Slovenian President receives Council of Europe Secretary General

Ljubljana, 1.4.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis. Their talks focused on Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of Europe, which Slovenia will officially assume on 12 May 2009, and on its priorities. In this regard, special attention will be devoted to activities aimed at strengthening democracy and the rule of law and at improving the situation in the area of human rights.

Dr Türk and Mr Davis also exchanged views on the most topical issues relating to the work of the Council of Europe, touching on the Council of Europe’s experience in cooperating with the region of South Eastern Europe.

They discussed the continuation of the process of reforming the European Court of Human Rights, agreeing on the importance of the existence and understanding of the functioning of the Council of Europe as the oldest pan-European international organisations.

Dr Türk stressed that human rights should be addressed comprehensively; since the European Court of Human Rights already has to deal with a large number of cases, special attention should be paid to preventing violations.

At the end of the talks, Dr Türk said that during Slovenia’s Presidency particular emphasis would be placed on the fight against terrorism, organised crime and corruption, and the fight against trafficking in human beings.