Council of Europe

Council of Europe anti-torture Committee urges Bulgaria to stop physical ill-treatment of psychiatric patients and social care residents and to immediately cease the shameful practice of using chains as a means of restraint

On November 26, the European Commission has called on EU Member States not to repeal anti-epidemic measures too soon because this would lead to a sharp increase in the number of newly infected with Coronavirus.

Turkey's foreign minister will pay official visits to the Caribbean region next week, the ministry said on Aug. 14. 

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will attend the inauguration Sunday of Dominican Republic's President-elect Luis Abinader Corona, according to a statement that said Abinader will receive Çavuşoğlu after the ceremony.

Greece on Friday took over the rotating six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe (CoE) from Georgia, in a ceremony that was conducted online due to public health precautions.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban conveyed a message on Saturday on Europe Day, stressing the EU's need for solidarity. "It is 70 years since the then head of French diplomacy, Robert Schuman, read the Declaration that bears his name - a moment whose historical significance for today's European Union is celebrated on May 9 every year as Europe Day.

Romania's former Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean says the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950, because of its symbolism, is more valid than ever, because, given that during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic period the EU has shown that "it does not fully operate" as a united, solidary body.

This government is evidently capable of showing determination and consistency in the face of crises. Beyond the pandemic and Turkey's belligerence, though, it also has to deal with the consequences of decades of mismanagement in many fields.

Greece must urgently reform its prison system and end police violence, the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee said in its report compiled after a visit to prisons in the country in 2019.

Belgian politician Rik Daems on Jan. 27 was elected head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 

He added that Serbia remains committed to the EU integration despite the delay in the accession process, which he said was "unprecedented."