practice.

The conference will be opened by Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General, Bjørn Berge and Latvian Minister of Education and Science, Anda Čakša.

Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

3-5 October, Montenegro

A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities composed of rapporteurs Çemal Bas and Sören Schumacher will make a monitoring visit to Podgorica, as well as the municipalities Cetinje, Bar, Ulcinj to assess the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Montenegro since the previous monitoring report adopted by the Congress in 2015.

4-7 October, Istanbul

The President of the Congress Chamber of Local Authorities Bernd Vöhringer will deliver a speech on building resilience in today’s cities and the role of international solidarity and cooperation at the opening of the Marmara Urban Forum entitled “Cities developing solutions: resilience and beyond”.

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) is Türkiye’s first international urban forum organised by the Marmara Municipalities Union. The forum will host various sessions and events offering space for sharing knowledge, experience and opportunities between public and private sectors, civil society, local governments and other relevant stakeholders.

More information - Program

5 October, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 121 judgments and/or decisions concerning Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

More information – ECHR Website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08

5 October, Strasbourg

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) will publish the report of its most recent visit to Romania, focusing on the treatment of patients held in psychiatric establishments and of residents accommodated in residential care homes, together with the response by the Romanian authorities.

Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

5 October, Sarajevo (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The first Beneficiary Steering Committee Meeting will be orgnanised in the framework of the joint EU/CoE programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Josip Brkić, Head of Operations Section (Justice and Home Affairs, Migration and Public Administration Reform) at the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina Karel Lizerot, and Council of Europe Head of Programming and Resource Mobilisation Department Schnutz Rudolf Dürr will give introductory remarks. The opening session will be moderated by Council of Europe Head of Office in Sarajevo Bojana Urumova.

Media statements will be held at 9 am and the introductory panel will be open to media. The meeting will be in English and simultaneous interpretation will be provided to Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.

Programme

Contacts: Marija Simić, tel. +381 63 60 13 37; Dušan Vojnović, tel. +33 (0)3 90 21 56 99

7 October

On the occasion of the European Donation Day which aims to raise public awareness of the need for organ, tissue and cell donation and promote the principle of voluntary and non-remunerated donation, the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare will run a social media campaign on “Your present is their future”.

#EuropeanDonationDay

More information - Contact: EDQM Communication section

8 October, Kyoto (Japan) (2-3.30 pm, local time)

On the first day of the UN Internet Governance Forum 2023 (IGF), the Council of Europe will organise the first of a series of events to discuss the challenges to human rights and democratic values posed by the increasing use of artificial intelligence technologies.

The participants will also address the efforts to create legal frameworks to tackle these challenges, including the draft framework convention currently being negotiated at the Council of Europe.

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge will deliver a keynote speech.

Further information about the participation of the Council of Europe at the 2023 IGF.

Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

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