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President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday announced an international conference on 6 April in Bucharest on the role of majority and opposition in a true democratic society, to be attended by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland.
"Romania is a strong advocate of the values of Council of Europe, mainly of those regarding the rule of law, values that are sometimes subdued to certain challenges in some Member States. Thus, I said that it is a must more than ever to support - at highest level - the Council of Europe's standards and values. Hence, together with the Secretary General we shall inaugurate under joint patronage on 6 April in Bucharest an International Conference organised in collaboration with the Venice Commission on the Role of Majority and Opposition in a True Democratic Society," said Klaus Iohannis, after a meeting with Thorbjorn Jagland.
He emphasised that the organisation of this conference is the Secretary General's initiative, who has asked the Venice Commission to draft a set of guidelines on this matter. "The conference will be an important landmark in the drafting process of these essential guidelines. Hopefully," said Iohannis, adding that he is waiting with interest the visit of the Council of Europe's Secretary General to Romania.
The head of state mentioned that together with the European official he expressed "worry in connection with the difficult current political context in Europe, marked by the raising of extremism, populism, xenophobia, intolerance and nationalism, as well as by attempts to acting against the fundamental democratic values." "We have agreed that it is essential to act firmly, by using instruments of the Council of Europe included, to combat these phenomena," said Iohannis, who assured the CoE Secretary General of his personal commitment in this respect.
He also informed Thorbjorn Jagland on Romania's support for the project of a future summit of the heads of state and government with the CoE, to be organised in France, in 2019, when Romania will be Chairman of the Council of Europe. The head of state said that the talks with Thorbjorn Jagland were also focused on the Republic of Moldova. "I reiterated that our strategic joint goal is to build string democratic institutions in this country and support the continuation of the reforms process. The involvement of the Council of Europe to backing the preparation of the parliamentary election in 2018 is essential as well," said Iohannis. The head of state specified that the talks have also aimed the activity of the Office of CoE in the field of computer crime in Bucharest.
He also presented the achievements of the Romanian rotating Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, appreciated by the CoE Secretary General who added "Romania is an important partner of the Council of Europe(...) Romania is an important country in the region, too."
