On 17 – 18 February 2014 a conference „Not for Sale – Joining Forces Against Trafficking in Human Beings” was organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Vienna.
The high-level opening - Sebastian Kurz Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration, Johanna Mikl-Leitner Minister of the Interior, Simonetta Sommaruga Federal Councillor, Thorbjorn Jagland Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Lamberto Zannier Secretary General of the OSCE - was followed by four thematic panels focusing on prevention, victim identification and protection, prosecution, partnership and coordination. The aim of the conference was to discuss the challenges in the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking, to assess the progress made so far in the implementation of the Convention and to exchange practices developed on the basis of the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings.
The transposition of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council provided opportunity to ratify the Council of Europe Convention by Act XVIII of 2013 in Hungary. Head of the European Cooperation Department represented the Ministry of Interior on the event. The conference provided occasion for bilateral meetings with OSCE officers too.