Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states will meet in Nicosia (Cyprus) on 19 May. Agenda highlights include a new convention against trafficking of cultural property (including by terrorists who are financed by such trafficking), innovative guidelines to protect terror victims, and an action plan to protect refugee and migrant children.
The session, to be chaired by Cypriot Foreign Affairs Minister and Committee of Ministers Chairman Ioannis Kasoulides, begins at 9.30 am at the Filoxenia Conference Centre (17 Thrakis Street, Nicosia). Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus, will open the session.
The Council of Europe’s Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property – the only international treaty specifically dealing with the criminalisation of illicit trafficking of cultural property, such as the plundering of Palmyra by Daesh – will be open for signature at the session.
New guidelines to improve support, information and compensation provided to victims of terrorist attacks in all 47 member states will be adopted. They provide for various free of charge measures to be taken by member states, including emergency assistance, medical, psychological and social help; information points for victims, access to justice and timely compensation.
The Committee of Ministers is also set to adopt an Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe.