Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states will hold their annual session by videoconference on Friday 21 May 2021. Chaired from Hamburg by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the meeting will provide an opportunity for ministers to take important decisions on the strategy of the organisation in the coming four years and on activities in areas such as human rights and artificial intelligence, social rights, trafficking in human beings or the protection of the environment.
Other issues on the agenda include the annual report on the State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law by Council of Europe Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić, the organisation’s role in solving conflicts and crises in Europe, securing the long-term effectiveness of European Convention on Human Rights system, including the efficiency of the process for supervising the Court’s judgments, and co-operation with the European Union.
The Federal President of Germany, Franck-Walter Steinmeier, will speak at the opening of the meeting. At the end of the ministerial session, Germany will hand over the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to Hungary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó will present the priorities of his country’s chairmanship. The opening and closing of the meeting can be followed live from 8.50 to 9.10 a.m. and from 12 to 12.30 p.m.: link to livestreaming.
Foreign ministers discuss the situation of democracy and human rights in Europe