Press release
Minister Carroll MacNeill to attend Committee of Ministers
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for European Affairs, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, will attend the 133rd Session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg on 17-18 May.
This Ministerial Session, which will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe, will also see the transfer of the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers from Liechtenstein to Lithuania.
The agenda for the meeting includes Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the implementation of the Reykjavík Declaration and the promotion and protection of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.
Speaking ahead of the Committee of Ministers Meeting, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “As a founding member of the Council of Europe, Ireland continues to be a very strong supporter of the Council of Europe’s mission to promote Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe. As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council of Europe, I look forward to meeting with my counterparts across Council of Europe Member States as we work to address the challenges we collectively face across our continent.
“Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of Europe in 2022 strengthened the Council of Europe’s support for Ukraine and also sought to reinforce the Council of Europe’s founding freedoms and the European Court of Human Rights, and I look forward to furthering these, and other issues, during this Committee of Ministers meeting.”
Notes to editors:
- Established in 1949 and headquartered in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is the continent’s largest and oldest intergovernmental organisation.
- Ireland was amongst the organisation’s ten founding members. Today, following the expulsion of the Russian Federation on 16 March 2022, it comprises 46 member states, including the 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, Türkiye and Ukraine.
- The organisation plays a leading role in the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe and beyond – notably through the European Court of Human Rights, which ensures the observance by member states of their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.