The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to discuss the organisation's future at its session in Turin

Ukraine needs all possible support from the Council of Europe and its Member States. Finland has just provided additional funding to the Council of Europe’s Action Plan on Ukraine.

Ministers will also discuss the future of the organisation. The Council of Europe is at a turning point and, must now attend more closely to its core values: human rights, democracy and the rule of law, in all of its 46 Member States.

“We need a Council of Europe that is stronger than before to guarantee that human rights, democracy and the rule of law are met in Europe,” says State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Johanna Sumuvuori.

The Committee of Ministers expelled Russia from its membership on 16 March following Russian invasion of Ukraine. The attack blatantly violated international law and Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, and it was considered that the prerequisites for Russia’s membership in a value-based organisation were no longer met. However, Russia will continue as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights until 16 September 2022. In the coming years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will receive and consider complaints concerning the events preceding the expulsion, including inter-state applications.

The meeting of Foreign Ministers in Turin follows the session held during the German Chairmanship in Hamburg. The previous live meeting at foreign ministerial level was held during Finland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2019.

Inquiries:

Counsellor Mari Mäkinen, Unit for Human Rights Policy, Political Department, tel. +358 295 350 130

Director Tarja Kangaskorte, Unit for Human Rights Policy, Political Department, tel. +358 295 350 292

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi