01/10/2026 | 17:41:19 Dear colleagues, When your own home is raided at dawn, when your mother, father, brother or sister is taken away, arrested and detained in inhumane conditions, do you call that safety? When you do not know what is happening to the people you love. Where are they? How are they being looked after? How are they faring? Do you call that safety? We know full well: no family is safe unless all families are safe. Human rights must apply to everyone; otherwise, no one can rely on them any longer. And... 30/09/2026 | 10:14:46 Thank you, Mister President. Dear colleagues, I would like to sincerely thank and congratulate Ms Valentina GRIPPO for her excellent report on "Growing threats to media pluralism and the independence of the media". I would also like to thank Ms Gala VELDHOEN, rapporteur for opinion, for her thoughtful work on this topic which was unanimously supported by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The media sector has undergone profound changes, particularly with social media and... 29/09/2026 | 11:34:32 Thank you, Madam Chair. What we saw in Ceuta was a test for Europe, and I am very pleased with the approach Lord Michael GERMAN intends to take in his report and that he actually wishes to investigate the root causes before drawing any conclusions. Ceuta was a test, but not for our external borders. Ceuta was a test of our internal cohesion. And many states, foremost among them my own country, Austria, failed that test. For even before the clothes of these poor people had dried, they were... 25/06/2026 | 18:31:42 Mister President, Dear colleagues, I would like to thank you for this report, as it takes a very nuanced approach. And that is important when dealing with this issue, because pornography in itself is not bad; rather, the problem lies in violent pornography. Violent pornography is a major problem, precisely because it is not only accessible to people who can handle it – those who are adults capable of making informed, independent decisions – but is accessible to everyone, and in particular to... 25/06/2026 | 16:59:25 Madam Vice-President, What we are discussing here is a very, very important issue, and I would like to thank Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU for this truly excellent and thoroughly researched report. This is because the issue at hand affects virtually every area we deal with here. It is not just a matter of individuals’ rights being jeopardised by states and of individuals being targeted; above all, it is a matter of our systems being attacked through the misuse of systems designed to enable... 25/06/2026 | 12:46:16 Dear colleagues, First, I would like to thank the rapporteur for this timely and well-structured report. Sport is highly visible, but visibility does not mean accountability. Independent sport journalism is not an accessory to sport, it is an essential part of democratic oversight. It helps the public understand what is happening behind the scenes. And it ensures that powerful actors of sport remain answerable to scrutiny. The report rightly reminds us that freedom of expression and freedom... 25/06/2026 | 10:44:55 Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Honourable colleagues, We are discussing a report here that is very brief and, in fact, contains nothing but self-evident truths, namely that migrants and refugees should receive exactly the medical care they need – no more and no less. But just as in the wider debate, this report serves as a catalyst for a whole host of other problems, all of which crystallise around the issue of migration. This is a major problem facing our society, and it is also a problem... 21/04/2026 | 20:03:53 Thank you, Mister President. I would like to sincerely thank all colleagues who have contributed in this debate. It has shown both the strong support for the European Court of Human Rights and the seriousness with which the Assembly approaches its responsibility in electing the judges. Many of the points raised today underline a shared understanding that the quality, independence and legitimacy of the Court start with the way we select the judges. Yes, conflicts of interests can arise from... 21/04/2026 | 19:30:16 Thank you, Madam President. Dear colleagues, At a time when the European Court of Human Rights is facing criticism and international law is under pressure, it is essential for this assembly to uphold the integrity of the Convention system, and the authority of the Court. That authority ultimately depends on the quality and independence of its judges. For 75 years, since the Convention was signed in Rome, the Assembly has held the exclusive responsibility to elect the Court's judges. This... 30/01/2026 | 10:12:52 Thank you, Mister President, Today, on behalf of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, I would like to raise an issue that many of us may not yet have discussed in this Assembly, but yet it is already undermining human rights and democracy all across Europe. I am speaking about violent misogyny. Not everyday sexism. But the glorification of violence against women, and its growing role as a shared recruitment space for extremism. What is particularly dangerous is this, violent misogyny...