The Latvian-American said that chain migration was an especially good way to bring in new migrants, saying: “You should not limit the rights to family reunification.” Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks has criticised Sweden for not taking in enough migrants, saying that more chain migration — or ‘family reunification’ — would “help integration”. Muiznieks... 

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland believes that a full-scale armed conflict in Transnistria was unlikely. Yet, even one episode of violence may take the situation out of control. Jagland wrote in an article for The New York Times that “many in Moldova worry that Transnistria could become the next Crimea.” “Transnistria’s leaders complain that Moldova... 

An unprecedented event took place at the conference on youth policy of the members of the Council of Europe. The declaration on the rights of the youth was not signed. It happened so because Russia refused to sign the document, as members of European delegations suddenly set forth a new paragraph, trying to make it the key one in the whole declaration. The paragraph was about the rights of homosexual... 

People wait in line at a government employment office at Santa Eugenia’s Madrid suburb on January 27, 2012. New data released by the European Union show that the unemployment rate in the eurozone hit a record high of 11.1 percent in May. According to EU’s statistics office Eurostat, more than 17.5 million Europeans were without a job in the single currency area in May. The figures indicated... 

An EU report has recommended that organisations which it describes as ‘racist’ be dissolved and has described the BNP’s electoral success as ‘unpalatable’. While not specifically calling on the BNP to be dissolved, it is clear from the context of the report that this is what is intended. In a report released on Tuesday by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), for... 

Citing religious discrimination, a diverse coalition of Jewish organizations is objecting to Switzerland’s ban of minarets on local mosques. Swiss voters this week approved by a strong majority a referendum outlawing the construction of minarets. The measure, pushed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), was supported by 57 percent of the population. However, Jewish organizations,... 

The ministers called for more government support for people wanting to have children. The falling birth rate and economic crisis make it crucial for governments to support families who desire more children, the Council of Europe said Tuesday. “The decision to have children is first and foremost an individual choice, but … it must be a real choice,” deputy secretary-general Maud de... 

Ian Micallef, President ad interim of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and a member of the Committee of the Regions, and the Council of Europe, found himself seated next to Yury Ambrazevich, Minister-Counsellor for Belarus’ Mission to European Communities, at the seminar, and the two talked quietly in between questions from the audience and while other speakers were assessing the situation...