Jordanian Senate president meets European official

Jordanian Senate Speaker Taher al-Masri met Sunday with Council of Europe (COE) Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland, who is currently visiting Amman. During the meeting, al-Masri voiced hopes to boost cooperation with the COE to support Jordan's march for reform to fulfill the aspirations of the Jordanian people, pointing to the visit of King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Strasburg last month which paved the way for a new phase of cooperation between Jordan and the Council, mainly with regard to laws regulating political life as well as benefiting from European expertise in parliamentary work. The Senate president hailed the level of cooperation between Jordan and EU countries and its affiliate institutions, valuing the EU's support to the Kingdom's economic and development programs. For his part, Jagland expressed the COE's willingness to enhance bilateral cooperation, highlighting Jordan's pivotal role in the region. The COE is an international organization covering the European continent, with its 47 member countries. It seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.