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... 09/04/2025 | 18:36:19 Thank you, President. [spoken in French] The Committee adopted the draft resolution by overwhelming majority and the draft recommendation unanimously. This report is the fourth report from the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on Russia's full scale war of aggression on Ukraine and we need to ensure accountability. We were the first to propose the idea of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression in April 2022, with a report by our former colleague, Mr Aleksander POCIEJ. We... 08/04/2025 | 16:44:40 Thank you, Chair. The political crisis that happened in Catalonia in 2017 was a clear example of foreign interference. RT and Sputnik distributed nearly 48 000 posts and news about the coup d'état. And those were read by 126 million people. News like tanks in the street of Catalonia, a map that shown a majority of countries recognising the independence of Catalonia, or quotes that independent Catalonia will recognise the independence of Crimea. There were congress for the pro-independent... 08/04/2025 | 10:11:09 Many thanks, Madam President. I shall be speaking the language of Cervantes. Today is a happy day because today is the end of a path. Presenting a report to the plenary is a long trajectory. A report that started almost two years ago with a member of the Group of the European People's Party, Ms Valentina MARTÍNEZ, and which went down successfully with our colleague Ms Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA. Today is a happy day also, because the Council of Europe has a very strong instrument, a powerful... 29/01/2025 | 16:53:38 Thank you, President. I want to begin with congratulations – Ms Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA, also the secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Ms Petra BAYR. The times were not easy. The political heat very high, the expectations extreme. And you follow the mandate of this institution: to promote democracy, human rights and always the rule of law. We are living in troubled times. The invasion of Ukraine is only one chapter in the struggle between the dark forces of... 29/01/2025 | 12:19:16 Thank you, President, Secretary General, ladies and gentlemen, Chief Rabbi LAU, representatives of family of the deceased and survivors of the Shoah, In this temple of democracy, as the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called this room, we are gathered together today to mark in a solemn manner one of the blackest periods, nay, the darkest periods in humankind. We may feel that it is our credit to gather together to mark this anniversary. But, my friends, it... 27/01/2025 | 17:26:20 Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much for all of those comments. Thank you very much indeed for all of your speeches. Obviously, one of the most complex issues that we have had to deal with recently is Georgia. It's something that has been going on for some time. We were already looking at it last year. We realised this morning of course that this is something which is set to occupy us for some time to come. So, the challenges are what they are. We have got the issue of Ukraine as... 27/01/2025 | 16:30:56 Okay, thank you. Mister President. I'm honoured to present to you the latest progress report on the activities of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly. This report covers the period from the Bureau's meeting on 4 October 2024 through to the pre-session meeting on 21 January 2025. It includes key decisions made by the Bureau during its meetings in Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Paris, as well as glimpses into upcoming plans and priorities. I will on purpose limit my intervention to only a few... 27/01/2025 | 12:39:56 Thank you, President, and welcome and congratulations for your elections. Your Holiness, welcome to this Assembly. I am a Roman Catholic and leader of the Group of the European People's Party in this institution, a group with deep Christian values. Thank you for being with us and for the words that you have given to us that have been very inspirational. I am going to ask about one of the challenges of our times. How do you envision the church's role in supporting refugees and promoting peace...