Council of Europe: Italian Presidency of Committee of Ministers begins today. Di Maio in Strasbourg to present the priorities

Today, Hungary handed over the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Italy for a six-month term. Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Luigi Di Maio travelled to Strasbourg to mark the occasion and meet the Secretary General of the European organisation, Marija Pejčinović Burić. “Excellent discussion”, the Secretary General commented on social media. At the end of the meeting, the Minister presented the stamp celebrating the Italian Presidency. During the meeting of the Committee of Ministers at 10 a.m., Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó took stock of Hungary’s six-month presidency, while Di Maio presented the priorities of the Italian Presidency which begins today: women’s rights and the fight against gender violence, youth policies, protection of our cultural heritage, and the impact of artificial intelligence on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The Italian Presidency will end on 20 May 2022. At today’s meeting, the Committee of Ministers also adopted a Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (“Budapest Convention”) on enhanced co-operation and the disclosure of electronic evidence. The text should be opened for signature in May 2022.
Sarah Numico