Council of Europe's secretary general to visit Romania this week

Council of Europe secretary general Thorbjørn Jagland is expected in Bucharest, on Thursday 29 May, to meet Romanian president Traian Basescu, foreign affairs minister Titus Corlatean and the president of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Valeriu Zgonea. Jagland will also meet the Romanian delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. Topics of discussion include Romania’s relations with the Council of Europe, the situation in Ukraine and the secretary general’s report on the state of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe, according to an announcement from the institution. He will then attend the Ministerial Conference on Justice and Home Affairs under the Romanian Chairmanship of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), where he will give a keynote speech. Key topics of the conference are fighting corruption, cybercrime and human trafficking in the region. The Council of Europe, which is headquartered in Strasbourg, is the continent’s leading human rights organization. It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. editor@romania-insider.com