In the context of the Greek Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, will hold a videoconference with the heads of the Council of Europe institutions at 16:00 on Wednesday, 3 June 2020.
The topic of discussion will be “Protection of human life and public health in the context of a pandemic – Effectively responding to a sanitary crisis in full respect for human rights and for the principles of democracy and the rule of law." It is reminded that this topic is also the central theme of the Greek Chairmanship. Joining the discussion will be the Secretary General of the CoE, Marija Pejčinović Burić, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Rik Daems, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Robert Spano, the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Anders Knape, the President of the Congress of INGOs, Anna Rurka, the President of the Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio, the President of the European Committee of Social Rights, Giuseppe Palmisano, the President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Mykola Gnatovskyy, the Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Maria Daniella Marouda, the Chair of the Lanzarotte Committee, George Nikolaidis, and the former President of the European Court of Human Rights, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. Also participating in the discussion will be the Chairperson of Greek Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, New Democracy MP Dora Bakoyannis.
The purpose of this discussion – which is taking place for the first time on such a high level and with the broad participation of the institutions of the Council of Europe – is to shape a network of principles that can, in the form of guidelines for the member states, constitute a framework for responding to the impacts of a pandemic or a state of emergency on human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Greek Chairmanship aims to have these principles adopted by the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, in the form of an “Athens Declaration,” during the upcoming 130th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is scheduled to take place in Athens on 4 November 2020.
The videoconference will be streamed live on the Greek Chairmanship’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiCC6VoV8_woiJteUc2jlPg), on the Greek Chairmanship website (https://coegreekchairmanship2020.gov.gr/) and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/coegreekchairmanship2020).
June 2, 2020