Politics
(Strasbourg) At its meeting on 22-23 June, the Venice Commission, a body of the Council of Europe that promotes democracy through law, will investigate the “compatibility” with international human rights standards of the Hungarian Government’s “Stop Soros” draft legislative package on combating illegal immigration; an “opinion” will be prepared in cooperation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for the meeting. Also on 22 June, the European Council’s Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) will release its annual report on the main trends in Europe in the fields of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. Other events on the Council of Europe’s agenda this week include the annual Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (19-20 June, Jõhvi, Estonia): exchange of best practices in prison management, with a focus on staff. A delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be in Turkey from 22 to 25 June to monitor the presidential and legislative elections, while another will visit Skopje (18-20 June) in order to assess the progress made by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. On 22 June, PACE President Michele Nicoletti will be in Brussels for a series of meetings with the leaders of the EU institutions, including High Representative Federica Mogherini.
