Newsroom
Serbia: Concerted efforts needed to address the legacy of the past, protect media freedoms and ensure inclusive education
Declaration by Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks, following a four-day follow-up visit to the country
Combatting human trafficking by “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
Progress in legislation and practices, more needed to lower risks for children and migrants
National minorities: Romania should step up efforts to combat Roma discrimination
The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has urged the Romanian authorities to step up their efforts to combat discrimination, against the Roma in particular, and to improve the protection of national minorities in a number of areas. In a new...
Meeting of Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland with Italian Justice Minister Orlando
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and Minister of Justice of Italy Andrea Orlando had an exchange of views today at the Palais de l’Europe to discuss current developments and issues of common interest. The Secretary General and the Minister underlined the excellent co-operation between Italy...
Sweden should enhance protection of asylum seekers and persons with disabilities
“Sweden’s renewed commitment to participate in the relocation of asylum seekers and to increase resettlement are positive signals, but it’s time to lift the restrictions imposed on asylum seekers at the height of the 2015 migration crisis”, says the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human...
Enforcing Strasbourg Court’s judgments concerning the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova
The execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights requires genuine dialogue between all those capable of providing effective redress to victims of violations in the Transnistrian region of the Republic Moldova. "We need to be creative and break the vicious circle of legal...
Slovenia: new report on combatting human trafficking
In its new report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking expert group (GRETA) note improvements in legislation and practices to combat human trafficking in Slovenia since the publication of the first report in January 2014, and said that more should be done to help victims. The...
“Free European Media” conference in Gdansk, Poland
Over 150 journalists, representatives of national media regulators and press councils, as well as academics, politicians, and civil society activists are gathering at the Solidarność Centre in Gdansk, Poland for a conference on “Free European Media”. The event, taking place on 15-16 February, has...
Turkey: Secretary General Jagland meets Turkish leadership in Ankara on 15-16 February
Speech to the candidate judges and prosecutors of the Justice Academy
Protection of children against sexual abuse in the circle of trust: workable strategies
In a new report published today, the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Committee analyses the strategies used by 26 European countries(*) to protect children against sexual abuse in the circle of trust (extended family and persons close to the child who exercise influence over the child). According...
Irish student wins European Eloquence Prize
The 2018 Prix européen de l’Eloquence, an annual contest of public speaking in French, has been won by Irish student John Finn, who spoke on the theme of “To dark thoughts, green answers?”. Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni chaired the jury, which awarded the...
Training on reception and integration of migrants and refugees for local authority officials in Athens
On 8-9 February 2018 in Athens, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG), together with the municipality of Athens, is co-organising a training session for local authority officials on their interaction with refugees and migrants in terms of emergency...
Sexual abuse of children: recommendations to Hungary
Today, the Council of Europe Lanzarote Committee published its recommendations to the Hungarian authorities on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in the transit zones at the Serbian-Hungarian border. According to the legislation adopted in Hungary in March...
Invest in education and language acquisition to build a cohesive society, says Commissioner Muižnieks in Skopje
“The Macedonian authorities should implement policies that encourage interaction and understanding between ethnic communities and promote social cohesion while protecting diversity,” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, after a five-day follow-up visit to “the...
Training on integration of refugee and migrant children in mainstream education
On 2-3 February 2018, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG), together with the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the municipality of Athens, is organising a training session on one of the most challenging questions in the...
Protection of National Minorities in Slovenia
Slovenia duly protects the Italian and Hungarian national minorities, but more efforts needed to improve situation of Roma, fight increase in hate speech
Ukraine: New report on combatting money laundering and terrorism financing
Tangible progress achieved, changes to legislation and practices required
GRETA’s new report on Serbia
The authorities must do to more to reduce children’s vulnerability to trafficking, improve assistance to victims
Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity
On 27 January 1945, the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau – where more than one million people had been sent to gas chambers to perish during the Holocaust – was liberated. We mark this “Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity” to honour the...
Data Protection Day
On 28 January the Council of Europe will celebrate the Data Protection Day, which marks the opening for signature in 1981 of the Council of Europe’s data protection convention, “Convention 108”. More than 50 countries around the world have already signed up to the convention, which sets out key...
Time to renew our commitment and halt the deterioration of human rights
“In 2017 the human rights situation continued to deteriorate in many European countries. Old crises deepened, new crises emerged and commitment to human rights values and standards seemed to weaken”, said today Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights while presenting...
Austrian President reiterates attachment to the Council of Europe and its values
In his speech, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen made a strong commitment to Europe and its values, and reiterated Austria’s attachment to the Council of Europe. “Without the principles this organisation stands for,” he said, “we cannot have the Europe that we all want.” He stressed...
Ceremony to mark International Day of Holocaust Commemoration
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen led tributes to the memory of Holocaust victims, at a ceremony outside the main Council of Europe building in Strasbourg. Other participants who made addresses and laid wreaths in front of the commemorative stone...
Dunja Mijatović elected Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Dunja Mijatovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) was today elected as the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights by the Organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) at its plenary session in Strasbourg. Ms Mijatovic was elected for a non-renewable term of six years starting on 1 April 2018. She...
Danish Prime Minister urges further reform of the European Convention
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has called for further reform of the European Convention on Human Rights – and urged member States to apply it more effectively at national level. Addressing PACE at its plenary session in Strasbourg, the Prime Minister said it was necessary to “reform...
Serzh Sargsyan: ‘A 4th Summit for a stronger and more inclusive Europe’
“Democracy constantly requires attention, review, and advancement. Along the lines of this logic, we undertook a constitutional reform process in Armenia, which received wide-ranging support of the Council of Europe, in particular from the Venice Commission,” said Serzh Sargsyan, President of...
European Committee of Social Rights: annual conclusions for 2017
ECSR finds 175 violations related to health, social security and social protection in 33 countries in 2017
PACE calls for an independent outside body to assess football governance
The Parliamentary Assembly has called on the EU to consider setting up an independent “observatory” to assess governance in football, following a series of scandals in the sport. Such a body would be entrusted with assessing governance at FIFA, UEFA and other football governing bodies, including...
Danish Chairmanship affirms its support in a difficult context
“The Danish Chairmanship intends to work closely with both the Assembly and the Secretary General at a time when our Organisation is facing several major challenges,” said Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Foreign Aaffairs of Denmark and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, speaking before the...
Crown Princess of Denmark: we cannot take our human rights for granted
The protection of human rights cannot be taken for granted, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark told the Assembly today, stressing the need for the principles and values underlying them to be passed on to new generations. “Although human rights are inherent to us all, they are also fragile… we must...
Secretary General to PACE: member states have equal obligations and equal rights
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has called on the Organisation’s member states to recommit themselves to fulfill their obligations and cooperate in good faith with the Council’s statutory bodies. He said “equal obligations – equal rights” was the only concept that would keep...
Michele Nicoletti from Italy elected new PACE President
Michele Nicoletti (Italy, SOC) was today elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Taking over from Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), he is the 31st President of the Assembly since 1949 and the second Italian to hold this office. There was only one...
Safety of Journalists' Platform: a grim record in 2017
Partners alert about grim record in 2017 and urge to investigate Daphne Caruana's murder
Parliamentary Assembly Winter Session: 22-26 January 2018
The Presidents of Armenia and Austria, as well as the Prime Minister and the Crown Princess of Denmark, are among VIPs to address the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which takes place in Strasbourg from 22 to 26 January 2018. The Assembly is also due...
Romania: little progress in corruption prevention in respect of MPs, judges and prosecutors
In a report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body (GRECO) concludes that Romania has made very limited progress to implement its recommendations to prevent and combat corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. (report in French and Romanian)...
The right of older persons to dignity and autonomy in care
“Older persons have exactly the same rights as everyone else, but when it comes to the implementation of these rights, they face a number of specific challenges”, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights Comment published today. “For...
European Roma Rights Centre receives Raoul Wallenberg Prize for combating racism, rights abuse
The Budapest-based organisation European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has received today the Raoul Wallenberg Prize of the Council of Europe for successfully challenging discrimination, anti-Romani racism and rights abuses of Roma through innovative litigation, evidence based research and policy...
Study finds that intercultural cities have higher well-being and citizen satisfaction
Since 2008, the Council of Europe, through its flagship programme Intercultural Cities, has supported more than 120 local authorities in Europe and around the world, in designing and implementing inclusive policies and strategies for migrant and refugee integration according to the Intercultural...
Raoul Wallenberg Prize award ceremony
On Wednesday, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland will award the Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Prize for extraordinary humanitarian achievements. The award ceremony will take place at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg at 1.pm on 17 January (Ante-Room of the Committee of Ministers). 17...
FIFA and the Council of Europe to promote human rights
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland met in Strasbourg today to discuss how to better promote human rights in sport. The meeting followed an exchange of views between the FIFA President at the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers....
Spain: limited progress in measures to tackle corruption in respect of MPs, judges and prosecutors
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO today published a report assessing Spain’s compliance with its recommendations to prevent and combat corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. Four years after the adoption of the Fourth round evaluation report in...
Secretary General Jagland urges Bucharest to rethink reform of the judiciary
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has today sent a letter to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, urging the authorities to seek the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law) regarding the legislative reforms on the judiciary...
Armenia: Council of Europe anti-corruption body issues a new compliance report
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) has published today a new report assessing the implementation by Armenia of its earlier recommendations on preventing corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes...
Gender equality in employment is still a distant promise in Europe
End-of-the-year statement by Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks
Statement on International Migrants Day
Integration of migrants is Europe’s present and future opportunity
Fake news and fractured trust
Council of Europe joins UN panel at Internet Governance Forum, among other activities
Ending the trade in instruments of torture
“A frightening arsenal of instruments of torture are still being manufactured, sold and marketed in a number of Council of Europe member States,” Vusal Huseynov (Azerbaijan, EPP/CD) told the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, on 12 December 2017 in Paris. “Thumbcuffs, spiked batons...
Violence against Women: Joint communiqué from OECD, Council of Europe, European Commission and UN
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and UN Women agreed on the global action to combat violence against women. These institutions reaffirmed today their full commitment to eliminate gender based violence and discussed...
Venice Commission: Gianni Buquicchio re-elected president
In its final plenary session, on 8-9 December, the Council of Europe's European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) elected its president and vice presidents to two-year terms. Re-elected President for the fourth time in a row, Gianni Buquicchio (Italy) has presided over the...
Le Tour de France de l’Egalité fait étape au Conseil de l’Europe
Retransmission en direct Dans le cadre du Tour de France de l’Egalité, la Ministre chargée des Affaires européennes, Nathalie Loiseau, et la Secrétaire d’État chargée de l’Egalité entre les femmes et les hommes, Marlène Schiappa, débattront de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes avec 300...
International Human Rights Day
Statement by Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark and Chair of the Committee of Ministers
Venice Commission tackles Polish judicial reforms and Ukrainian education law, among other issues
In an opinion on Poland adopted today, the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) found that the cumulative effect of proposed reforms to two laws and recently adopted amendments to a third law “puts at serious risk” the independence of “all parts” of the...
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions now online
The latest case-by-case decisions on the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights have been published by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The committee adopted 39 decisions concerning 18 member states at the end of its regular three-day meeting in...
Working Group of the Council of Europe and the Turkish Ministry of Justice
Conclusions of the meeting on 7 December in Strasbourg
Human Rights Day 2017
Jagland and Timmermans call for European states to recommit to human rights standards
MONEYVAL publishes a report on the Holy See
Holy See has made progress in combatting money laundering, but needs to step up efforts to obtain prosecutions
A dark year on the anti-corruption front
On the eve of the International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated on 9 December, the Chair of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), Marin Mrčela, made the following statement: “2017 has been a dark year on the anti-corruption front. There have been many allegations of corruption in public...
Anti-torture Committee visits the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out a visit to the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation from 28 November to 4 December 2017. It was the Committee’s twelfth visit to this Republic.
Committee of Ministers launches infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan
The Committee of Ministers of the 47-nation Council of Europe has launched infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan due to the authorities’ continuing refusal to ensure the unconditional release of opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov following a judgment from the European Court of Human...
Implementing European Court of Human Rights judgments
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is holding its quarterly meeting to oversee member states’ execution of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights from 5 to 7 December. Information on the cases to be examined at the meeting is available here. Decisions taken by the committee...
Progress needed to ensure women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe
“Women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are human rights. Regrettably, however, women in Europe still have these rights denied or restricted as a result of laws, policies and practices that ultimately reflect continuing gender stereotypes and inequalities. States must acknowledge and...
Belarus: Anti-corruption body publishes summaries of reports on criminalising corruption and transparency of political funding
Today, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), has published summaries of two new monitoring reports on Belarus: the evaluation report on criminalisation of corruption and on transparency of political funding as well as the report on compliance...
2017 North-South Prize
The laureates are the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Vice President and Finnish Red Cross Secretary-General
10 Years (2007-2017) of Intercultural Cities: Making Diversity Work for Cities
Milestone event in Lisbon
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November)
Declaration by Karen Ellemann, Minister for Equal Opportunities, on behalf of the Danish Chairmanship
Liechtenstein should improve gender equality and the rights of persons with disabilities
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, welcomed the solid legal and institutional framework for the protection and promotion of human rights in Liechtenstein, which has been strengthened by the establishment in January 2017 of the Association for Human Rights...
Albania and Denmark: Policies on violence against women and domestic violence assessed in new reports
On the eve of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) publish their first-ever evaluation reports on Albania and Denmark. For Albania, GREVIO welcomes a...
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner: shortlist announced
The Committee of Ministers has submitted today a shortlist of three candidates for the post of Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner to the Organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly. The candidates are, in alphabetical order: - Mr Goran KLEMENČIČ (presented by Slovenia) - Mr Pierre-Yves LE...
Secretary General in Madrid to commemorate 40th anniversary of Spain's accession
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland is in Madrid today to speak at the opening of an event in the Spanish Parliament to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Spain´s accession to the Council of Europe, on 24 November 1977. The Secretary General said that “over the last 40 years Spain has developed a...
Protocol on transfer of sentenced persons opened for signature
Five states signed today a new protocol aiming to modernise and improve the European legal framework for the transfer of sentenced persons. Austria, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland were the first to sign this new treaty which amends the Additional Protocol to the Convention on the...
Reconciliation stalled in the Western Balkans
“After having visited all the countries of the Western Balkans, I am concerned that reconciliation has stalled and is being superceded by mounting ethnic divisions and polarisation in the region”, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights...
Poland: progress made against human trafficking, but labour exploitation not sufficiently addressed
In a report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking expert group (GRETA) assesses developments since the publication of GRETA’s first evaluation report on Poland in May 2013 on the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human...
Protecting children from sexual risks online: Council of Europe experts offer quick tips to parents
Ahead of the European Day to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, marked on the 18th of November, the Council of Europe has published a series of online video tutorials to protect children from the new risks of sexual nature they encounter online, and help them safely...
Lifeline for volunteers helping refugees and migrants
Tens of thousands of volunteers across Europe who are struggling to teach their language and culture to new refugees and migrants have been offered a lifeline. At last, free teaching materials adapted to refugees’ special needs have been developed and are being launched online by the Council of...
Secretary General Jagland attends Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland is attending a major European Summit to promote fair jobs and growth. The Social Summit is taking place on Friday 17 November in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is jointly organised by the European Commission and the Swedish government. The summit was...
