10/02/2025 Secretary General of the Assembly
“Supporting the European perspective of Western Balkans has been a priority for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since my election as its Secretary General back in January 2021”, today said Despina Chatzivassiliou addressing the Meeting of Secretaries Generals of EU Parliaments, organised in Budapest on 9-10 February in the framework of the Parliamentary dimension of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU.
“We have tried to help the process with debates introduced by former Prime Minister George Papandreou in 2021 and 2022, addresses by heads of government and ministers from Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia. We have held a meeting on Western Balkans in Belgrade, and launched inter-parliamentary cooperation activities in Skopje and Tirana. We had also a very important meeting in this very room in November 2021 with former EU enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi”, she stressed.
“Only two weeks ago our Parliamentary Assembly adopted a text based on a report by Dora Bakoyannis on the need for a renewed rules-based international order calling again the EU to accelerate its enlargement process. For us, supporting the European perspective of candidate States making use of the tools and standards of the Council of Europe is a priority”, the PACE Secretary General stated.
“We have also been supporting the accession of Ukraine and Moldova, we have developed cooperation projects with these two countries and also with Georgia in the field of elections. Last but not least, we would like to develop further cooperation with the European Parliament, including through INTER-PARES projects.”
She concluded by reminding the invitation to all participants to the European Conference of Speakers of Parliament and to the meeting of Secretary Generals of Parliament on 20-21 March in Strasbourg.
