CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Curling could not have a more fitting host city for the upcoming Olympics than Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The town in the Dolomites is home to Italy’s first curling gold medalist, defending mixed doubles champion Stefania Constantini. And Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi is a former member of Italy’s national team — and the son of the sport’s founding father in Italy.
“I’m certainly going to have a reserved seat for every day of the competition,” Lorenzi said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, inferring that he would rather be at the curling venue than welcoming the various heads of state and VIPs expected in Cortina during the games.
Add in that the venue to be used for curling at the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Winter Games will be the wooden arena that hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1956 Olympics in Cortina and was also used for a scene in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only,” and it’s clear that spectators are in for something special.
“In Cortina, everybody (has) tried curling at least once,” Constantini said.
Constantini’s mother, Monica Dalus, is a member of Cortina’s city council.
“Whenever Stefi is competing, we message each other to keep track of her,” the mayor said of Dalus.
Constantini’s status makes her a logical choice to be one of Italy’s unprecedented four flag bearers for the part of the opening ceremony that will be held in Cortina.
Only she doesn’t see it that way. Because at 26, Constantini is still relatively young for a curler.
“I’m still at the start of my career and I’ve got many more goals that I want to achieve. There are many athletes who are further along in their careers, who have already won a ton and provided Italy with amazing emotions. So maybe they deserve this great honor,” Constantini told the AP.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Italian media from speculating that Constantini and Amos Mosaner, her winning mixed doubles partner from the 2022 Beijing Games, will get the honor.
While the main opening ceremony is slated for the San Siro soccer stadium in Milan on Feb. 6, there will also be a smaller event that Friday evening in Cortina, which will also host women's Alpine skiing and sliding events during the games. And the International Olympic Committee has authorized Italy to have a total of four flag bearers — two in Milan and two in Cortina with one man and one woman in each location.
“Of course, it would be a huge honor,” Constantini said. “But we haven’t heard anything yet.”
Right up until her and Mosaner’s golden performance in Beijing, Constantini also had a very typical day job in downtown Cortina.
She was a saleswoman in The North Face store on the pedestrian-only Corso Italia — a job she kept until a month before the Beijing Games.
“I had a double life back then,” Constantini said. “While I was working in the store, I was also working on qualifying for the Olympics.”
The victory with Mosaner made Constantini become Cortina’s first Olympic champion since bobsledder Eugenio Monti swept the two-man and four-man titles at the 1968 Grenoble Games.
Cortina’s controversial sliding center is named for Monti.
Constantini and Mosaner then added to their status as the pairing to beat in mixed when they defeated Scotland — the country where curling originated — in the final of this year's world championships.
“Competing at home in Cortina,” Constantini said, “will be the cherry on top of the cake.”
Andrew Dampf is at https://x.com/AndrewDampf
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE -Italy's Stefania Constantini, looks at her gold medal, during the awards ceremony for the mixed doubles curling match against Norway, in the curling venue, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty), File)
FILE -Stefania Constantini, right, and Amos Mosaner, of Italy compete during the mixed doubles gold medals curling match against Noway at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson), File)
FILE -Italy's Stefania Constantini, directs her team mate, during the mixed doubles curling match against Sweden, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 6, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)
BRUSSELS (AP) — As sympathy for immigrants erodes around the world, European nations agreed Wednesday to consider changes that rights advocates say would weaken migrant protections that have underpinned European law since World War II.
The consensus coalesced as mainstream political parties across Europe have adopted tougher migration policies as a way to blunt the momentum of far-right politicians exploiting discontent over immigration, even though illegal border crossings are actually falling.
Members of the 46 countries that make up the Council of Europe acknowledged "challenges" posed by migration while reaffirming their respect for the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, the council's secretary general, Alain Berset, told journalists after discussions in Strasbourg, France.
Berset described the 75-year-old convention as a “living instrument." While nations reaffirmed their commitment to the rights and freedoms of the convention, they also recognized countries’ responsibility to “safeguard national vital interests such as security.”
The convention and the court, which handles complaints against the council, have been increasingly criticized by some member states, including Italy, Denmark and the United Kingdom. They argue that they are too limited in how far they can go to tackle illegal migration and deport migrants who commit crimes.
Ministers of the 46 countries will now begin debating a political declaration on migration to be adopted in May and a new recommendation to deter human smuggling, Berset added.
The council, which is not an European Union institution, was set up in the wake of World War II to promote peace and democracy.
Discussions over the need to reform or reinterpret the convention as it relates to migrants began last year after nine nations signed a letter attempting to curtail the power of the court, the council's independent legal arm.
The group of nations argued that the court’s interpretation of rights and obligations prevented them from expelling migrants who commit crimes and keeping their countries safe. Berset defended the court's independence at the time, but support for a tougher stance has only grown.
While Berset sought to downplay the division, 27 nations signed a separate statement Wednesday calling for a less restrictive interpretation of the law, echoing the arguments made last year.
"A right balance has to be found between the migrants’ individual rights and interests and the weighty public interests of defending freedom and security in our societies,” it read.
Andrew Forde, co-founder of the AGORA group of academics, researchers and lawyers, said Wednesday's conclusions and the statement signed by two-thirds of the members showed clearly that the majority of governments supported a more conservative understanding of the convention based on political interest.
“For the first time in the history of the Council of Europe, member states have pinpointed a specific group of people that they want to afford fewer rights protection to,” said Forde who previously worked for the council.
Meanwhile, the prime ministers of Denmark and the U.K. published an op-ed Tuesday in the Guardian newspaper calling for tighter migration controls to deny entry to those seeking better economic opportunities as opposed to fleeing conflict.
“The best way of fighting against the forces of hate and division is to show that mainstream, progressive politics can fix this problem,” wrote Mette Frederiksen and Keir Starmer.
Separately, in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to ministers from the 27 nations of the EU and pledged to dismantle smuggling networks that bring people into the bloc illegally.
“Our goal is simple. We want to bankrupt their businesses through all means available,” von der Leyen said at an event marking the second anniversary of the EU-led Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling.
While migration is high on the political agenda, irregular border crossings into the EU were down 22% from January to October this year compared with the same period last year, according to Frontex, the EU’s border and coast guard agency. The agency recorded 152,000 unauthorized border crossings in the first 10 months of the year.
Most migration to Europe is legal, with many migrants entering on visas that they then overstay.
The EU has spent billions of euros (dollars) to deter illegal migration, paying countries in Africa and the Middle East to intercept migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
At the same time, European nations facing aging populations and labor shortages have been investing in programs to attract and train foreign workers.
Brito reported from Barcelona.
FILE - View of the Council of Europe, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien, File)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
From left, European Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Luis De Albuquerque, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner arrive for a Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen steps off the podium after addressing a Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
