Walter Schwimmer on official visit to Italy

The Council of Europe Secretary General has begun an official three-day visit to Italy, in the light of the forthcoming Italian presidency of the EU. In Rome, he will meet Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Chairman of the Italian Senate's Committee for Foreign Affairs Fiorello Provera, Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, Minister for Communitarian Policy Rocco Buttiglione and other high-level officials. In Naples, on 14 March, the Secretary General will visit the Maison de la Méditerranée, at the invitation of Claudio Azzolini, President of the Italian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. He will present the Mediterranean Peace Prize to Father Elia Chacour, a Palestinian Catholic priest who converted to Judaism in order to highlight the close relations between monotheistic religions.