27/01/2026 | 17:49:17 Thank you, President. Dear colleagues, First, let me thank Mr Piero FASSINO and the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy team for this excellent report. I strongly support the resolution. This war is not only about Ukraine, it is about the future of Europe. Let us be clear about the facts: peace cannot be built on denial or ambiguity. This resolution rightly affirms that a just and lasting peace must respect Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and internationally recognised borders... 27/01/2026 | 16:40:03 Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, Mr Damien COTTIER, for your excellent report on this highly relevant and pressing topic. Elections are truly the cornerstone of democracy, and elections are our democratic jewel. At the same time, elections have become a primary target of our adversaries, across Europe and even across the Atlantic. Several referring trends can be observed repeating themselves from country to country. First, malicious usage of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is now... 27/01/2026 | 10:47:19 Thank you, President. And Madam President, thank you so much for your speech today and for your leadership that inspires us continuously. Moldova has shown incredible democratic resilience in the face of foreign interference. And Moldova's institutions and civil society and citizens indeed demonstrated their capacity to protect the integrity of the electoral process. I planned to ask you if, based on your experience, you could share with the Assembly which factors were most decisive in... 26/01/2026 | 17:28:29 Thank you. Three brief points from my side. Indeed, Ukraine continues to be the focus of our work in many committees, including in the Monitoring Committee. And let me underline and inform you that our Monitoring Committee rapporteurs went to Ukraine for a monitoring visit last October, and actually, they also witnessed one of the major attacks on Kyiv, but continued their work by also providing support to Ukraine. And also, I think we will be able to acknowledge soon how much progress... 26/01/2026 | 16:54:24 Thank you, President. Dear colleagues, dear friends, This is the second time I present you the report on the 'Progress of the Assembly's monitoring procedure'. In a time when the international rules-based order is being questioned and countries are openly rejecting not only the supremacy, but also the importance of international law, adherence to the principles enshrined in the statutes of the Council of Europe and to the membership obligations of this organisation are needed more than ever... 01/10/2025 | 11:34:46 Mister President. First, let me thank Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK for this detailed and comprehensive report. Dear colleagues, While Ukrainians bravely fight Russian forces and pay the highest price on the battlefield, it is our obligation to confront Russia’s crimes in the international arena. Russia’s war has produced too many violations to ignore: abducted children, destroyed lives and cities and journalists killed or held in captivity. We must not forget any of these crimes. But the price... 10/04/2025 | 11:51:35 Dear President, dear colleagues, this is indeed an important debate. Despite the fact that the members of the Georgian delegation all resigned from the Assembly, thus rejecting dialogue, the Monitoring Committee continued to follow the developments in Georgia closely. It has sought to invite the ruling majority to participate in its discussions, but unfortunately this was rejected. However, it is important to underscore that we have continued to show our willingness to maintain a dialogue. So... 09/04/2025 | 17:17:19 President, Dear colleagues, Indeed, at the end of March, we witnessed a deeply alarming development. The arrest and detention of Mr Ekrem İMAMOĞLU, the democratically elected Mayor of Istanbul and the main opposition candidate for the 2028 presidential elections. These events sparked widespread protests across cities of Türkiye. There have been reports about the use of violence by police during these protests, and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression. The draft resolution... 08/04/2025 | 16:33:43 Thank you so much, Chair. Many, many thanks to all of the colleagues who talked today in the morning session and now in the afternoon. It's been a lively, vivid and very, very important debate. I appreciate all your contributions, as I appreciated it during the development of this report and that shows that it is a common contribution and common effort that we plan to adopt today. Allow me to start with a sentence: I concluded my remarks during this morning session that indeed, this Assembly... 08/04/2025 | 10:03:35 Thank you so much. Dear colleagues, Allow me, please, to begin by expressing my gratitude to the committee for the trust it placed in me by electing me as rapporteur for this important topic, and as well for the engaging, thoughtful, and sometimes intense debates we had throughout the discussion of this report. I have to highlight the outstanding support provided by the Secretariat of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and, in particular, Mr John DORBER and Mr Cesare COLOMBO...