Press release - 465(2008)
Council of Europe Summer University for Democracy to start next week
Strasbourg, 23.06.2008 – “Governance, power and democracy'” is a key topic of the Third Summer University for Democracy, organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 30 June to 4 July.
The event will bring together over 600 participants from schools of political studies in 16 European countries.
Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis will open the Summer University on Monday 30 June at 9:30 a.m. and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic is expected to give an opening lecture.
Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries, Parliamentary Assembly Vice President (PACE) Göran Lindblad and Meglena Kuneva, European Commissioner for Consumer Protection, are among the opening speakers.
The five-day session will include a series of themed conferences and workshops to be conducted and moderated by some 75 experts in democracy, international affairs, civil society and media as well as international personalities such as Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada, Egor Gaydar, former Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Stanislau Shushkevich, former Head of State of Belarus; Ivan Vejvoda, Executive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, and the President of the Council of Europe Congress Yavuz Mildon.
President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Jean-Paul Costa and PACE Vice-President Andreas Gross will participate in the closing session on Friday 4 July at which a final declaration is due to be adopted.
The official launching of the European Association of the Schools of Political Studies is also due to be held on 4 July with the participation of Catherine Lalumiere, former Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
The plenary sessions and thematic conferences are open to the press, as opposed to the workshops and meetings in the ECHR.
A press briefing will be given by Jean-Louis Laurens, Council of Europe Political Affairs Director General, on Tuesday 24 June at 3 p.m. (room 17, ground floor of the Palais de l’Europe, behind the news kiosk near the cash machine).
Press contact:
Henriette Girard, Press Officer Tel. +33 (0) 3 88 41 21 41 , Henriette.Girard@coe.int
Ulvi Akhundlu, Press Officer Tel. +33 (0) 3 88 41 26 38, Ulvi.Akhundlu@coe.int
NOTE FOR EDITORS
The first Council of Europe-backed school of political studies was founded in Moscow in 1992 to train the next generation of decision makers in politics, economics, society and culture. At present 16 such schools exist in Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Kosovo/UNMIK, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro and Belarus.
The event brings together participants from political studies schools (500 in 2006, 600 in 2007, 608 in 2008) to study common questions and create bilateral and regional opportunities for dialogue. It also gives participants the opportunity to hear from international and European leaders and meet numerous experts from Europe and elsewhere. Each Summer University has a special theme. In 2006 it was Challenges to Democracy - in 2007, the future of the European Project.
Council of Europe Press Division
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
pressunit@coe.int
www.coe.int/press
