Council of Europe praises Monaco as presidency nears end
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
Secretary General Alain Berset praised Monaco's six-month leadership of the Committee of Ministers, which concludes on 10 November.
Speaking at the close of the Conference of Sports Ministers in Monaco, Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, told delegates that the organisation feels at home in the Principality. His remarks marked the final major event of Monaco's six-month presidency of the Committee of Ministers, the Council's decision-making body, which hands over to the next chairing state on 10 November.
Monaco took up the rotating presidency in May, overseeing a programme that touched on sport, human rights and institutional cooperation across the Council's 46 member states. The sports ministers' gathering, held in the Principality this week, brought together government representatives to discuss integrity and governance issues in European sport, a fitting close given Monaco's own standing in international sporting circles through the Grand Prix and institutions such as the IOC-linked bodies based here.
For residents, the presidency has meant a steady flow of diplomatic visitors and high-level meetings through the Principality's conference venues over recent months, reinforcing Monaco's role as a small state with outsized influence in European institutional life. With the handover now days away, attention turns to which country will take up the chair next and what priorities it will set for the Committee of Ministers.