"Europe is a place where nations, cultures and people meet and mix and this constitutes our true identity", has said today Thorbjørn Jagland in a key-note speech at the prestigious Leiden University, during his first official visit to the Netherlands. The Secretary General met with the Prime Minister Mark Rutte, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uri Rosenthal, with the Minister of Security and Justice, Ivo Willem Opstelten, and with the Minister of Education, Culture & Science, Marja van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart. Meetings at the Parliament with the PACE delegation, and at the Senate were also part of the programme.

Talks focused on Human Rights policies, on the reform of the Court, and on the European Union accession to the European Convention of Human Rights. The role of the Council of Europe in the Neighbourhood Policy has also been highlighted.

Speech by Thorbjørn Jagland