23/04/2026 | 10:19:15 Thank you, Madam President. Dear colleagues, Speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group, I would like to first of all thank our dear colleague Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS for initiating this debate. Thank you for to Mr Frank SCHWABE for giving us an excellent report. Since Nuremberg, aggression has been called the 'mother of all crimes'. History has taught us that appeasing the aggressor doesn't help. It only leads to more wars, more killings, more destruction... 22/04/2026 | 19:48:13 Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, dear colleagues, for such a lively and important discussion. Dear colleagues, 17 years ago, Mr Sergei MAGNITSKY gave up his life for justice and truth to prevail. This report and resolution make sure that this sacrifice was not in vain. The name of Magnitsky today symbolises accountability. This report is not about Switzerland. The point of the resolution is not about attacking any one member state of the Council of Europe. Dear colleagues... 22/04/2026 | 18:49:08 Thank you, Madam President. Dear colleagues, Sergei MAGNITSKY was a tax lawyer, advising the private company Hermitage Capital Management in Russia. After he uncovered evidence of a massive fraud involving the embezzlement of approximately 230 million US dollars from the Russian Treasury, he contacted law enforcement authorities, as any law-abiding citizen would. Little did he know that the Russian investigators assigned to this case were the very perpetrators of the crime he had uncovered... 22/04/2026 | 16:00:20 Thank you. Dear High Commissioner, The fate of thousands of Ukrainians, such as Mr Oleh PLACHKOVYI, Mr Serhiy TSYHIPA and Mr Oleh SHEVANDIN remains unknown. They are kept in Russian captivity in torture centres. Similarly, the fate of opposition leader Ms Elene KHOSHTARIA, who is a Georgian opposition leader, also remains unknown as she is subject to degrading treatment in detention. Both cases are examples of how illegal imprisonment is used to silence dissent. These cases are on the rise... 25/06/2025 | 19:48:39 On behalf of the ALDE Group, I would like to thank our rapporteur for this very careful consideration of an important matter. Terrorism remains one of the gravest threats to democratic societies and it is essential that the legal definitions we adopt are clear, targeted and resilient against any misuse. As the rapporteur rightly highlights, the very power of such international legislation also makes it vulnerable to abuse. The European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency, as well as the ODIHR... 24/06/2025 | 17:14:10 Thank you, Chair. Thank you to both our rapporteurs in today's joint debate for yet again banging the drum of awareness about the atrocious consequences of Russian aggression and calling the members of this Assembly and the governments of the Council of Europe to act. Both of the reports are accurate in conveying the horrific reality in which we, millions of Ukrainians, live in today. And we live in this reality not for one month or one year, but for months and months which have now amounted... 30/01/2025 | 18:53:48 President. Before I begin, I would like to thank Valentina and this esteemed Parliamentary Assembly for dedicating the efforts to this very important topic and for dedicating the time to fighting off propaganda in the best way that we can in this House. We live in an era where wars are not only fought on battlefields, but also in the digital space. Disinformation has become a weapon and social media is one of its most powerful delivery systems. For years, Russia has waged a hybrid war against... 30/01/2025 | 12:35:46 President, dear colleagues, dear rapporteur, On behalf of the people of Ukraine, let me thank you for the time and efforts this Parliamentary Assembly dedicates to the issue of peace in Ukraine. Until peace – peace through victory, that is – is achieved, this Parliamentary Assembly needs to continue debating. Its committees and all the other bodies need to continue holding brainstorming sessions as to how we can accelerate this peace and this victory. The report is very clear and concise... 30/01/2025 | 10:34:08 Thank you, President, dear colleagues and friends of the Parliamentary Assembly, It is an honour to thank, on behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group, our dear rapporteur Mr Vladimir VARDANYAN for his opinion on this draft convention. The draft convention we see before us has taken in many proposals from this Parliamentary Assembly. It shall undoubtedly soon become the baseline for protecting the rights of human rights defenders across Europe and, I believe, also in... 03/10/2024 | 11:09:39 Thank you, President, and thank you to our rapporteur, Mr Knut ABRAHAM, who is not with us today, but he has brought back the topic of Holodomor to this Assembly and he has reinstated historic justice by calling the Holodomor what it really is. The crime of crimes, the crime of genocide that has been committed by Russian leadership against the Ukrainian people in the 1930s. The Holodomor was just that, the crime of crimes. It was a man-made famine against the people of Ukraine by Russian...