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Estonia should continue to strengthen the private sector’s role and law enforcement efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing
In a new report the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL encourages Estonia to further strengthen measures to combat money laundering (ML) and financing of terrorism (FT), among others by re-enforcing the capacities and performance of the private sector and improving its law...
Data Protection Day: New guidelines to ensure that national digital identity systems respect human rights standards
To mark Data Protection Day, celebrated every year on 28 January, the president of the Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe data protection “Convention 108”, Elsa Mein, has stressed the need for national digital identity schemes and systems to comply with human rights standards,...
ECHR President: Reykjavik summit should ‘translate the discourse of values into material support’
The President of the European Court of Human Rights, Síofra O’Leary, has encouraged Council of Europe member states to use the forthcoming Summit of Heads of State and Government in Reykjavik to commit further resources to the Court. Speaking at the Court’s annual press conference in Strasbourg,...
Human rights of intersex people: work launched on new Council of Europe recommendation
Advancing the human rights of intersex people was the key theme of a conference held as part of Iceland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers. Conference topics included the right to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, comprehensive medical and social care, access to justice and...
Prime Minister of Iceland calls for justice for Ukraine war victims and a system of accountability for human rights violations and crimes
The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdóttir, commended the response of the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly to the major crises in the past few years. “It was able to adapt its procedures to continuing its work through the pandemic and demonstrated its unity around the...
Icelandic presidency and Reykjavik Summit an historical opportunity, Deputy Secretary General tells Prime Minister Jakobsdóttir
Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge has welcomed Iceland’s leadership during its Council of Europe presidency with a core focus and thematic priorities that “unite around our values”, including the topics of equality, youth and the environment. Meeting Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín...
Secretary General meets Oleksandra Matviichuk, pledges full support to Ukrainian civil society
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has pledged full support to Ukraine during a meeting with Oleksandra Matviichuk from the country’s Centre for Civil Liberties. Ukrainian civil society was key to documenting gross human rights violations and war crimes, and the Council of Europe was...
GRECO report on Romania’s progress in tackling corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors
The Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) has published a follow-up report assessing Romania’s progress in implementing the recommendations issued to the country in a 4th round evaluation report adopted in 2015 on the prevention of corruption among parliamentarians,...
Secretary General: Ukraine is our priority and Russia must account for its aggression; urges ambition for upcoming summit
In her speech to the Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić said “Ukraine must take centre stage” at the Council of Europe Summit on 16-17 May in Reykjavik. Stressing that “accountability for the death and destruction caused by Russian aggression is vital”, she restated...
German Foreign Minister Baerbock: we need to set up the Council of Europe for a new era in European history
Speaking to the Parliamentary Assembly, Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock has called on member states to reaffirm their commitment to the core values of the Council of Europe at the upcoming summit of heads of state and government, which in particular means all member states respecting...
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
“Every European should learn what happened. How and why the Holocaust took place. To keep the promise of never again “, said Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić at the Council of Europe ceremony on Tuesday 24 January, marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims...
Secretary General meets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić met with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the occasion of the Minister’s visit to the Council of Europe and her speech at the Parliamentary Assembly. The Secretary General thanked Ms Baerbock for Germany’s political and financial support to...
Monaco should step up its efforts to investigate and prosecute money laundering
In a new report the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL encourages Monaco to further strengthen measures to combat money laundering (ML) and financing of terrorism (FT), in particular when it comes to investigating and prosecuting money laundering, confiscating and recovering...
Call for summit input launched
The Council of Europe is calling for people and organisations to offer their own ideas to feed the discussions at the upcoming summit of heads of state and government in Reykjavik, Iceland on 16 – 17 May. It is asking for contributions from international organisations, national human rights...
Bulgaria: GRECO publishes a report on corruption prevention and integrity concerning top executive functions and the police
The Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) has published a new report today evaluating the situation with preventing corruption and promoting integrity among persons entrusted with top executive functions (Prime Minister, ministers, secretaries general, chiefs of political...
President of the Committee of Ministers calls for reopening of the Lachin corridor
Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, has made the following statement: “I am concerned about the increasingly precarious humanitarian situation of people living in Nagorno-Karabakh as a...
Secretary General calls on the Russian authorities to execute European Court of Human Rights’ judgment on Navalny case
Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić made the following statement: “Today marks the second anniversary since Alexei Navalny’s incarceration in Russia after an attempt on his life by poisoning. Since then, despite Council of Europe calls for his release without delay and in...
PACE monitors for Türkiye meet Osman Kavala
Following a meeting with Osman Kavala at the Silivri prison today, the PACE rapporteurs for the monitoring of Türkiye, John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Boriss Cilevičs (Latvia, SOC), have again called on the Turkish authorities to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human...
Secretary General meets UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab
The Secretary General had a positive and productive meeting with UK Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab. Among the topics discussed were the UK’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence,...
Venice Commission plenary opinions published
The Venice Commission has published this week, inter alia, opinions on amendments to the Judicial Code of Armenia, on draft amendments to the Election Code and the Law on Political Associations of Citizens in Georgia (jointly with OSCE/ODIHR), on draft amendments to the Law on the Judicial...