28/01/2022 | 12:19:56 Thank you so much, Chair. And, on behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) I would like to touch upon the issue regarding Russia's decision to close down the oldest NGO in that country: Memorial. We, from the ALDE group are very very worried about the decrease in democracy and also making it more and more difficult for NGOs to work in Russia. Memorial were a completely independent NGO that focused a lot on the shortcomings that there are in Russia, and especially the... 28/01/2022 | 11:32:46 It worked! That was actually good advice to refresh the browser. So thank you for that, Chair, and thank you so much for all the comments that have been raised by our colleagues. Let me just touch upon a few of them because of my speaking time. First of all, I would just touch upon what our Russian colleagues said. First of all, I don't see that the country monitoring should be removed and put in place by a so-called thematic review instead. Because, this is not to put a shameful eye on a... 28/01/2022 | 10:06:40 Thank you so much, Chair. Also, congratulations on your new election on Monday as our new President of this Assembly. As you know, this is actually the highlight, so to speak, of my two-year term as Chairman of the Monitoring Committee. A post I actually put on almost two years before Covid-19 hit us all. Therefore, the two-year term has, of course, been somewhat special, and also of course, made our of work of monitoring the different countries somewhat difficult. But even though, I actually... 24/06/2021 | 17:44:17 Thank you so much, Chairperson. First of all, allow me to use this opportunity to congratulate our colleague Mr Konstantin KUHLE on a very very excellent report but also a very timely report because one of the cornerstones of being in a European democracy with this organisation advocates for is transparency. Also to make sure that when we have a democratic election, it is a true outcome that it has been as democratic as possible. When you have foreign actors trying to interfere in both... 22/04/2021 | 12:45:25 Thank you Madam Chair. I would absolutely just like to say a couple of words after a long week and a lot of good, fruitful discussion. First of all, on behalf of the Committee, we would like to congratulate both Mr Thomas HAMMARBERG and Mr John HOWELL for their most excellent work. It is an extremely challenging report. It is basically in light of that this is actually the third urgent debate in three years. That actually highlights in my opinion that there are troubling developments in... 25/01/2021 | 17:02:31 Thank you so much, Mr President, and may I also use this opportunity to congratulate you on your re-election as President for our Assembly. I think we all are very much looking forward to a year that perhaps is going to be more normal than the first year you were President. That is also my first year as Chairman of the Monitoring Committee and it has been an extremely difficult year for all of us, including in the Monitoring Committee. Because of the Covid-19 situation a lot of the co... 30/01/2020 | 19:29:33 Thank you so much, Chair, I would also like to just say a few words. First of all congratulations to my predecessor Sir Roger GALE for an excellent overview about different reports we have in the monitoring committee. Also, thanks to the Secretariat for their hard work. Then I also like to just fully support what the rapporteur said regarding the joint procedure. I also took the floor at our joint committee meeting earlier today and I mentioned to the ambassadors, and some are present here... 29/01/2020 | 19:57:03 Thank you so much Chair. I don't want to prolong this very late debate unnecessarily. I just want to touch upon a few points. As a new chair for the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) first of all I will of course thank the rapporteur Mr Tiny KOX for his work and especially the Secretariat. I would also like to stress what has been raised in this debate. It is important now for Russia, no matter what... 29/01/2020 | 16:56:23 Thank you, Mr President. On behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group this is also a very important time where we now have a chance to end a year-long debate, and especially to give us an instrument to handle a case as severe as the one we've been debating for years. Namely, that a country goes in and attacks and occupies a part of another member state. But also to give us an instrument where we will not only be solo in our sanctions, but also in line with both what...