02/10/2025 | 11:20:57 Thank you. Thank you, President. There is a problem with, there are two problems with this report. First of all, the historical events and that has happened with a new peace initiative that is supported by everybody in the region, all the Arab countries and all the European countries. And this should be the scope and the goal to focus by this organisation. And the other thing is that this report has gone beyond the mandate. This was a question of the humanitarian crisis that, of course, we... 01/10/2025 | 17:54:01 Thank you, Chair. Colleagues, Yesterday the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights unanimously adopted the Draft Opinion on the Draft Convention for Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. A new brick in the legal building that we are making in which the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine was a historical path. I would like to thank the Committee rapporteur and Chair Lord Richard KEEN for his excellent in-depth work and report. Due to the... 01/10/2025 | 10:12:44 Thank you, President. We are having this debate because there is a big concern about what is happening in Serbia. Student protests have continued to demonstrate since last November in Serbia. The terrible accident in Novi Sad, where 16 people died, ended in social turmoil. Nobody likes the scenes of violence that we have seen. At the beginning, the students were demanding official accountability for the deaths caused by the collapse of the outdoor canopy of the railway station and an end to... 30/09/2025 | 15:42:56 Thank you, President. In this plenary where we have a lot of disagreement, we have someone who we agree is the best Secretary General in you. Ms Despina CHATZIVASSILIOU, what I ask of you is that you be as professional, as honest a broker as you have been during your first mandate. We are living in very troubled times. The situation of democracy is not easy. We are going to have a lot of debates, a lot of tough situations. But please, continue as you have done, as you have done during those... 30/09/2025 | 12:41:32 Thank you, President. Mr Prime Minister, I want to welcome you. I want to congratulate you for your speech today. You have addressed us in an open and honest way. We are living in troubled times. The political scenario looks like a rollercoaster with ups and downs; very fast. We welcome the clear determination of the governments to follow, the Armenian government to follow the European path. The visit of Mrs Kaja KALLAS in June was a very good example of this commitment. I was going to ask... 25/06/2025 | 22:30:16 Thank you, President. Distinguished President, Welcome to the Parliamentary Assembly. One of the founding fathers of the Council of Europe was Winston CHURCHILL. Today, Mister President, you, with your leadership and defence of your people and Europe as a whole, are a Winston CHURCHILL of our time. And I've felt that way since the first time that I met you in Kyiv. I speak on behalf of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP), the political group which led the report on the legal... 24/06/2025 | 18:13:52 Thank you, President. Colleagues, Last May, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights unanimously adopted the draft resolution based on Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS. Today, we present the draft for final adoption by this Assembly. This is the third report on the legal and human rights aspect of the Russian Federation's aggression prepared by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, following those prepared by Damien COTTIER and our former member, Mr Davor Ivo STIER. I would like to... 24/06/2025 | 15:45:14 I'll be speaking in Spanish. I'll be speaking a little bit more slowly. Corruption is one of the major enemies of democracy, GRECO is doing wonderful work, but some countries haven't published their reports, or they take years to do so, or they fail to follow the recommendations. Now, the initiatives of the Secretary General, what are they on this particular front? Especially in the case of Spain, with the major corruption that's going on there? The Prosecutor has been involved, the Ministers... 10/04/2025 | 12:48:21 Thank you, President Rousopoulos. Colleagues, the committee adopted the draft resolution unanimously last January. I would like to thank Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN for his excellent work as rapporteur on this important issue, which he started some years ago, back in 2020. He closely followed the resumed negotiations between the European Union and the Council of Europe member states, which have resulted in a draft accession agreement provisionally agreed in March 2023. The committee has held several... 09/04/2025 | 19:54:24 Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Colleagues, a huge amount of work has gone into this report. My friend Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU has told us a poem. Perhaps another poem of a Greek poet, Constantine CAVAFY, could serve also in this work. Ithaca. It has been a long journey and I think he has enjoyed the journey, as CAVAFY states in the poem. In his journey, Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU included fact-finding visits to two states, three hearings focused on particular countries, and a wide range...