09/07/2007 | President
The solution of frozen conflicts is crucial for the future development of the South Caucasus region - but this solution must be achieved uniquely through peaceful means, declared the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Réné van der Linden, at the end of his visit to Georgia from 5-7 July 2007.
05/07/2007 | President
“Open borders are a pre-condition for prosperity. We cannot accept closed borders between Council of Europe member States”, declared PACE President in Yerevan. He also stressed that utmost priority must be given to improving relations among the countries of the region as a way to necessary reconciliation and to building a new future for young generations. He called for compromise to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which may be painful but necessary to ensure the development of the region.
04/07/2007 | President
René van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), is to visit Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia from 4 to 10 July 2007. This will be his second visit to the three countries of the southern Caucasus during his mandate. Mr van der Linden will be in Armenia on 4-5 July, Georgia on 5-7 July, and Azerbaijan on 8-10 July. On 7 July, he will visit South Ossetia for meetings in Tskhinvali and Kurta.
02/07/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden today expressed his disappointment that the Russia State Duma had still not assented to ratification of Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights, blocking its entry into force and triggering a partial renewal of the European Court, a complicated and time-consuming process. "By helping the Court to deal more quickly with its backlog of cases, the protocol’s main aim is to ensure individuals receive speedier and more effective justice," he pointed out. "We are all the poorer for this failure."
13/06/2007 | President
The European Union’s approach to European non-member states risks creating “new dividing lines” on the continent, according to PACE President René van der Linden. Addressing the 3rd Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy in Stockholm today, Mr van der Linden said the EU neglected the fact that all Council of Europe member states were equal and had freely accepted commitments on joining. “We do not impose our views or values,” he said. The President also highlighted the importance of a link with the people in a democracy: “Democracy is not worth the name if it is not first and foremost the business of the people and their elected representatives”.
08/06/2007 | President
“I don’t know which is more shocking: that European governments have been complicit in these activities, violating their legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights; or that they have used anti-democratic methods to conceal their actions and frustrate parliamentary and judicial investigations,” said PACE President René van der Linden today, reacting to adoption by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of Mr Marty’s second report on secret detentions and extraordinary renditions.
06/06/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden was in Lisbon on 8 June to meet Portuguese President of Parliament Jaime Gama and the Foreign Minister Luís Amado. Discussions focused on collaboration between the Council of Europe and the European Union – of which Portugal will assume the Presidency in July 2007 – as well as the question of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, and co-operation in the Mediterranean basin.
05/06/2007 | President
“After more than five years, the US authorities are still failing to provide any semblance of justice for the alleged terrorists detained at Guantánamo Bay,” said PACE President René van der Linden today, following the US military court’s ruling that it lacked jurisdiction over the detainees. “The Military Commissions Act has been shown to be just as unworkable as the system it replaced,” continued President van der Linden. “By seeking to exclude legal safeguards provided by the US Constitution and international law, the US government is both flaunting justice and undermining the fight against terrorism.”
04/06/2007 | President
“Europe squabbles while people drown,” PACE President René van der Linden said today when asked to comment on the 18 bodies found floating off the South Coast of Malta last Friday. “Europe is losing sight of its responsibilities,” he continued, referring to the other incident last week when 27 shipwrecked Africans spent 3 days clinging to tuna fish nets in the Mediterranean while states argues over responsibility for the shipwrecked people.
01/06/2007 | President
Speaking at the International Conference on Pan-European Cooperation “Inter-Cultural and Inter-Religious Dialogue” in Saint-Petersburg on 1 June, René van der Linden stressed that neither Europe nor the wider world can afford to enter into a clash of civilisations. “Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue is one of the most important issues of our times”, he said and reiterated his proposal to give an official status to churches with the Council of Europe. Mr van der Linden said he was confident that after the extended debate on inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue at the Assembly’s June session (25-29 June), parliamentarians would vote in favour of recommending a new status for religious bodies.
31/05/2007 | President
“The biggest challenge and the most important task for Europe in the next 10 to 15 years is the integration of Russia into European structures,” said PACE President René van der Linden today, addressing the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Saint Petersburg. “The success of the European continent cannot be guaranteed without a strong and profound partnership with Russia.” The President said that change in a power such as Russia would take more than a fortnight, and that “understanding and patience” was needed. However, he stressed that Russia must also fulfil its Council of Europe commitments, as all member states must do.
31/05/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden met yesterday the Speaker of the Russian State Duma Boris Gryzlov to discuss the importance of the Council of Europe for building closer relations between Russia and the rest of Europe, respect for fundamental freedoms in Russia and the relocation of the Bronze Soldier memorial in Tallinn. PACE President also this morning addressed the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), meeting to celebrate its 15th anniversary. He is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on 2 June.