News 2023
Secretary General addresses 56th Joint Meeting of Council of Europe Development Bank in Athens
Addressing the 56th Joint Meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić underlined the CEB’s actions and their positive impact across its member states. Speaking at the event in Athens, the Secretary General welcomed the decision made last year...
Minority languages situation in Austria and Serbia: new reports published
The Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) has published new reports on Austria and Serbia. The reports provide a general evaluation of the situation and contain snapshots of the situation of each language covered by the Charter, assessing whether...
National minorities: Council of Europe and OSCE join forces to raise awareness of human rights standards
Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, has met Kairat Abdrakhmanov, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, to officially launch the joint web resource “Collection of Council of Europe and OSCE National Minority Standards”. The webpage, an example of...
Social reintegration of offenders in prison and under probation: Berlin conference explores innovative responses
The Council of Europe annual Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services, held in Berlin on 6 and 7 June, is exploring innovative responses to challenges such as the increasing number of people with mental health problems in prison or under the supervision of probation agencies,...
Destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine: statement by Council of Europe leaders
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Council of Europe’s President of the Committee of Ministers, Edgars Rinkēvičs, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Kox and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić made the...
Council of Europe anti-trafficking body urges Azerbaijan to better identify victims of human trafficking and improve their access to compensation and other remedies
In a new report the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings assesses developments since the publication of GRETA’s second evaluation report on Azerbaijan in November 2018 as regards the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action...
Support to young people from Ukraine: call for grant applications continues
The European Youth Foundation (EYF) has decided to continue and expand the special call for activities to support young people from Ukraine. The call now includes possibilities for international youth co-operation projects. An information session will take place on 7 June. Applications can be...
Consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine, mixed picture with LGBTI persons’ rights, antigypsyism and shrinking space for civil society - Council of Europe anti-racism body presented key trends in Europe in 2022
Addressing the challenges posed by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, addressing continued discrimination – despite certain progress - of LGBTI persons, Roma and Travellers, as well as the need for supporting civil society actors were the main thematic clusters of issues European...
In Türkiye’s presidential runoff, a competitive campaign continued to be marked by lack of level playing field and media bias, say international observers
The second round of Türkiye’s presidential election was well run and gave voters the opportunity to choose between real political alternatives, but was characterized by increasingly inflammatory and discriminatory language during the campaign period. Media bias and ongoing restrictions to freedom...
The Committee of Ministers calls on member states to recognise the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right
In a Recommendation on human rights and the protection of the environment, the Council of Europe calls on its 46 member states to actively consider recognising, at national level, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, as a human right. Considering that measures to address the...
Helga Pedersen Human Rights Moot Court Competition: 11th anniversary
Students from the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands) were declared winners of the eleventh edition of the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition in English on the European Convention on Human Rights, after beating a team from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) in...
Secretary General’s lecture at Comenius University in Bratislava: “Summit in Reykjavik will be remembered as a turning point”
“There are good reasons to believe that our recent Summit in Reykjavik will be remembered as a turning point”, highlighted Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić while addressing students, the diplomatic academy and a wider public at Comenius University in Bratislava. In her lecture “Human...
Secretary General visits the Slovak Republic and attends GLOBSEC 2023 Bratislava Forum
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has met President Zuzana Čaputová during an official visit to the Slovak Republic. Meetings with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Wlachovský, with Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová and with President of the Supreme...
Secretary General addresses PHILEA Forum 2023 in Croatia
“Civil society groups, backed by philanthropy, have been central to changing hearts, minds, and laws. They are an essential part of functioning and effective democracies”, emphasised Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić while addressing the opening plenary for the PHILEA Forum 2023 “A New...
Heads of State and Government agree to strengthen Council of Europe, ensure accountability for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and support victims
At the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, Heads of State and Government of the organisation’s 46 member states have decided to establish a Register of damage caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression as a first step towards an international compensation mechanism. The leaders...
Latvia takes over the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers
Latvia has taken over the rotating Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers from Iceland at the Fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government from the organisation’s 46 member states. The outgoing Chair of the Committee of Ministers - Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs,...
Council of Europe Summit creates register of damage for Ukraine as first step towards an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression
On the second day of the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Minister for Foreign...
European leaders unite around Ukraine and European values
Iceland has welcomed heads of state and government to the fourth Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik. The Summit is an historic opportunity to reaffirm the common commitment to the Council of Europe’s core values and to refocus its mission in the light of new threats to human rights and...
Time for urgent action to stop democratic backsliding, Secretary General tells Summit
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has called on Europe’s leaders to act urgently to reverse a slide in democracy. Speaking at the opening session of the fourth Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government, she stressed that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was an extreme...
Youth work in time of war in Ukraine
What impact is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine having on young people in the country and on the way youth work is conducted? This question and the support that the Council of Europe has been providing to youth work in Ukraine, are the subject of a series of short documentaries first...