Council of Europe

A high-level conference of Justice Ministers of Council of Europe (CoE) member states is due in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Thursday and Friday.

It has been organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria in cooperation with the Council of Europe and is taking place at the invitation of Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, the CoE says.

Bosnia's parliament will soon vote on a draft law to amend the current law on the financing of political parties, with the goal of increasing transparency.

STRASBOURG - An 18-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be in Serbia on April 22-25 to observe the conduct of the early parliamentary elections in the country, the PACE said in a release on Tuesday.

The Council of Europe is concerned of a nationalist and anti-immigration German political party's Islamophobic statements as it is contrary to European values, the organization's secretary general has said in a statement. 

The European Union and the Council of Europe (CoE) joint initiative to assist partners in Turkey and in the Western Balkans in addressing challenges in the areas of rule of law and human rights, with a focus on supporting reforms of the judiciary, fight against corruption and organized crime, protection of the rights of vulnerable groups and the promotion of anti-discrimination policies.

The Council of Europe has called on Turkey to pursue reforms to prevent and curb corruption. In a report published on March 17 by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), a body of the Council of Europe focused on fighting corruption, the need to provide more openness in the parliamentary process was highlighted as a major concern.

Bulgaria should make considerable efforts to implement the recommendations on transparency of party funding and further develop legislation to fight corruption among public officials, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe has said.

The Council of Europe might choose to drop the post-monitoring dialogue with Bulgaria on the observation of human rights, the newly elected head of CoE's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has said.

In his first press briefing after the election, Pedro Agramunt said he would "closely follow" the issue, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Thursday passed a resolution on the state of human rights in Kosovo.

It was tabled by Rapporteur Augustin Conde of Spain.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov on Monday said dialogue was needed with the Russian representatives to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

After speaking before the assembly, Mitov told reporters the Council of Europe was "extremely concerned" with Russia's decision not to attend the sessions.