30/11/2009 | President
“Although it expresses the popular will, the decision to ban the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is a source of profound concern to me”, said PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, commenting today on the referendum of 28 November. “On the one hand, this position reflects fears within the Swiss population – and the population of Europe as a whole – regarding Islamic fundamentalism; on the other, far from helping to tackle the causes of fundamentalism, it is likely to encourage feelings of exclusion and deepen the rifts in our societies”, he added.
30/11/2009 | President
"My most sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of Friday's bomb attack," said President de Puig, responding to reports of a terrorist attack on the Moscow to St. Petersburg railway line. "The Assembly condemns terrorism as an affront to the civilised values of our Organisation and its member states," he added.
25/11/2009 | President
Council of Europe member states should aim to adopt laws in the field of minorities on the basis of the best European practice, declared PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig at the end of a two-day official visit to Hungary (24-25 November). He stressed that Council of Europe standards and instruments, including the expertise of the Venice Commission, its group of independent legal experts, should be used to settle possible conflicts. Besides this legal framework, the Parliamentary Assembly represents the most appropriate forum to pursue political dialogue on these issues, the President pointed out.
20/11/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig has written to the new President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the new EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Baroness Ashton to congratulate them on their election. In his letters, he stressed the “common aim” of the two bodies, the EU and the Council of Europe, to create a stronger European identity, built around common values, and invited them to address the Assembly soon.
19/11/2009 | President
PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, will be making an official visit to Hungary from 23 to 25 November. He is scheduled to hold meetings with President László Sólyom, the Speaker of the National Assembly Béla Katona, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, the State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry Vilmos Szabó, and with the State Secretary, Head of the Foreign Affairs’ Office Péter Sárdi.
19/11/2009 | President
“This is good news – and another step in the right direction,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, reacting to today’s decision by Russia’s Constitutional Court concerning the death penalty. “However Russia promised, when it joined the Council of Europe thirteen years ago, to abolish the death penalty in law and ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights. It remains the only Council of Europe country which has not done so.”
12/11/2009 | President
At the end of a five-day official visit to Japan, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today said that co-operation between Japan and the Council of Europe should be strengthened, at both parliamentary and intergovernmental level, as well as in the field of legal co-operation.
05/11/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig will be conducting an official visit to Japan from 9 to 12 November. Meetings are scheduled with the Speaker of the House of Councillors (the upper house of the Japanese Parliament), the Vice-Speaker of the House of Representatives (the lower house), the Minister of Justice, the Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Director General of the European Affairs Bureau, and the Minister of State for Financial Services and for Postal Reform, who is also Chairman of the Parliamentary Members’ League for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
05/11/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today welcomed the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 and expressed the hope that accession by the European Union (EU) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), made possible by the Treaty, would be a priority for the EU. "As from next month, the 27-member EU will be in a position to become more democratic, more transparent and more effective.
23/10/2009 | President
At the end of his visit to Ukraine, and in view of the forthcoming Presidential election, PACE’s President today recalled the need for free and fair elections to confirm the democratic achievements of the country. Lluís Maria de Puig welcomed the willingness of the authorities to take into consideration the opinion of the Venice Commission on the Law on the Election of the President, as well as the readiness of the authorities to provide support and assistance to the work of the PACE observer delegation.
19/10/2009 | President
To mark the 3rd European day against human trafficking and the EU conference on the subject in Brussels from 19 to 20 October, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today called on Council of Europe member states that had not already done so to sign and/or ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. He welcomed the establishment of mechanism to monitor this Convention - the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Being, or GRETA - and invited the EU to continue to co-operate with the Council, to avoid any duplication of monitoring arrangements, and to accede to the anti-trafficking convention as soon as possible.
13/10/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig has ended a three-day visit to Turkey by expressing his personal support for Turkey’s accession to the European Union and his conviction that continuation of democratic reforms will help the country achieve this objective. “I expressed my appreciation for the democratic reforms accomplished by Turkey, and encouraged the authorities to continue these in order to reinforce democratic institutions in the country, including through constitutional reform,” the President said. He also called for the creation of the institution of Ombudsman, and the extension of minority rights.