The Secretary General said Öcalan’s announcement, timed to coincide with Kurdish new year celebrations, is a “positive signal which I hope will lead to an end to violence and lasting peace.”
Writing in the the World Policy Institute’s Spring edition, the Secretary General states that: “According to some economists, Europe will need between 40 and 60 million immigrant workers by 2050. Without them, there will be simply no chance of sustaining Europe’s level of prosperity and welfare. We cannot escape the demographic reality of Europe’s aging population.”
“From 2014 all EU citizens will be able to travel and work freely throughout the European Union, which may lead to more Roma people leaving their difficult conditions at home,” Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland told the United Nations Human Rights Council. “This may in turn lead to increased tensions and more racism if authorities do not prepare themselves for this development.”
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has made the fight against corruption his first priority and pledged help in the rescue of Europe from fundamental crises.
A two-day conference opens in Brussels today to review the progress of the Council of Europe-EU Roma mediators project (ROMED).
