The Week Ahead: Key Events and Meetings

The Committee of Ministers will hold its quarterly meeting to oversee the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights.

Cases proposed for detailed examination during the meeting.

More information - Contact: Andrew Cutting, tel. +32 485 21 72 02

An international ombudsman conference on “The role of Ombudsman institutions in the world: between realities and possibilities” will be organised with the contribution of the Venice Commission by the President of the National Coordination of Ombudsmen, the Ombudsman of Lazio and will bring together more than 60 Ombudsmen from all continents.

It will provide an opportunity to present the Principles for the Protection and Promotion of the Institution of Ombudsman, the “Venice Principles”, which have been endorsed by all the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe and set as an international standard by the United Nations.

It will also be an opportunity to draw participants’ attention to the institutional and functional support that both the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe can offer to ombudsman institutions.

More information - Contact: Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 6 98 37 64 04

15-18 September, Yerevan

A 9-member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, led by Carla Dejonghe, carries out an election observation mission to observe the Council of Elders elections held on 17 September in the 12 districts of Yerevan.

On Election Day, seven Congress teams will be deployed in all 12 districts of Yerevan to monitor the election procedures in polling stations.

The preliminary conclusions will be released by the Head of the delegation on the Congress website on 18 September.

18 September, Paris

The Network of Magistrates/Prosecutors Responsible for Sports (MARS), set up under the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), will hold its second meeting. A conference, hosted by the French Ministry of Justice, will aim to raise awareness about the latest trends in threats and challenges to sport integrity and the related actions in investigations and prosecutions.

Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Bjørn Berge, French Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti, and French Minister of Sports and Olympic and Paralympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castera, will address the conference and will be welcomed, along with the participants, in the Court of Appeal of Paris, by Paris General Prosecutor Marie-Suzanne Le Quéau.

The speakers will address the strengthening of judicial efforts in the fight against doping, the implementation of an integrated approach linking safety, security and service, and the exploration of possible links between match-fixing and sports betting.

More information - Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

18-19 September, Bulgaria

Sunna Ævarsdóttir and Deborah Bergamini, Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)  co-rapporteurs for post-monitoring dialogue with Bulgaria, will make a fact-finding visit to Sofia.

More information - Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93

18-21 September, Strasbourg

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) will publish reports on Poland (18 September), Luxembourg (19 September), North Macedonia (20 September) and Iceland (21 September) focusing primarily on equality and access to rights, hate speech and hate-motivated violence, and integration and inclusion.

Contacts: (Poland) Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 6 98 37 64 04; (Luxembourg) Andrew Cutting, tel. +32 485 21 72 02; (North Macedonia) Dušan Vojnović, tel. +33 3 90 21 56 99;(Iceland) Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

18-22 September, New York (USA)

Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić will participate in a High-level segment of the session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

More information - Contact: Giuseppe Zaffuto, tel. +33 6 86 32 10 24

18-23 September, Mollina (Spain)

The University on Youth and Development will be organised on the theme “Young People, Peace, and Climate Change”.

The program will explore the intersection between peace, climate action, and youth engagement, emphasizing the role of young people in advancing factors of positive peace in relation to the environment.

More information

19 September, Vienna

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge will take part in the 2023 International Digital Security Forum.

More information - Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

19-20 September, Andorra

A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, composed of rapporteurs Jean-Paul Bastin and Christine Chevalley, will make a monitoring visit to Andorra la Vella, as well as the municipalities of Encamp and Canillo to assess the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Andorra since the previous monitoring report adopted by the Congress in 2018.

Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

20 September, Łódź (Poland)

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge will take part in the 12th annual advisory forum on cultural routes of the Council of Europe.

More information - Programme - Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

20 September, Belgrade (Hotel Crowne Plaza)

A steering committee meeting will be held in the framework of the joint EU/CoE “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Minister of European Integration of Serbia Tanja Miščević, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret, and Schnutz Rudolf Dürr, Head of Programming and Resource Mobilisation Department, will give introductory remarks. The opening session will be moderated by Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade ad interim Nadia Ćuk.

The event will begin at 9.30 am and the introductory panel will be open to media.

Interested media representatives should register by no later than 2 pm on 19 September. Simultaneous interpretation to English/Serbian will be provided.

Programme - Contact: Marija Simic, tel. +381 63 601 337

20 September, Pristina (Swiss Diamond Hotel)

A conference on “Hate speech in public discourse” will be organised in the framework of the joint EU/CoE programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Opening statements will be delivered by Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina Frank Power; Head of the EU Office in Kosovo*/EU Special Representative Tomáš Szunyog; Speaker of the Assembly Glauk Konjufca; Ombudsperson Naim Qelaj, and Executive Director at Youth Initiative for Human Rights Marigona Shabiu.

The conference will be open to the media.

Simultaneous interpretation into English, Albanian and Serbian will be provided.

Programme - Contacts: Betim Zllanoga (Pristina) tel. +38349122677

*All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. 

21 September, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 64 judgments and/or decisions concerning Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Türkiye and Ukraine.

More information – ECHR website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08

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