Press Advisories

21. 4. 201720:36

Prime Minister Sobotka meets Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland

At the Strakov Academy on Friday, 21 April 2017 the Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka received a Council of Europe delegation led by Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland. The topic for the meeting was the Czech Republic's Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which the Czech Republic will take over after 22 years on 19 May 2017 at a meeting of ministers in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Premier Sobotka and Secretary General Jagland in particular discussed the priorities of the Czech Republic for the six-month Presidency. These priorities will be approved by the Czech government in the coming days, and most ministries will be involved in their implementation.

 “In less than a month the Czech Republic will take over the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, the main decision-making body of the Council of Europe, consisting of 47 foreign ministers. This is an extraordinary opportunity, as our country takes over the Presidency of the Council of Europe for the second time in its history. I am very pleased to have met Secretary General Jagland today and to have discussed with him the priorities of the Czech Presidency of this Committee, such as the protection of human rights, gender equality, democracy and the rule of law. We also discussed current foreign policy issues, "said Prime Minister Sobotka.

The Committee of Ministers is the executive body of the Council of Europe. The Czech Republic most recently held the Presidency of this top-level body in 1995. The Committee approves, among other things, the organisation’s budget, draft treaties and recommendations, and oversees the execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights. Cyprus is the current President of the Committee of Ministers. Denmark will take over the Presidency from the Czech Republic in November 2017.

During his visit to the Czech Republic, a traditional visit to a country prior to the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland met Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, Justice Minister Robert Pelikán and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies Karel Schwarzenberg, as well as the Parliament's Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.