50 years of monitoring “hairy caterpillars, leeches and rat spleen”. Although Harry Potter and his fellow students had magical ingredients at their disposal, they were warned: Some potions, like the otherwise useful Shrinking Solution, would turn poisonous, if they were not correctly brewed! Unfortunately, this risk is not restricted to potions prepared in the magical…
Murdered, tortured, raped…
… beaten, trafficked, confined, exploited, oppressed, discriminated. Violence against women knows no bounds and is ever-present: At least a dozen women solely die through gender-related violence in Europe every day – dark figure of crime unknown… Thanks to the latest Council of Europe convention, for the first time in it’s history our continent now disposes…
A word or two on the Football World Cup
Sport as well as sports events have become notorious for generating negative publicity, most often in connection with violent rioting, doping, corruption and match-fixing. The Council of Europe has started to address these problems decades ago by providing its member states – through its conventions and agreements on sport – with a pan-European legal framework,…
Eurimages movie wins Academy Award
Eurimages movie “La Grande Bellezza” wins Academy Award “La Grande Bellezza” – a project supported by Eurimages, the Council of Europe’s Cinema Support Fund – has won this year’s academy award for best foreign language film. In a tribute to his great countryman Federico Fellini, director Paolo Sorrentino lets Roman journalist, socialite and bon-vivant Jep…
Election of the Secretary General
In June, the Council of Europe will elect its Secretary General. The Secretary General is the public figurehead of the Council of Europe. He heads the secretariat and is – on behalf of the Committee of Ministers – responsible for the overall coordination, the strategic planning, the work programme and the budget of the organisation.…
PeaceWomen Exhibition
1’000 women all across the world, who are working for peace every day, were collectively nominated for the Nobel Prize of Peace in 2005. The women didn’t get the prize, but their biographies were published in a book and an exhibition about them and their work was put together. In June…
Montenegro’s Accession
At the Ministerial Conference on May 11th, 2007, Montenegro joined the Council of Europe as the organisations 47. member state. In the presence of foreign ministers, diplomats and guests, representatives of Montenegro and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, signed a declaration of accession. Following this solemn act, the flag of…
Véhicule RP
Every member of a national delegation – be it a two-legged or a four-wheeled one – needed a personal badge in order to enter the Council of Europe. Véhicule R.P. (vehicle of the Permanent Representation) it said on the badges for cars. Most probably, my Smart will never ever feel more important than…
Baby-Badge
Shortly after the implementation of the Council of Europe’s new security concept I was riding in my car with my nephew. At the entrance to the garage, all passengers in a car have to show their badges. While I handed mine over to the guard, I pointed at the three month old baby and said…
Öffnen Sie bitte Ihren Kofferraum!
Während der Parlamentarischen Versammlung werden die Sicherheitskontrollen am Europarat jeweils verschärft und alle Fahrzeuge am Eingang zur Garage eingehend kontrolliert. So wurde ich von einem Sicherheitsbeamten aufgefordert, meinen Kofferraum zu öffnen. Etwas befremdet – Smarts haben ja keinen eigentlichen Kofferraum – entriegelte ich die gläserne Heckklappe. Der Kontrolleur konnte sie aber nicht öffnen, also stieg…