Held at the same time as the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe, the annual meeting of the foreign affairs ministers of the 46 member states of the Organisation provided an opportunity, on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 May, to set the future direction of the Council.
One year to the day after the Reykjavik Summit, at which the heads of State and government of the 46 countries solemnly reaffirmed their commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights, this ministerial session confirmed the effective establishment of the “Register of Damage” caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine (opening of offices in Kyiv and The Hague and filing of the first claims), the first step before the implementation of a compensation mechanism and, it is hoped, the creation of a “Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression”.
“We are in favour of it”, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said at a press conference, whose country has just taken over the presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
This presidency comes at “a time when the fate of Europe is being decided in Ukraine”, she warned, reaffirming the Council of Europe’s full support for Ukraine, its war victims, its civil society, the defenders of rights and the Ukrainian children deported to Russia or the occupied territories.
Other areas of focus for the Lithuanian Presidency, in line with the Reykjavik Declaration, include the execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights, social rights, women’s rights, the safety of journalists and the fight against disinformation and foreign interference, which seek to “divide our societies”.
This point was echoed by the Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić.
Asked about the attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, she said that “polarisation fuelled by hate speech is one of the greatest risks to our societies”.
In addition to the important aspects regarding Ukraine, the 2024 Council of Europe ministerial meeting saw the launch of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and announced the continuation of work on a legal instrument to link human rights and the environment, another promise from Reykjavik.
Link to the declaration by the Committee of Ministers: https://aeur.eu/f/c97 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)