Newsroom
Committee of Ministers meet in Nicosia, Cyprus
Foreign Affairs Ministers from the Council of Europe’s 47 member states are meeting in Nicosia (Cyprus). President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades opened the session, which is being chaired by Cypriot Foreign Affairs Minister and Committee of Ministers Chairman Ioannis Kasoulides. The Council of...
Illicit trafficking and destruction of cultural property: Council of Europe’s new criminal law treaty opened for signature
Six states signed today in Nicosia (Cyprus) the Council of Europe Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property. Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and San Marino as well as Mexico, one of the Organisation’s observer states, were the first to sign the convention, which is open for signature...
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres meets Thorbjørn Jagland
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres paid a visit to the Council of Europe today and met with Secretary General Jagland. The meeting covered a broad range of subjects including migration, conflict prevention, combatting corruption and the fight against terrorism. Messrs Jagland and...
Victims of terrorism and refugees on agenda as Committee of Ministers meets in Cyprus
Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states will meet in Nicosia (Cyprus) on 19 May. Agenda highlights include a new convention against trafficking of cultural property (including by terrorists who are financed by such trafficking), innovative guidelines to protect...
The Council of Europe member states have an obligation to protect LGBTI people
They have the same rights as everyone else
New reports on racism and discrimination in Denmark and Serbia
The Council of Europe’s anti-discrimination commission, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published today new reports on Denmark and Serbia. Both countries have made some progress but nevertheless, the fulfilment of the ERCI’s recommendations leaves much to be desired....
Childrens’ Forum “Children, actors of Citizenship” on 12 May
The Directorate General of Democracy organised the second edition of the Childrens’ Forum “Children, actors of Citizenship” in co-operation with the Association Themis On 12 May, in the Hemicycle, 650 pupils aged 8-10 from 25 classes of the Haut-Rhin and 650 pupils aged 8-10 from 25 classes of...
Violence against women: Thorbjørn Jagland welcomes EU decision to sign the Istanbul Convention
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has warmly welcomed today’s decisions by the EU Council that the European Union as a whole should sign up to the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence. “Violence against...
Combating Anti-Semitic Hate Speech
On the 10th of May an open seminar on combating Anti-Semitic Hate speech was held in Strasbourg at the European Youth Centre under the No Hate Speech Movement of the Council of Europe. During this session representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, campaign partners,...
Tonga joins the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime
The Kingdom of Tonga has today acceded to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime to become the 55th Party to this treaty which allows for effective international co-operation on cybercrime and electronic evidence. “Tonga’s accession to the Budapest Convention is further evidence of the global...
Eurimages films out in strength at Cannes
The 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival now includes no less than 12 films supported by Eurimages, five of which are selected in official competition: NELYUBOV (LOVELESS) by Andrey Zvyagintsev (RU, FR, DE, BE); A GENTLE CREATURE by Sergei Loznitsa (FR, DE, NL, LT); HAPPY END by Michael...
Protection of national minority rights inconsistent in Austria, say Council of Europe experts
An opinion published today by the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) says that little has changed since 2012. Although bilingualism has become more accepted and equal access to education for minority language...
Statement of the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers on the Occasion of the Day of Europe
In 1964, the Committee of Ministers took the decision to celebrate the Day of Europe, that is the establishment of the Council of Europe, on May 5th. The Council of Europe was created in the aftermath of the Second World War, in the context of a new European structure, contemplated to bring...
Combatting illicit trafficking and destruction of cultural property: Council of Europe adopts new convention
The Council of Europe today adopted a new criminal law convention to prevent and combat the illicit trafficking and destruction of cultural property, in the framework of the Organisation’s action to fight terrorism and organised crime. The Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property,...
Youth Peace Camp 2017
Some 70 young people from conflict-affected regions are taking part in a Youth Peace Camp event from 30 April to 7 May; they come from Kosovo*; Ukraine (especially from border regions and Luhansk and Donetsk), and from the South Caucasus. In the framework of the Cypriot Chairmanship of the...
Public service broadcasting under threat in Europe
“Well-funded and strong public service media are a good indicator that a democracy is healthy – this is the result of a study published last year by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).” says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights Comment...
PACE Bureau declares ‘no confidence’ in Pedro Agramunt as President
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in Strasbourg today, resolved that it has no confidence in Pedro Agramunt as President of the Assembly. It further resolved that Mr Agramunt is not authorised to undertake any official visits, attend any meetings or...
Parliamentary Assembly calls on Hungary to stop work on NGO funding and university laws
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called on Hungary to suspend the parliamentary debate on the draft law on the “Transparency of Organisations receiving Foreign Funding” and the implementation of the Act amending the National Higher Education Act, pending the opinion...
Sa Majesté le Roi d'Espagne : 'L'Europe reste un projet enthousiasmant'
« Dans le monde globalisé du XXIe siècle, l'Europe doit rester une référence pour la liberté et l'intégration. Si nous restons fidèles à ces valeurs, l'Europe, en tant qu’espace de civilisation, continuera d'être une source d'inspiration pour d'autres régions de la planète. Si, par contre, nous...
Prokopios Pavlopoulos: representative democracy, the most effective system in protecting human rights
Representative democracy is a system of governance that is the most effective in protecting human rights, said Prokopios Pavlopoulos, President of the Hellenic Republic, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly. The organisation of representative democracy is linked to the institutional checks and...
