Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić is the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the pre-eminent Pan-European international organisation in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Prior to being elected to her current position, Ms Pejčinović Burić was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, having served previously, on two occasions, as State Secretary for EU Affairs.
During her time as a Deputy in the Croatian Parliament, she chaired the delegation of the Croatia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and served on a range of foreign and European-themed committees, including in the position of Substitute Member of the Croatian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Earlier in her career, Ms Pejčinović Burić held a number of senior positions relating to the Croatia’s EU accession process. She went on to be a Negotiator on several chapters in the context of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. She has written, lectured and consulted widely on European affairs, has served as a president and board member for a number of organisations and is a former Secretary General of the Europe House, Zagreb.  Ms Pejčinović Burić holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb, and a Master in European Studies from the College of Europe.

H.E. Mr Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus

Nicos  Anastasiades is the President of  Cyprus since  2013.  He was re-elected in 2018.  Previously,  he was the leader of the Democratic Rally between  1997  and  2013  and served as  Member of  Parliament from Limassol between 1981 and 2013. In his political   course,   Nicos Anastasiades actively participates in the international political scene. From his position as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, as Head of the  Inter-Parliamentary  Committee on Foreign  Affairs as well as  Head of the  Cyprus delegation to the  Inter-Parliamentary  Union (IPU), he represents the Cyprus Parliament since 1991 and takes part in a number of international missions, specialized conferences and visits. Since his election to the   Presidency of the Democratic Rally he participates in all the European People’s Party (EPP)  Summits and Conferences, he represents the Democratic Rally in the European Democrat Union (EDU) and actively participates in all the conferences of the International Democrat Union (IDU).

Mr Peter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

Péter SzijjártóisaHungarianpolitician, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 23 September 2014. He previously served as  Deputy  Minister of  Foreign  Affairs and  Trade and Parliamentary  State  Secretary of the  Ministry of  Foreign  Affairs and Trade.  In  June  2012  he  was appointed to  State  Secretary for Foreign  Affairs and  External  Economic  Relations of the  Prime Minister’s Office. He joined  Fidesz  in  1998.  He  was elected to member of the municipal government in the same year in the city of Győr,and then he obtained a mandate between 2006 and 2010 again. In 2005 he was elected to president of Fidelitas, the youth organization of Fidesz and he occupied this position until 2009. He first became a   member of the   National   Assembly   2002.   He received mandates in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 as well; currently he is serving his fourth term as Member of Parliament.

Mr Nikos Nouris, Minister  of  the Interior,  Chair  of  the Ministerial Conference

Mr  Nikos  Nourishas  been  Cyprus  Minister of  Interior since December  2019.  From  2013  to  2019,  he was a  member of the House of  Representatives in  Cyprus for the  Democratic  Rally.  He served as  Deputy  Chairman of the  Parliamentary  Committee on Trade  and coordinator  of  the  Democratic  Rally  Parliamentary Group in the   Labor and   Social   Security and   Home   Affairs Committees. He was Vice President of the Democratic Rally and a member of the Political and the Executive Office of the party. He also served as  Municipal  Councilor of  Nicosia,  Deputy  Mayor of Nicosia and Chairman of the Urban  Planning Committee of the Municipality. Additionally, he dealt with issues of development of   the urban center of the capital,   issues of culture,   education   and entrepreneurship. For a number of years, he was President of the Cyprus Pharmaceutical Association.

Dunja Mijatović  was elected Commissioner for Human Rights on 25 January 2018 by the Parliamentary Assembly and took up her position on 1 April 2018. She is the fourth Commissioner, succeeding Nils Muižnieks (2012-2018), Thomas Hammarberg (2006-2012) and Alvaro Gil-Robles (1999-2006). National of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she has been working to promote and protect human rights for the past two decades, thus acquiring extensive knowledge in the field of international monitoring, in particular as regards freedom of expression. Prior to her appointment as Commissioner for Human Rights, she has served as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2010-2017), Director of Broadcast of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001-2010), Chair of the European Platform of Regulatory Agencies (2007–2010) and of the Council of Europe's Group of Specialists on Freedom of Expression and Information in Times of Crisis (2005-2007).

Dunja Mijatović has regularly given lectures in national and international fora and has been awarded several human rights prizes. She has also been active in supporting NGO activities in the field of human rights education and asylum.

Věra Jourová is currently Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency and deals with democracy, rule of law, disinformation and media pluralism. From 2014 to 2019, she served as EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In 2014, before arriving to the European Commission, Ms Jourová held the position of Minister for Regional Development in the Czech Republic. Previous to this, from 2006 to 2013, she worked in her own company as an international consultant on European Union funding and was also involved in consultancy activities in the Western Balkans relating to the European Union Accession. She holds a Degree in Law (Mgr.) and a master’s degree (Mgr.) in the Theory of Culture from the Charles University, Prague.