NORWEGIAN ELECTED HEAD OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Monsters and Critics.com
Sep 29, 2009, 16:43 GMT

Europe News

Strasbourg, France – Thorbjorn Jagland, an economist and former prime
minister of Norway, was elected Tuesday to the post of Secretary
General of the Council of Europe, a 60-year-old organization which
seeks to foster greater European integration and uphold human rights.

Jagland received 165 votes from the council’s parliamentary assembly,
compared with 80 votes for rival candidate Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz
of Poland.

Born on November 5, 1950, Jagland is a member of the Norwegian
Labour Party. He also served as foreign minister and currently acts
as president of the Storting, the Norwegian parliament.

The new secretary general replaces the outgoing chief, Terry Davis of
Britain, who headed the organization from 2004 until the end of August.

Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe has 47 European member states,
including Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Belarus and Kazakhstan have been excluded due to human rights concerns,
while others such as Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh and Northern Cyprus
are not allowed to join because they enjoy only limited recognition.

The Council of Europe seeks to enforce human rights through its
European Court of Human Rights and is separate from the European Union.