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Day: 24 June 2026

Monaco relaunches anti-cigarette litter campaign for 16th year

by: Cassandra Tanti
24/06/2026

Monaco’s Mairie has launched the 16th edition of ‘Monaco Zéro Mégot,’ its long-running campaign against cigarette butt litter, with free pocket ashtrays distributed to residents, workers and visitors across the Principality this summer.

The campaign launched on Tuesday at the Marché de la Condamine, with Marjorie Crovetto, deputy mayor for quality of life, the environment and sustainable development, on hand alongside municipal council members and Kamila Ansiau of the Tourism and Convention Authority. Crovetto described the market as a fitting place to mark the relaunch, calling it a hub of everyday community life.

New distribution point at the market

A new distribution point has opened near the market’s shared library, located beneath the central marquee, alongside existing points at Monaco’s Town Hall and the Médiathèque Caroline. Pocket ashtrays will also be handed out at the Tourism and Convention Authority’s reception points throughout the summer. The campaign distributes around 6,000 of the reusable ashtrays each year, keeping the visual design created last year by artist Mr. One Teas.

A small habit with an outsized environmental cost

Crovetto pointed to the scale of the problem the campaign is designed to address, noting that cigarette butts are consistently among the most common items collected during World Clean Up Day, the global litter-collection event Monaco will hold again on 19th September. A single cigarette butt, she said, can contaminate up to 500 litres of water, a figure consistent with environmental research showing cigarette filters are among the most pervasive sources of ocean pollution worldwide.

Through the campaign, the Mairie and its partners are aiming to encourage residents and tourists alike to take simple, low-effort steps to help preserve Monaco’s environment.

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Photo source: Mairie de Monaco

 

New cross-border cycle path to finally link Menton and Ventimiglia

by: Cassandra Tanti
24/06/2026

A new cycle path linking Ventimiglia and Menton has secured almost €2 million in funding, forming the first stretch of the Ciclovia Tirrenica and a section of the EuroVelo 8 Mediterranean Route that will eventually run the length of the Italian and French coastlines.

The funding was announced on Tuesday at the launch of EDUMOB3, a three-year sustainable mobility project backed by the Interreg France-Italy ALCOTRA programme and largely financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The project is led by the Liguria region, working alongside the municipality of Ventimiglia, the Alpes-Maritimes department and the municipality of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with completion expected by June 2028.

Closing the final cross-border gap

The centrepiece of the project is a new cycle path between the Italian border and the Balzi Rossi museum in Ventimiglia, which will close the last gap in a continuous cross-border cycling route along the coast, connecting directly into the existing path on the French side. On the French side of the border, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin will upgrade a stretch of Avenue Winston Churchill to strengthen the link towards Menton, with the Alpes-Maritimes department coordinating the cross-border technical work. Beyond the infrastructure itself, the project also includes an educational strand aimed at encouraging everyday cycling among schools and residents.

Part of a wider coastal cycling network

Liguria’s infrastructure councillor, Giacomo Raul Giampedrone, said the project carried particular symbolic weight, since the Ventimiglia stretch will mark the starting point of the Ciclovia Tirrenica, a route planned to run from Ventimiglia to Rome.

He noted that 45 kilometres of the route between Ospedaletti and Andora had opened only days earlier, with the wider route expected to bring environmental, sporting and tourism benefits as it crosses the Ligurian coast.

Ventimiglia’s mayor, Flavio Di Muro, framed the project as part of a broader ambition for the town. “I think a mayor, beyond managing the day-to-day life of his community, also needs a vision for the future that looks at the new challenges facing the city, while promoting its tourism potential,” he said, adding that the goal was for Ventimiglia to be recognised not as a border town but as an international one.

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Photos source: Mairie de Ventimiglia

 

Monaco sets out Council of Europe presidency priorities in Strasbourg

by: Cassandra Tanti
24/06/2026

Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe Mirmand and Foreign Affairs Minister Isabelle Berro-Amadeï addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe this week, setting out the priorities of the Principality’s presidency of the Committee of Ministers to representatives of the organisation’s 46 member states.

The appearances came during the Parliamentary Assembly’s summer session, running from 22nd to 26th June in Strasbourg, and marked one of the first major set-piece moments of Monaco’s presidency, which began on 15th May and runs until 10th November. It is the first time the Principality has held the role since joining the Council of Europe in 2004.

Two addresses, two roles

Mirmand addressed the Assembly on 22nd June in a national capacity, taking questions from members and reaffirming Monaco’s commitment to the Council of Europe’s founding values, while highlighting what officials describe as the Monegasque model’s focus on proximity, solidarity and practical solutions.

Berro-Amadeï followed the next day, this time speaking as president of the Committee of Ministers, setting out the organisation’s recent achievements alongside the priorities Monaco has chosen for its six-month term. She also stressed the importance of dialogue, cooperation and multilateralism in addressing Europe’s current challenges. The presidency’s five stated priorities cover gender equality and violence against women, child protection and online radicalisation, sport as a tool for social inclusion, and collective security against organised crime.

Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe Mirmand. Photo credit: Stéphane Danna, Government Communications Department

Bilateral talks on the sidelines

Alongside the Assembly sessions, Mirmand and Berro-Amadeï held bilateral meetings with Secretary General Alain Berset, Assembly President Petra Bayr and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, taking stock of the presidency’s progress so far and discussing the key dates ahead over the coming months.

Monaco’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, made up of National Council members Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, Christophe Brico, Christine Pasquier-Ciulla and Régis Bergonzi, also took an active role in the session’s proceedings.

Separately, as part of the presidency’s cultural programme, Berro-Amadeï opened a photography exhibition on Monaco’s architectural heritage, which will be on display at the Council of Europe for two weeks.

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Photo of Foreign Affairs Minister Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, credit: Stéphane Danna, Government Communications Department