Back Languages for Peace: European Day of Languages 2024 highlights Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity

Languages for Peace: European Day of Languages 2024 highlights Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity

Every year since 2001 the European Day of Languages marked on 26 September celebrates the wealth of languages coexisting in Europe and beyond. Over 225 languages are native to Europe alone, not including languages that arrived on the continent through migration. The motto of this year’s day is “Languages for Peace”.

“Linguistic diversity, from which a remarkable cultural diversity springs, is the foundation of today's Europe. We are unique because we pay attention to each language, to its preservation, to its dissemination in the public sphere. Respect for all languages, even the smallest ones, ensures our communion and keeps alive the project of European unity, as today's events across Europe show,” said Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania which currently holds the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

“The European Day of Languages is also a celebration of democracy, freedom and solidarity. By understanding each other better, we are better able to find common solutions and to build a common future in which everyone matters, because everyone enriches the Europe of our birth. Let us cherish this gift of linguistic and cultural diversity, not only by cherishing our mother tongue but also by learning other languages!”

The European Day of Languages aims to:

  • Raise awareness of the importance of language learning to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding.
  • Promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe.
  • Encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school.

Council of Europe offices are involved in the coordination of several language fairs, among them in Graz (Austria), where the European Centre for Modern Languages celebrates its 30th anniversary, in Belgrade (Serbia) along with cultural institutes and the European Commission and as far afield as Tunis (Tunisia) where a varied programme of language-inspired activities is foreseen. The European Commission, a long-standing partner of the Council of Europe, is also involved in the organisation of around 70 events around the Day this year.


 Press release
Languages for Peace: European Day of Languages 2024 highlights Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity


 Dedicated website

STRASBOURG 25 SEPTEMBER 2024
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The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation, with 46 member states, including Armenia. All our member states are party to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is the cornerstone of human rights protection in Europe.

The Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, represents the Secretary General in Armenia. It closely co-operates with national authorities supporting the implementation of statutory obligations to the Council of Europe by Armenia through co-operation projects.


 

Armenia and the Council of Europe – bringing human rights from the conference table to your kitchen table

The Council of Europe works for you. We want to give visibility to the role, standards and work of the Council of Europe in its member states, to show how Council of Europe membership has helped achieve particular results or changes. Our aim, through a variety of events and actions, is to highlight ways in which the Council of Europe’s action has helped improve the life of individuals and contributed to improving people’s enjoyment of fundamental rights.

 

Whether it is the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights at national level, or the Council of Europe's work in many fields, such as working to abolish the death penalty or to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of the media, or to adress online and technology-facilitated violence against women through the Istanbul Convention and Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Council of Europe has achieved a lot since 1949. View achievements »