Iceland to host Council of Europe Summit from May 16-17 in Reykjavik

Europe: Iceland is all set to host the Council of Europe Summit or the Reykjavik Summit on May 16-17, 2023. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, took to Twitter to share information about the Summit.

The tweet read: “Iceland takes its responsibility seriously, and by holding this Summit, we contribute to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The 4th Summit of the Council of Europe takes place in Reykjavík next week.”

Georgia will also be participating in the high-level political conference in Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik; the Georgian Representative in the Council of Europe, Tamar Taliashvili, highlighted the intent towards signing a declaration to tackle Russian aggression and strengthen the national security of Georgia. 

Taliashvili stated, “That’s it, the work on the declaration of the Reykjavik summit of the Council of Europe is officially over. We did it.  

In a few days, one of the most important meetings in the history of the European Council will be held in the capital of Iceland, the declaration will be signed, and an important mechanism against Russian aggression will be put into action. Continuous progress in protecting the interests of our homeland is our task.”

It is noteworthy that the Summit can prove to be a table-turner for the fate of Georgia in terms of national security as the Russian aggression continues to deteriorate the conditions in Ukraine. Moreover, strengthening the relations with Europe will enhance the candidate stature for Georgia. 

Notably, The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is co-organising this high-level political conference with the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities and the city of Reykjavik. The conference has been centred around the ideology of Embedding democratic values at the grassroots level. 

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe (CoE) remarked the Summit to be a historical one. In a tweet, the Council mentioned, Next week, we will be writing history. The Council of Europe Summit  will unite Heads of State and Government around Ukraine and European values: Human Rights, Democracy  and Rule Of Law.

The CoE Commissioner of Human Rights,  Dunja Mijatović, while stressing the significance of the Summit, stated that

“The Council of Europe Summit is an opportunity to better future proof of our human rights work. For that, we need to respond rapidly to developments creating an enabling environment for civil society, National Human Rights Structures and Human Rights Defenders and harnessing the power of Youth.”