24/06/2019 | 17:20:57 Thank you, Madam President, dear colleagues. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the Council of Europe brought all European countries together around common values centered on the respect for Human rights and the Rule of law. This is an undeniable success of our organisation, which has become a real forum for pan-European dialogue. Russia, for its part, joined the Council of Europe in 1996, thus demonstrating its desire to turn the page on the Cold War. But today, as the Council of Europe... 10/04/2019 | 11:20:19 This joint debate is particularly welcome. I welcome the reports tabled by our colleagues Ms Elvira KOVÁCS and Mr Goran BEUS RICHEMBERGH. Today’s societies face unacceptable hate speech. Hate speech is nothing new, of course, but it enjoys an ever wider audience because of social media. Freedom of expression is, of course, the very premise of democracy, but some people try to manipulate that by sneaking through offences under the radar and passing them off as opinions. As the Court in... 09/04/2019 | 16:13:09 Our colleague Ms Petra De SUTTER has submitted an exhaustive report on an issue that may sound technical but is eminently political: the relationship that should exist between the Council of Europe and the European Union. It is a recurring issue on the Assembly’s agenda; we have already discussed it in connection with the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union, on which we still have not clearly defined our position. Our Organisation is in deep political and budgetary crisis. How do... 23/01/2019 | 11:46:22 The issues addressed by the rapporteurs are fascinating. What can democracies do to deal with information disorder while respecting fundamental freedoms? Disinformation and fake news are flourishing in a post-truth world. That said, the phenomenon is not that new. In the past, we used to talk more about rumours. In the 18th century, repeated rumours of a plot to cause famine contributed to the creation of sympathy for the revolution. The great French historian Marc Bloch said that, through... 22/01/2019 | 19:38:29 I totally approve of the thrust of the report by Mr Gutiérrez, and I thank the rapporteurs for their opinion, including my countrywoman, Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN. The work of our Assembly throws considerable light on these matters. Religious freedom or freedom of belief is fundamental to democracy. Tolerance and pluralism enable religions to co-exist and guarantee diversity. The separation of Church and State enables us all to live together. I therefore think that the report is right to state... 21/01/2019 | 17:03:12 Mr Aleksander POCIEJ’s report on the early legislative elections in Armenia on 9 December last year is complete and balanced. Let me stress that France and Armenia enjoy close relations rooted in history and symbolised and maintained by the presence in France of a very large community of people of Armenian origin estimated to number 500 000. The early elections were special in several respects. First, they were the end of the process that started in spring 2018 with anti-government...