News
Secretary General calls on Romania to wait for Venice Commission opinion on reform of Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe made the following statement today: “I call upon all parties concerned to wait for the Venice Commission’s Opinion, and to take it into account, before any further steps are taken to amend Romania’s Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code. This...
Secretary General signs memorandum of understanding with European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture
Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Zeljko Jovanovic, Chair of the Board of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to formalise co-operation between the two organisations, setting out their respective...
Secretary General held meetings on the invalidated mayoral election in Chișinău
On 2 July 2018, Secretary General Jagland met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Mr Pavel Filip on the government’s request. He also held a meeting on 3 July 2018 with opposition leaders Ms Maia Sandu and Mr Andrei Nastase on their request. The Secretary General was informed...
Secretary General: accept the findings of the anti-Corruption Commission
Answering a series of questions from members of the Parliamentary Assembly about a meeting with a former Ambassador for Azerbaijan, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland urged the Assembly to stop making political theatre out of the findings of its own anti-corruption Commission, which published...
Secretary General Jagland to meet Russian President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow
Secretary General Jagland will meet President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss current relations between Russia and the Council of Europe. Mr Jagland will also meet Russian Ombudsperson Moskalkova. Contact: daniel.holtgen@coe.int
Greece ratifies the Istanbul Convention
Today, in Strasbourg, in the presence of Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ambassador Stelios Perrakis, Permanent Representative of Greece to the Council of Europe, deposited the instrument of ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and...
Secretary General welcomes name agreement between Athens and Skopje
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has warmly welcomed the agreement achieved between the Prime Ministers of Greece and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” on the name issue. “This agreement has been a long time coming. It shows that talking,...
Secretary General Jagland visits Anti-Doping Norway
Media release by Anti-Doping Norway
Council of Europe and UEFA sign Memorandum of Understanding
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin have signed today at Palais de l’Europe a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their co-operation and implement common strategies in areas of shared interest. This landmark agreement focuses on four...
Spokesperson of the Secretary General: Statement by the Spokesperson on reported executions in Belarus
“Reports about two more executions in Belarus this month are alarming. “The Council of Europe calls on Belarus to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step to its final abolition. Capital punishment has no place in Europe.”
Council of Europe co-operation with Internet sector: two new partners
The Council of Europe's Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, today signed collaboration agreements - in the form of an exchange of letters – with the European Internet Service Providers Association (EuroISPA) and the IT security and performance firm Cloudflare to promote respect for human...
Spokesperson of the Secretary General: Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists registers alert on Ukraine - RIA Novosti Journalist Kyrylo Vyshynsky Held on Treason Allegations in Ukraine
The Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists has today published an alert by its partner organisations European Federation of Journalists and International Federation of Journalists on the detention of RIA Novosti journalist Kyrylo Vyshynsky on treason allegations in Ukraine....
Secretary General 2018 Report: Role of Institutions, Threats to Institutions
Human rights, democracy and the rule of law depend on the institutions that give them form. But for populists, who invoke the proclaimed “will of the people”, these institutional checks and balances on power are often seen as an obstacle that should be subverted. The 5th annual report of the...
Secretary General shocked over the attack on investigative journalist in Montenegro
“I was shocked and saddened by the news of yet another attack on a journalist, in Montenegro. According to several media reports, investigative journalist Olivera Lakić was wounded outside her home in Podgorica. An alert on this case is being published on our platform for the protection and...
Election of Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of Armenia
Statement by the Secretary General
Secretary General Jagland concerned about Saturday's demonstrations in Russia
In a statement on Sunday, Secretary General Jagland offered Russia the Council of Europe’s assistance to improve legislation in the field of freedom of assembly
Secretary General Jagland to Armenian President Sarkissian: Letter and spirit of Constitution should be respected
In their phone conversation today, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, and the President of Armenia, Mr Armen Sarkissian, discussed the current situation in Armenia. Secretary General Jagland was informed about the latest events in Yerevan. He underlined that after...
Secretary General to PACE: any attempt to divert attention from the corruption report is intolerable
Answering questions from members of the Parliamentary Assembly, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland said he was very sad that at a time when he and the Committee of Ministers were struggling to gain the release of a prisoner in Azerbaijan, in line with a judgment delivered by the European Court...
Secretary General Jagland on official visit to Croatia on 17 April
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, is on official visit to Croatia on 17 April, where he met Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Marija Pejčinović-Burić, and Deputy Speaker of the Croatian...
Meeting of Ministers of Justice on the European human rights system: speech of Secretary General
The Danish Government made clear from the outset of its Chairmanship that strengthening our Convention system would be a priority. And I thank them for that. I was equally clear from the beginning of my first mandate that strengthening that system – and the European Court of Human Rights – would...
Speeches
Ministers of Justice: European Human Rights System in the Future Europe
Letters
