Talking Europe interviews the head of the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog. A former Croatian minister of foreign and European affairs, Marija Pejcinovic Buric was elected to lead the Council of Europe in 2019. The organisation started out with just 10 nations in 1949, and now numbers 46, including the European Union member states and other countries that are outside the EU.
Council of Europe chief Pejcinovic Buric says there has been a clear trend of democratic backsliding over the last ten years at least, but that there are also some positive stories such as the adoption of the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence.
