The ECML was honoured to welcome Walter Schwimmer, former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, to the European Centre for Modern Languages on 29 November.
The visit served in the preparation of a conference of the European association of former members of parliament of the member states of the Council of Europe (FP-AP), to be hosted at the ECML in May 2024. The event is organised within the context of the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe and also the 30th anniversary of the ECML.
It is the second occasion Walter Schwimmer has visited the ECML. Whilst Secretary General of the Council of Europe (from 1999-2004), he officially opened the new premises of the Centre in October 2000 - together with Herta Müller, the keynote speaker at the event and future winner of the Nobel prize for literature.
As the current president of the FP-AP which is committed to promoting the values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and peace, Walter Schwimmer highlighted the synergy with the ECML's forthcoming programme "Language education at the heart of democracy". He was accompanied on the visit by Edgar Mayer, former President of the Bundesrat.