27/01/2021 | 16:26:58 Thank you very much, Madam Chair, I would like to thank Mr Jacques MAIRE for his introduction to the report and all those who are concerned with the difficult human rights situation in Russia. I think it has become clear, and I think that Jacques MAIRE has made this very clear, that it is much better if we deal with these substantive issues and do not spend all our time here with procedural questions. It is also not good if we insult each other, that makes no sense and it also makes no sense... 26/01/2021 | 18:17:44 Mister President, Ladies and gentlemen, What we are doing today - as has indeed just become clear - is actually, so to speak, finalising what we have discussed with each other for a long time, what has really taken many hours, days and nights to develop over the last few years. I almost said that the Secretary General of the Assembly has grown a few more grey hairs, but he already has a lot of grey hair. Mr Wojciech SAWICKI has done a lot of work, as well as the whole Secretariat of the... 26/01/2021 | 09:28:21 Thank you very much, Mr President, Ladies and gentlemen, My home country is Germany, and hardly anyone in Germany knows about the Council of Europe, but there are a great many people who do know about the European Court of Human Rights. Unfortunately, many people think that it is part of the European Union and not of the Council of Europe, but we can still clarify that. The fact that many people know about this Court shows how important it is, even in a country like Germany. The Court is at... 25/01/2021 | 16:25:25 Thank you very much Mr President and congratulations in the name of my group. Madam Secretary General, thank you very much for keeping the organisation visible in a very different and difficult situation. Thank you very much for mentioning the new complementary approach, I would say, on the question of how to deal with some countries. Thank you very much for making our position about judgments very clear and how to follow up the judgments. I would like to go a little bit more into detail on... 20/11/2020 | 15:25:31 Thank you very much Mr President. I hope you can hear me. I would like to thank all of you. It is maybe not the most important report in our Assembly but for sure it is a necessary report because it brings us into the situation to deal with the COVID-19 situation and with whatever will happen. I'm quite sure that we will not misuse it. It was especially Mr Sergey KISLYAK who raised some concerns about it. I think that's the normal risk of misusing it. For sure I would like to say as well... 20/11/2020 | 14:37:19 I will speak in German. We had the last plenary session in January of this year, so it's long past. The goal is, of course, to meet again physically as soon as possible so that we can all start talking to each other. In the meantime, however, it is necessary to prepare ourselves to ensure that our organization remains fully capable of acting, and that includes elections, for example. With this report, we are creating the conditions for us to meet in video mode or in hybrid mode, but again... 20/11/2020 | 11:10:23 Thank you very much, Mr President. President SPANO, thank you very much that you underlined the importance of our Assembly. As I always say, our Assembly is not so important: it's very important because we have to defend and support the court. This is the heart of the organization; that's what we have to do. As I always mention, we have some red lines, and one red line is the fulfillment of the judgments. So, I will ask you what you think about the situation in Russia. What do you think about... 20/11/2020 | 10:32:16 Thank you, Mr President, Minister of State. Dear Michael, you have described the difficult situation of human rights that we have overall. But I believe that there are also opportunities to achieve a turnaround, perhaps now, against the background of the developments in the United States, and I believe that it would be a very encouraging situation for the Council of Europe if we did not lose Member States, but actually gained them. And I think Belarus could become the 48th Member State, of... 29/01/2020 | 18:38:08 Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, With the decision we took earlier, we have indeed embarked on a new path, and I would like to thank our colleagues from the PPE-DE for these wise and balanced words. I think, with all the differences we have, with all the difficulties there are and in very different positions; we should try — at least in the spirit of this new way of doing things, from this idea — to work together. Of course, that makes no sense if we were to end the path we took last year... 29/01/2020 | 17:50:25 Merci, Monsieur le President. Vielen Dank and thank you very much. For sure, I would like to thank all of you who contributed to the discussion for all your comments. Maybe I'm not allowed to say it, because it was on camera, but nobody acted against the recommendation of the Venice Commission because Mr VARAIKIS mentioned it. I just wanted to clarify that. For sure, we are not in easy times and what you describe is the reality of Europe and the reality we have to face. And we are in a...