Norway 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.

 

Vebjørn Heines, Ambassadør, Norges faste representant til Europarådet

 

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 »

Events

5 May 2026

  • The seventh edition of the European Conference was held in Kristiansand, Norway, focusing on the theme of “Democracy under pressure – preparedness, resilience and the future of Europe.”
  • Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge participated in the opening session together with the Mayor of Kristiansand Mathias Bernander and head of the Norwegian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Lise Selnes. Other speakers included the Russian democratic leader in exile and human-rights activist, Yulia Navalnaya, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Petra Bayr. Read more

30 April 2026

  • The Delegation of Norway to the Council of Europe hosted a seminar on press freedom, journalism and democratic resilience ahead of World Press Freedom Day (3 May). Taking into account the work of the Council of Europe with the New Democratic Pact for Europe, the seminar explored the role of the press in strengthening democratic resilience and combatting disinformation. Best practice examples from Norway and Moldova were discussed and Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) presented the World Press Freedom Index 2026.
  • Read the joint statement  of the Group of Friends of the Council of Europe on the Safety of Journalists and Media Freedom.

5 March 2026

  • The Permanent Representation of Norway to the Council of Europe hosted together with the Ukrainian delegation the seminar “Investigative interviewing – A paradigm shift for Europe and towards accountability for Ukraine”. The event was organised in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) from the University of Oslo and JustGroup Ukraine.
  • Denys Lysenko from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine:

A fair trial doesn’t begin in the courtroom. It begins in the interviewing room”, highlighting the relevance of this approach for accountability efforts in Ukraine. 

17 October 2025

  • The Norwegian presidency of the Group of Friends on the Safety of Journalists and Media Freedom hosted a round-table discussion in Strasbourg in the presence of young Norwegian free speech defenders and winners of the annual ”Free Word” (Fritt Ord-konkurransen) essay competition for high school students. The event, entitled "Fake or fact? How to combat disinformation in democratic societies", explored how disinformation affects democratic participation and trust in institutions with the aims to foster dialogue on effective strategies to counter disinformation, drawing on recent initiatives such as Norway´s Disinformation Strategy and the Council of Europe´s New Democratic Pact.

5 May 2025

25 May 2024

15 May 2024

  • NRK Frokostradioen interview (på norsk): Ambassador Helge Seland, Norway's permanent representative to the Council of Europe speaks to NRK Frokostradioen about the Council of Europe and its 75th anniversary.

6 May 2024

  • Kristiansand Democracy and Human Rights Conference 2024 on the theme “Sustain and defend Democracy and Human Rights in Europe 2024”; see Programme.

21 April 2023

  • An op-ed article by the Deputy Secretary General was published in the Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet : Det er på hverdager ting skjer, Debattartikkel av Bjørn Berge, visegeneralsekretær i Europarådet.

 

 Telling the story