28/09/2021 | 17:54:51 Thank you, President. Dear colleagues, Ms Nicole TRISSE and Ms Petra BAYR have presented us with an excellent report with a lot of data in it but which actually takes our discussion way beyond regulating the work within PACE. It is no secret that PACE has long been looked up to by national parliaments as an Assembly with good an effective practices. Practices which merit being transposed into national systems. Practices of equality and inclusivity of the decision-making process, for example... 28/09/2021 | 15:57:48 Thank you. Madam Secretary, First, I kindly thank you for your participation in the Crimean Platform in Kyiv in August this year. Your support for the dialogue around ending human rights atrocities resulting from Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea is immeasurable, as is your support for all dialogue platforms in Europe. At the same time, I would like to ask you how we here at the PACE may improve and diversify dialogue instruments so that the dialogue at this Assembly is not reduced to... 28/09/2021 | 12:24:21 Thank you Madam President, I would like to join in the praise of the author of this report who truly did a remarkable job in presenting us with an all-encompassing study of the issues of socio-economic inequalities across Europe. This report proves, yet again, that economic, social, and political inequalities are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The short-term simple solution is of course to ensure higher wages and more jobs at national state level, accompanied by a fairly... 28/01/2021 | 13:19:41 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) I definitely agree with Frank Schwabe that for the last 2 years have been exactly like ground hog day. Where time and time again a small group of very concerned states is obstinately pointing out to violations by one single very big state. Russia is the single major violator of the Convention and Statute. A country guilty of a whole list of international law breaches, which include aggression, war crimes and human rights crimes... 27/01/2021 | 19:03:59 Thank you, Mister Speaker. Thank you also to the Rapporteur who has so carefully put together this report. In fact, the role of NGOs is crucial in protecting the fundamental values of the Council of Europe such as democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Just like a free press and independent courts, civil society organisations are the ones shedding light on violations that are often committed by respective national governments and imparting opinions which are alternative to those... 26/01/2021 | 12:59:44 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) First of all, I would like to thank Mr Rapporteur for drawing attention to such an important issue. It is up to each and every national State to respect its obligations under the Convention, to protect its people and to protect the rule of law. Courts play a paramount role in this process. This is why reform of the judiciary into an independent, unbiased and unprejudiced force is so important for all countries who find themselves under the... 26/01/2021 | 10:19:41 Thank you, colleagues, I will take a few minutes to explain how the convention and the European Court of human rights are the basic instruments for guarding the European peoples against violators who are often their own respective states. We have to look at the statistics to identify the countries who are most culpable of grave breaches of Human Rights. Year in year out the Russian Federation has led this list was the greatest number of cases admitted to and decided by the European Court of... 25/01/2021 | 19:27:02 Written question I kindly ask you to comment on the plans of the Council of Europe to strengthen accountability mechanisms for violators of the Convention and Statute. Last Thursday the European Parliament called upon the Council of Europe to initiate infringement proceedings against the Russian Federation, following the violent suppression of peaceful protests around the arrest of Mr Navalniy. Despite all the violations, failure to comply with resolutions and the almost €10 million debt... 29/01/2020 | 18:50:58 It is more than two years since the outbreak of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Dear friends and colleagues, this is not the opening line of the speech. In fact it is the opening line of Resolution 2132 adopted by this Assembly in 2016. On 20th February this year it will be six years since the outbreak of that same Russian aggression in Ukraine. Since the very first resolution this house has passed back in 2014 on Russian aggression in Ukraine, Crimea remains annexed and Eastern Ukraine is...