30/01/2020 | 15:57:18 One lesson is clear from the tragedy of Libya and that is to be cautious about the consequences of one's own actions. Eight years ago, the United Kingdom and France with US air support invaded Libya, then they departed after having seen the regime collapse leaving a void for other countries to go into and exacerbating the regional rivalry between Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. I make three points. First, its turbulent history. Libya has no experience of democracy, compromise is an alien concept... 04/10/2019 | 11:20:04 Madam President, I congratulate my colleague Martin WHITFIELD on his presentation, and particularly on his realistic approach. My starting point is clear: we may bewail the migration from East to West Europe but is the most natural thing in the world for individuals, families, young people in particular, to seek a better living and a more prosperous life for them. There are many other examples, of course, in the world. In the Americas, the lure for those in Central America of the lure of el... 04/10/2019 | 10:30:33 Mr President, I join enthusiastically in the chorus of approval of this work by Monsieur COMTE and agreement with his conclusions. I was struck, when on Tuesday we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Council in the Opera House that we ended with a part symphony by a great Jewish composer Gustav MAHLER, part of that wonderful flowering of Viennese culture just before the First World War. But when we celebrate MAHLER, when we think also of those of Central Europe as a whole, let us not... 03/10/2019 | 16:32:35 Madame President, At the start of this debate, we had a protest from certain members in the public gallery. I could not help reflecting as to what might happen to those people had they made a similar protest in the Russian Federation. I shall listen very carefully, and have listened, to that which is said by our Russian colleagues, who are now back in the Assembly. I've tried to discern any chink of difference between them in respect of what happened during the Moscow elections; any... 28/06/2019 | 12:05:16 Madam President, As you have rightly said, this is an opportunity to tackle subjects which are not elsewhere on the agenda and often which must be relevant to the work of the Council of Europe - perhaps subjects which are behind the headlines, perhaps too sensitive for a report and which are essentially long term. As too often politicians are accused of short-termism, hence, I propose this subject The population explosion in Africa and its relevance for us in Europe. I accept that it can be a... 28/06/2019 | 10:28:00 The report is depressing. This morning's presentation is even more depressing. With no real signs of optimism the political process is at a standstill. Ultimately there will be a political settlement. There must be. But there are no immediate prospects. I think of the high hopes of the protesters as they gathered for their peaceful protests like so many in the Arab Spring. But since then there has been the descent into hell, now in its ninth year. All the norms which the Council of Europe and... 26/06/2019 | 16:43:50 Madame President, colleagues, Are we not in danger of revisiting Canosa? If I employ a lawyer to negotiate with a serial offender and that lawyer accepted unconditionally the undertakings or that other person, I would sack the lawyer immediately for not acting on my behalf. Surely, this is the same position. Mr ŠEŠELJ said "yes, let us vote for freedom and democracy." Whose freedom? The freedom of the Tatars in Crimea? The freedom of the sailors who languish in prison illegally in Russia? The... 24/06/2019 | 18:20:55 Madam President, the report is good in parts. On the constitutional issues, who can be against closer relationship with the European Union? But there is, of course, the obstacle of the judgment of the European Court of Justice. Who could be against greater alignment with the Ministerial Committee? But again there is, as Pieter Omtzigt mentioned, the point of unanimity. And our position as an Assembly, as parliamentarians, need not be the same as ministers who want, effectively, a quiet life... 11/04/2019 | 16:01:39 Our rapporteur is an unusual, indeed remarkable, combination – he is a professional accountant, but he is also a campaigner with incredible energy. We were first alerted to this problem with the revelations of the Panama scandal. Now, of course, we know that in the 1990s a vast amount of dirty money from the Russian Federation flowed westwards and that the defences we had were insufficient to withstand that tidal wave of Russian money. The Nordic countries are normally thought of as being the... 09/04/2019 | 16:57:07 I draw one clear conclusion from the speeches thus far: this is an excellent report that points to a sensible way forward for the two institutions to work together for the common good of the people we seek to represent. The Council of Europe is in its 70th year. Its Convention is a living instrument. Over that period, the Council of Europe has built up remarkable expertise in the field of human rights. Compared with that, the European Union is a relative newcomer. When I first heard of the...