Council of Europe to host Summer University for Democracy

armradio.am
16.06.2007 15:20

Over 600 participants from Schools of political studies in 15 European
countries will gather in Strasbourg from 2 to 6 July for the second
Summer University for Democracy, organised by the Council of Europe.

Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis will open the Summer
University, whose theme is "Projects for Europe," and Serbian Boris
Tadic is expected to give an opening lecture. Council of Europe Human
Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg, Parliamentary Assembly Vice
President Goran Lindblad and Philippe Richert, Vice-Chairman of the
French Senate, count among speakers at the opening.

The five-day session will include a series of themed conferences and
workshops to be conducted by leading international personalities such
as George Soros, Chairman of the Open Society Foundation; and Ivan
Vejvoda, Executive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

Belarus opposition leader Alexandre Milinkevich will participate in the
closing session on Friday 6 July alongside Strasbourg Mayor Fabienne
Keller, as well as Oliver Dulic, Speaker of the Parliament of the
Republic of Serbia. A final declaration will be adopted at the end of
the ceremony.
A special round table on Thursday 5 July will examine the question 50
years after the Treaties of Rome: where is the European project?
Invited participants include Jean-Dominique Giuliani, president of the
Robert Schuman Foundation; Daniel Tarschys, former Secretary General of
the Council of Europe; Adrian Severin, European MEP; Deputy Prime
Minister Gabriela Konevska-Trajkovska of "the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia" and minister in charge of European affairs.

The four plenary sessions and thematic conferences are open to the
press, as opposed to the workshops.

A press briefing will be given by Jean-Louis Laurens, Council of Europe
political affairs Director General, on Tuesday 19 June at 11 a.m. (room
17, ground floor of the Palais de l’Europe).