Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has met with Dubravka Šuica, the European Union (EU) Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography. Highlighting the strategic partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Union, the Secretary General and Vice-President Šuica exchanged views on the recent intensification of the constructive dialogue at political and technical level between the two organisations.
The meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the progress towards the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and of the recent landmark EU ratification of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210), known as “Istanbul Convention”.
Marija Pejčinović Burić underlined the relevance of the “Reykjavik Principles for Democracy” and the Council of Europe multilateral role to protect democratic security on the continent. Moreover, she emphasised the importance of the Observatory on History Teaching and the Organisation’s engagement with civil society and youth participation.
Co-operation on how to facilitate the legal situation of children in Ukraine was also on the agenda.