22/06/2021 | 19:11:32 Thank you, Chairperson. I would also like to join in congratulating Baroness Doreen MASSEY for her excellent work where she has looked at the Covid-19 pandemic and its challenges from the angle of how the children, the most vulnerable and most beloved group, are facing. A story that I want to tell you is a very simple one. On 23 March, if I'm not mistaken, the UN General Secretary called for an armistice all around the world because of the pandemic. Azerbaijan didn't quite understand the... 21/06/2021 | 18:46:38 Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to thank the rapporteur for his work, which we have also discussed in our party. The thing with comparing Spain and Turkey is very difficult for me because, as an observer, for me, it is clear that Spain is a much more democratic country than Turkey, at this stage, at least, can ever aspire to. But a problem of the understanding is that, we say, should the politicians be held accountable for their speeches or actions? Which politicians? It is always from... 21/06/2021 | 12:33:53 Ms President, thank you very much. I also want to thank my colleagues Ms Petra BAYR and Mr Aleksander POCIEJ for noting Armenia's elections. In a rather difficult period my people were able to wisely go to the elections and choose the government. I'm glad that in Armenia democracy has won and that we remained on a democratic path, even after all of these hardships that were caused by the aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. What I also want to thank you for... 19/04/2021 | 18:22:07 Thank you very much, Madam Chair, I also want to thank the rapporteur Ms Elvira KOVÁCS for her excellent work because this is a topic that is very important in the Council of Europe, regardless of the fact that we have been discussing this since 1968, when the Framework Convention was accepted. On this matter, I want to take the opportunity and draw everybody's attention to what is happening or what has been happening in Azerbaijan. I want this dialogue to be constructive. What we have... 28/01/2021 | 11:00:04 Thank you Mr Chair. Thank you also for the report. When we are speaking about Article 10, our colleagues who are proposing this way of thinking are conveniently misplacing what is written in Article 10. It says clearly that the interference in sharing ideas should not come from the public authorities. This is something that we need to fix. The public authorities only have a right to license or not to license, but they cannot interfere in the communication of ideas. Now I understand it's a... 27/01/2021 | 18:37:23 Thank you very much, Mr President. Today we are discussing an important report about the restrictions of NGOs in different countries. A cursory look at those countries will draw another map. A map of countries--some countries--which may have problems with democracy, hate speech, and where xenophobia is state-sponsored. The independent media is shot down. They usually refuse to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. In other words, the civic space is curbed. In this... 31/01/2020 | 10:18:58 Ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to speak on behalf of Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group in this hemicycle. I want to thank the rapporteur Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT for a very valuable and timely report. This report is not only valuable for aptly diagnosing the overall situation but also the challenges. It singled out the challenges that we are facing today in terms of defending our public sphere. As Mr Jürgen Habermas has warned us earlier, the public sphere is challenged. And it will be... 02/10/2019 | 18:43:59 Thank you, Chairperson. Firstly I would like to congratulate Ms Marietta KARAMANLI for her excellent report. The protection of terrorist victims is one of the main global challenges for all states in this part of the world. The report is extremely valuable. It attempts to call upon the definition of a victim of terrorism and it has suggestions for protection mechanisms, which are very valuable. Terrorism is not a new phenomenon but it has complex repercussions in the modern world. What is a... 02/10/2019 | 17:00:03 Madame Chairperson. I want to welcome Mr Rolf Wenzel who has been governing this bank. It's interesting that we have kind of discovered or rediscovered the role and the importance of the European Bank of Development of the Council of Europe. I want to compliment the rapporteur Ms Nicole TRISSE for her work as well as the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development because it has been working for a long time with the Bank, and I heard that the Bank came to the Committee on... 01/10/2019 | 10:51:13 Dear Chairperson, fellow parliamentarians, I too would like to congratulate Mr Mr Sylvain WASERMAN for an excellent report which has touched upon one of the key issues of the whistle-blowers and has underlined the mechanisms that help to protect them: the legal mechanisms. Indeed, strengthening this legal mechanism is paramount, however work should be done on the societal aspect of perceiving the whistle-blowers as heroes. This is something that we should bear in mind for the future and I...