Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Monaco’s Government Counsellor and Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, travelled to the Council of Europe’s headquarters in Strasbourg on Wednesday morning, where she met the organisation’s most senior representatives.
The visit brought talks with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Council’s Secretary General, and the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers.
The meetings come as part of Monaco’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, the body that acts as the Council of Europe’s central decision-making authority.
Monaco took over the six-month Presidency on May 15, becoming the first time in its history that the Principality has held the role since joining the Council of Europe in October 2004. The Presidency runs until November 10, when it passes to Montenegro.
Wednesday’s visit falls in the final weeks of Monaco’s term. Over the six months, the Principality has organised the 1567th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies at the Oceanographic Museum on September 2, the first time that regular Strasbourg gathering had been held in Monaco, and Berro-Amadeï has addressed the Parliamentary Assembly directly, in June telling members that “our differences are strengths. Our unity is our strength.”
Monaco set out its priorities for the Presidency around what it called “the protection of all, through an effective Organisation, to meet contemporary challenges,” with particular focus on protecting vulnerable people, the rights of women and children, and strengthening the Council’s ability to respond to hybrid threats and foreign interference.
Image courtesy of Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali