The Bureau of the Congress, meeting on 19 October on the eve of the 29th session, approved a declaration on “the reception of migrants in Europe” which will be submitted for adoption to the Congress during the debate on this issue scheduled for Wednesday 21 October. The Bureau also exchanged views on the priorities of the Congress for 2017-2020. These priorities will be the subject of consultations by the Bureau, the various Congress bodies and the institutional partners of the Congress before their final adoption by the Bureau in October 2016. The Bureau also discussed a letter from the Union of Municipalities of Anatolia asking the Congress and the Council of Europe to take on an active role to relaunch the political dialogue in Turkey. It decided to consider the issue of the mayors imprisoned, particularly in this region, as part of its monitoring of the situation of local and regional democracy in Turkey planned for 2016 and to continue its exchanges at its next meeting in Sofia, on 11 December 2015.
