Thorbjørn Jagland has been elected as the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe. He enters his new position October 1, 2009.

Thorbjørn Jagland (born 1950) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as the Norwegian Prime Minister from 1996-1997 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2001. Since 2005 he has been the President of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget).

Mr. Jagland was one of the keynote speakers at the EWC Inauguration in May this year.

"In Europe, society exists for the sake of the individual. Not the other way around. This is the essence of our democracies. No European state can use its citizens as tools for religious or political ideologies. These are our fundamental values. They go beyond the individual country’s national cultural characteristics, and they bind us together. That is the heart of Europe". Jagland at the EWC Inauguration conference, May 2009.

Norway’s Foreign Minister welcomes election of Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland to Council of Europe top position Press Release, 29th September, 2009