24/06/2026 | 11:45:01 Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I would like to sincerely thank the rapporteur, Ms Deborah BERGAMINI, for choosing this timely and strategically important topic and for preparing a report that goes beyond technology and addresses one of the defining political challenges of our time. This report is about artificial intelligence (AI), but in reality, it is about democracy, power and trust. Artificial intelligence is becoming a new source of economic, political and geopolitical power. For... 23/06/2026 | 17:11:43 I would like to start by commending the report of Ms Victoria TIBLOM and Mr Yunus EMRE. It is concentrated mainly on the current political and social tensions in Serbia. I fully support the calls on the Serbian authorities to avoid the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against protesters and members of the student movement. At the same time, we expect that the authorities have to investigate promptly, independently and effectively cases of violence against protesters and cases of... 22/06/2026 | 17:37:07 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Madam Chair, First of all, I would like to thank the rapporteur and the election observation mission for their work and for their balanced assessment of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. The report rightly highlights the growing role of social media, the spread of disinformation and the increasing polarization of political debate. In my view, however, one trend deserves particular attention. Politics is increasingly moving from the... 02/10/2025 | 20:08:33 I shall now put the amendment to the vote. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. I call for the result to be displayed. The amendment is rejected. This was the last amendment of the draft resolution. We will now proceed to vote on the draft resolution contained in Document 16243, as amended. A simple majority is required. The vote is now open. I close the vote now, and I call for the result to be displayed. The draft resolution in Document 16243, as amended, is adopted. We are a... 02/10/2025 | 20:02:01 Thank you. The Committee rejected this amendment with a two-thirds majority. I shall now put the amendment to the vote. The vote is now open. The vote is now closed. I call for the result to be displayed. The amendment is rejected. This was the last amendment. So we now proceed to vote on the draft resolution contained in Document 16244 as amended. A simple majority is required. The vote is now open. Now it's open. The vote is now closed. I call for the result to be displayed. It's adopted... 02/10/2025 | 17:17:07 Thank you, Chair. Honourable colleagues, First, let me congratulate Ms Ingjerd Schie SCHOU for her foresighted report and pay the tribute to her 16 years of devoted service to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, during which she was a remarkable teacher to many of us. The representative democracy is facing a profound crisis. Across Europe, election outcomes reveal growing mistrust of institutions and mainstream parties. Political parties have started to lose their role as... 01/10/2025 | 18:18:39 Thank you, President. Distinguished members of the Parliamentary Assembly, Bulgaria joined the Council of Europe in 1992, affirming its unwavering commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the principles of multilateralism and co-operation. For the past 26 years, Bulgarian authorities have engaged actively and constructively in the post-monitoring dialogue with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a process which I believe has fully achieved its purpose... 01/10/2025 | 17:31:02 Thank you, Chair. Dear colleagues, I would also like to congratulate Lord Richard KEEN on the report. Today, we are taking another decisive step towards justice. The establishment of an International Claims Commission for Ukraine builds on the Reykjavík Declaration and on the work already carried out throughout the Register of Damage, which has collected more than 60 000 claims so far. Bulgaria joined the Register early and has been an active participant in the negotiations leading to this... 25/06/2025 | 18:59:58 Colleagues, I sincerely commend the initiative of this report and appreciate the work of our rapporteur, Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ. Currently in Europe we are witnessing many social protests and rallies, including in my country Bulgaria, which also have violent outcomes. Recently, during an anti-euro protest, some police officers were harmed during the rally and the building of the European Commission and the European Parliament in Sofia was damaged. In many cases, the police officers were... 09/04/2025 | 19:35:28 Madam President, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the parliamentary scrutiny of the Assembly of the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has to be admired. This gives parliamentarians the opportunity to be aware of the main problems of the functioning of the legal system in their particular country and on a European scale as well. I shall focus my intervention on the Bulgarian case. Since the decision of the national assembly of Bulgaria from 2012, each year...