Newsroom
Roma children begging: criminalisation is not the only answer, says anti-discrimination committee
Begging among Roma children, which had been decreasing in many European countries at the beginning of this decade, has recently become more visible again, along with a rise in anti-Roma and anti-Traveller discourse and attitudes in many member states, according to a report of the Council of...
Council of Europe launches action plan to support Belarusian democratic forces and civil society
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has announced a 15-point action plan to support civil society and democracy representatives working towards a future free and democratic Belarus. Developed jointly in the framework of the Council of Europe Contact Group on Belarus the list covers 15...
Equitable access to medicinal products and medical equipment in a situation of shortage: new recommendation
The Committee of Ministers has adopted a Recommendation to promote, in the 46 Council of Europe member states, equitable access to medicinal products and medical equipment in a situation of shortage and to safeguard the fundamental rights of individuals who need them for serious or...
Report: experts call on Sweden to include language as a ground for discrimination in its legislation
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages entered into force in Sweden in 2000. In its eighth evaluation report on Sweden, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts notes that the Swedish authorities have increased the financial support designated for the protection of the...
Secretary General meets Ukrainian Parliament Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić today met with Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, for an exchange on current human rights challenges in the country. She welcomed Mr Lubinets’ action in the difficult context of Russia’s war against Ukraine and...
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...
