13/10/2022 | 11:25:52 Dear President, Dear colleagues, As we speak, the immediate result of Russia's legal and brutal war against Ukraine is unfolding before us. The extensive sufferings of the Ukrainian people in a country laid in ruins will forever stand as most terrible consequence of the Russian aggression against their neighbouring country. In addition, Putin's war has turned almost everything upside down. For several years he has done the outmost to destabilise of the European countries, interfering with... 22/06/2022 | 18:06:50 Mister President, dear colleagues. In this joint debate we have three important reports in connection with the Russian aggressive warfare against Ukraine. I would like to comment on the first one. Let me thank our rapporteur, Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, for presenting a report with very specific recommendations and points of action, targeted at Ukraine itself, neighbouring countries and countries a little further afield. In fact, Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ has provided us with a checklist, most... 28/04/2022 | 11:58:03 Mr President, Dear colleagues, Firstly, thank you to the rapporteur for this very important report. Secondly, after finishing this urgent debate, I hope this Assembly will be able to send a strong and unanimous message to the Russian authorities: undoubtedly, the day will come when they will be held accountable for their serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Ukraine. Two days ago, the Norwegian Prime Minister held a new statement in Parliament about the... 25/01/2021 | 17:28:51 Mr President and dear colleagues, let me start by thanking Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN for his report. As a rapporteur from North Macedonia my worry is that we as rapporteurs have not been able to visit our countries for more than a year. The original plan was to visit North Macedonia during the first half of 2020 and my term as rapporteur ended in June 2020. It was due to the special circumstances extended until the end of 2020. However it has not yet been possible to go on a fact-finding... 30/01/2020 | 18:59:27 Mr President, dear colleagues, Let me thank Sir GALE for his report and memorandum with several proposals on how to strengthen the work of the Monitoring Committee, that deserve to be reflected upon. We should also have in mind our decision yesterday on the new joint procedure in response to serious violation by a member state of its statutory obligations. Regrettably, Sir GALE's report demonstrates that we are in need for new tools in order to get all members in compliance with human rights... 29/01/2020 | 17:02:53 Mr President, dear colleagues, In June 2018, this Assembly discussed the Nicoletti report, prepared on the background of a changing European landscape, unfortunately not to the better. On the contrary, we faced severe geo-political confrontations, even war between member states of the Council of Europe, and a growing lack of political will to respect and implement the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights, both among newer, as well as founding member states of this organisation... 02/10/2019 | 20:17:08 Thank you, Madame President. I will try to answer as many of the points made by the speakers as possible. To start with Ms DALLOZ, there is going to be a census next year. We have been told that the census has been scheduled for 2020. You also mentioned worrying conditions in prisons, and we have also underlined the same, but at the same time work has started on increasing capacity in prisons, training officers, and better healthcare in prison. So the work has been started. Mr SCHENNACH, Lord... 02/10/2019 | 19:30:32 Thank you, Madame President. Dear colleagues, North Macedonia joined the Council of Europe in 1995, and has since 2000 been engaged in post-monitoring dialogue. We commend the delegation of North Macedonia for their contribution to our fact-finding visits and to this report, the first one since 2013. Ever since, the country has been committed to its Euro-Atlantic integration — not without obstacles, though, among them the name dispute with Greece. A breakthrough came in June last year, with... 01/10/2019 | 10:48:10 Madam President, dear colleagues, Let me start by thanking our rapporteur for a solid report. I fully agree that the effectiveness in the protection of whistle-blowers against any kind of retaliation, or lack of such protection, ought to be valued as a genuine democracy indicator. As in most other countries, Norway has far too many examples of whistle-blowers subjected to different forms of retaliation, with major consequences for each and every one of them. Some labour unions have even... 25/06/2019 | 17:36:50 Madam President, The Istanbul Convention is one of the most important conventions of the Council of Europe. It concerns half of our population. Violence against women is not acceptable, neither on the streets nor behind closed doors, covered as family affairs. Women's rights are human rights, neither more nor less. Some Members of this Assembly have consistently opposed the aim of the Istanbul Convention. They have deliberately tried to spread a misinterpretation of the Convention as an...