29/01/2023 Session
An urgent debate on the legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, with the participation of Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was one the highlights of the Winter plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), held in Strasbourg from 23 to 27 January 2023.
On the #RoadToReykjavik, a report on the fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, to be held in the Icelandic capital on 16 and 17 May, presented PACE's proposals.
There were also addresses by the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrin Jakobsdóttir and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić presented her communication to PACE members. The Assembly also elected its President and Vice-Presidents.
The Assembly also held current affairs debates on "Recent tensions between Pristina and Belgrade" and on "Addressing the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of the Latchin corridor".
Combating violence against women was also a focus of the session, with a first debate on conflict-related sexual violence, and a second joint debate on the Istanbul Convention, on the role and responsibility of men and boys in stopping gender-based violence against women and girls, and on finding solutions for marital captivity.
Other topics on the agenda included the environmental impact of armed conflict, Daesh foreign fighters and their families returning from Syria and elsewhere, and the ethical, cultural and educational challenges of contact tracing applications.
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Practical information
Website: The agenda, documents, voting results, speakers lists, video recordings of each sitting (in English and in the original languages), as well as the verbatim record of each sitting (in English, French, German and Italian), are available on the Session’s special page. News items on all debates appear on the Assembly’s home page.
Webcast: The session was webcast live (in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Greek) on PACE’s website. Each sitting was also streamed live via the Assembly’s YouTube channel in original languages only, scrollable in mid-stream, and a recording made available immediately after it ended.
Video clips: We offer an online tool which allows video clips from PACE plenary sessions to be swiftly edited and downloaded.
Social media: Follow the Assembly’s official accounts via Twitter (#PACEwinter2023) and Facebook.
Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93; [email protected].
