The Council of Europe Secretary General-elect, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said in Strasbourg on Wednesday that the role of the Council of Europe had never been more important and that during her five-year term she would work on empowering women and sensitive groups in the society.

In her first address upon her election, Pejcinovic Buric said that she would advocate dialogue among member-states so as to ensure the accomplishment of the two founding goals of the organisation: peace and prosperity.

The Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday elected Pejcinovic Buric Secretary General of the Council of Europe for a five-year term. In the first round of the election the Croatian minister obtained 159 votes, an absolute majority, and the other shortlisted candidate Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders won 105 votes.

In her speech, Pejcinovic Buric said that this international organisation was supposed to foster dialogue not only inside its main bodies but also among its member-states.

The Council of Europe was established in 1949 as an international organisation whose aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. It now has the 47 member-states.

Pjecinovic Buric is the second women to become the secretary-general of this organisation in its 70-year-long history.

In this context, the new secretary general said that her election showed that the Council of Europe “is for gender equality”.

“During my work as the Secretary General, I will pay special attention to all non-discrimination issues, particularly to women and children,” she said adding that it is necessary to strengthen the role of women in the present-day society.

She thanked for the cross-party support in the election process as well as to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for having proposed and supported her candidature.