21/04/2026 | 10:52:16 Thank you Mister President, and thank you very much to the Rapporteur [spoken in French]. "Take a knife and cut a Sweden democrat." Those words were inscribed on our party’s campaign cabin during the election campaign in 2022. And below stickers from a political left organisation. Violence against politicians is on the rise across Europe and beyond, and it poses a direct threat to the very foundations of our democracy. Let us be clear: when a politician is attacked, it is not only an attack... 28/01/2026 | 19:09:53 Mister President, Schools play a decisive role in shaping future citizens. They are places where knowledge is transmitted, but also where respect, responsibility and democratic habits are learned. This report correctly recognises that socialisation in school matters. Participation, dialogue and mutual respect help young people understand how democratic societies function. At the same time, we must be cautious. Schools must not become spaces for political or ideological activism. Education... 28/01/2026 | 10:50:03 Thank you Mister President, This report is right about one thing: democracy cannot be renewed without young people, but participation without limits is not responsibility – it is delegation without accountability. Political formation does not begin with state programmes or classroom activism. It begins at home. Families, not governments, are the first educators in democracy. Schools must teach how democracy works – the rule of law, free elections, separation of powers – not promote political... 27/01/2026 | 16:35:52 Thank you Madam President, Elections are the cornerstone of democracy. Yet, this report reminds us that it is precisely in times of crisis, war, pandemics, natural disasters or severe political instability that elections are most vulnerable. Crises put extraordinary pressure on democratic systems. Authorities may be forced to act quickly, but speed must never come at the expense of legitimacy, transparency, and trust. When electoral standards are weakened, even temporarily, the long-term... 03/10/2025 | 11:30:09 Thank you Mister President, And thank you, rapporteur, Mr Sergiy VLASENKO. As I read the report, I felt slightly embarrassed to learn that there were many more travel restrictions introduced by some of our member states over the years than I had thought, whether they were in regard to visas for travel to other countries or in permitting entry into one’s own country on the part of an apparently unwanted member, often for unspecified reasons. The rapporteur points out, that these restrictions... 03/10/2025 | 10:22:25 Thank you Mister President, Thank you, rapporteur, Mr Petri HONKONEN. Migration remains one of the greatest challenges facing Europe. Our systems are overloaded, our societies under strain, and too often, abuse of asylum procedures undermines public trust. To regain control, we must modernise our tools. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers precisely that possibility. AI can strengthen border management by detecting forged documents, tracking irregular crossings and identifying criminal... 02/10/2025 | 18:53:24 Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, rapporteurs. The right to housing is a social right, not a human right. Let's repeat that. It is not a human right. Yes. Europe is in the middle of a deep housing crisis. Families, the elderly and young people struggle to find affordable homes. Waiting lists stretch for years, and ordinary citizens who have paid into the system for decades cannot access the housing they need. Yet, at the same time, governments continue to prioritise housing for... 02/10/2025 | 17:37:18 Thank you Mister President. And thank you rapporteur Ms Ingjerd Schie SCHOU for an excellent report that could not be timelier. Many of our democracies are experiencing declining voter participation in elections. Then there is "fake news", aiming to sow distrust between our citizens and nations. And corruption scandals and other serious threats. Indeed, we are now facing an existential threat as democracies, in the form of an illegal invasion by a nearby dictatorship into one of our member... 01/10/2025 | 16:07:45 Thank you Madam President [in French], And thank you rapporteur, Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK. I am confident that I speak for all political parties when I say that we all want and need more young people to get involved in politics. And politics have surely become a bigger part of everybody’s life, including young people. The recently murdered Charlie KIRK had made it his life mission to educate young people about politics and gave everybody the opportunity to make themselves heard, no matter what... 01/10/2025 | 10:06:18 Dear Colleagues, The issues we are discussing today are unfortunately not new for us. We are soon coming up on a year since the tragic accident at the Novi Sad train station, when the concrete canopy of the main railway collapsed, killing 16 people and injuring many more. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation. Since I became the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)’s rapporteur on Serbia...