Germany takes over the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

Strasbourg, 18.11.2020

 

On 18 November 2020, Germany took over the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from Greece during a video-conference meeting with representatives of the Organisation’s 47 member States.

 

Greece’s Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis gave an overview of his country’s achievements during its Presidency. The new Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, presented the priorities of the German Presidency, which will run for six months.

 

These priorities include strengthening the implementation of rights and obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, defining standards in the field of artificial intelligence and human rights, the fight against hate speech online, the situation of Roma and Travellers as well as youth participation.

 

With regard to the priority of increasing the quality of human rights protection and of sheding light on the concerns and expectations of minorities, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas mentioned ERIAC in his speech, addressing the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture as a valuable partner:

 

“And we will also involve minorities in our discussions to promote equal rights. This includes, in particular, Europe’s largest minority – Roma and travellers. And we have a strong partner on which we can rely – the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture in Berlin.”

 

Find the integral speech here