Videos
Marija Pejčinović Burić
The Council of Europe Secretary General, Ms Marija Pejčinović Burić, shares her best memories, her pride in the success of the Reykjavik Summit, and her wishes for the Council of Europe.
Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis
As the first female Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis shares her pride in having contributed to empowering women in the Assembly and her best memory.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir
From 2017 to 2018, Katrín Jakobsdóttir was a parliamentarian at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Last year, as the Prime Minister of Iceland, she hosted the 4th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavík last year. She recalls the importance of the Council of Europe’s values, human rights, democracy and the rule of law, in these turbulent times we are living.
Natalia Voutova
Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, expresses her pride in working on the ground to ensure that human rights are a reality for all citizens. She is one of many Heads of Offices working for Council of Europe Offices and Programme Offices inside and outside the Member States area. We salute the accomplishments of all those who work in the field.
Leyla Kayacik
Leyla Kayacik, former Special Representative of the Secretary General for migration and refugees, expresses her pride in having contributed to the many conventions of the Council of Europe which improved the lives of people across Europe.
Stella Kyriakides
Stella Kyriakides, the current European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety was the 4th woman elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2017. She expresses her pride in having led the organisation at a critical time and recalls that its principles, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, need to be protected, upheld, and nurtured.
Marialena Tsirli
In 2020, Marialena Tsirli was the first-ever woman to be elected to the post of Registrar by the Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. She tells us about her best memory and how proud she is to work alongside the Judges and her colleagues on an everyday basis to promote and protect human rights.
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni has served the Council of Europe for most of her career. She began as a pedagogical adviser before becoming the first-ever female Director General of a Directorate. From 2012 to 2020, she held the position of Deputy Secretary General.
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland, shares some of her proudest memories, including her participation in the establishment of a monitoring system bearing her name and the creation of the European Roma and Travellers Forum.
Catherine Lalumière
On 1 June 1989, Catherine Lalumière became the first woman Secretary General of the Council of Europe. She played a major role in the European integration of the former Central and Eastern European states. In this video, she explains her commitment at a key period for the Organisation.
Dominique Hasler
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport of Liechtenstein, Dominique Hasler, reflects on her term as President of the Committee of Ministers from November 2023 to May 2024.
Anna Rurka
Anna Rurka was the President of the Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe from 2015 to 2021. She recalls that the Council of Europe has enabled NGOs to participate in intergovernmental decision-making processes. Moreover, she expresses the hope that the Council of Europe will continue to strengthen the dialogue with civil society.
Síofra O'Leary
In this video, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Síofra O'Leary, recalls a case that made a lasting impression on her. She also highlights the importance of the work carried out by all the Court's staff in giving human form to abstract legal principles and values.
Marja Ruotanen
Marja Ruotanen is the Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity at the Council of Europe. She stresses the importance of the Istanbul Convention and reiterates the institution's commitment to gender equality and to preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Ingjerd Schou
Ingjerd Schou, Chairperson of the Norwegian parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, recalls some of her achievements: the realisation of the Reykjavík Summit, the real growth of the Council of Europe budget in 2023, but also her contributions to managing more challenging times such as the corruption scandal in 2017-2018 or the exclusion of Russia.
Petra Bayr
Petra Bayr, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, talks about the importance of better representation of women to influence policies to end gender-based discrimination. She highlights that since January 2023, almost half of the delegates in the Assembly are women.
The project “75 women in 75 years of Council of Europe history” is organised by the Delegation of the European Union to the Council of Europe with the Council of Europe and the Permanent Representations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
