19/03/2010 | Monitoring
Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) and György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD), the new co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Russia, will make their first visit to the country from 22 to 24 March 2010 to assess the state of Russia’s honouring of its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe. In Moscow, they will hold an exchange of views with the Russian authorities and political forces on this question, and make a preliminary political evaluation of the situation.
19/03/2010 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee has welcomed the progress made by Bulgaria since the last Assembly debate concerning that country in January 2000. The text adopted yesterday in the framework of post-monitoring dialogue states that the ruling centre-right movement GERB (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria) "has set ambitious objectives and committed itself to continue democratic reforms", in particular to guarantee the proper functioning of justice and combat corruption and organised crime.
17/03/2010 | Monitoring
Karin Woldseth (Norway, EDG) was today appointed as co-rapporteur for the Assembly’s monitoring of Bosnia and Herzegovina, alongside Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD). She replaces Mevlüt Çavusoglu, who was recently elected as President of the Assembly.
17/03/2010 | Monitoring
While welcoming Montenegro’s substantial progress in implementing its commitments since accession to the Council of Europe in 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly's Monitoring Committee this morning called on the Montenegrin authorities to "maintain the current reform dynamic in order to catch up with the deadlines" and complete the implementation of the remaining post-accession commitments.
10/02/2010 | Monitoring
Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC) and Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) started yesterday a fact-finding visit to Azerbaijan in view to finalise their report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan vis-à-vis the Council of Europe.
02/02/2010 | Monitoring
“The Armenian authorities need to implement the reforms recommended by the ad hoc Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia on the events of 1 and 2 March 2008, without further delay,” concluded PACE co-rapporteurs, John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) and Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD), following an exchange of views in the PACE Monitoring Committee last week. “The reforms recommended by the ad hoc Committee, in combination with those contained in the relevant PACE resolutions, if implemented in good faith, could comprehensively address the circumstances that led to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008,” the co-rapporteurs said.
05/01/2010 | Monitoring
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, and Christoph Strässer (Germany, SOC), rapporteur on the follow-up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan by PACE, today welcomed the decision by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on 25 December 2009 to pardon 99 prisoners. Some of these prisoners are on the lists of alleged political prisoners of local human rights NGO’s. The pardoning decree also includes opposition Bizim Yol newspaper correspondent Mushvig Huseynov, who has been mentioned in PACE reports.
23/12/2009 | Monitoring
“We have taken note of the final judgment by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights which says that prohibiting a Rom and a Jew from standing for election to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly and for the State Presidency in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to discrimination and breaches their electoral rights,” the PACE co-rapporteurs on the functioning of democratic institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD), said on 23 December.
22/12/2009 | Monitoring
The recommendations of the ad hoc Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia into the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 provide “a comprehensive, although not complete” response to the political crisis, according to an information note by PACE's co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia made public this week.
21/12/2009 | Monitoring
PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs for Ukraine have expressed their concern at current attempts in the Verkhovna Rada to suspend the enactment of three laws of the anti-corruption package adopted last June – which, among other things, prohibit the private funding of courts – and called for their rapid implementation. “The funding of the courts outside the government budget, ie. with private means, would be a continuous potential for corruption and run counter to European standards,” said Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE) in an information note made public this week.
21/12/2009 | Monitoring
PACE rapporteurs have welcomed the release of three more Georgian teenagers by the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali. “This is good news,” said Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), co-rapporteur on the war between Georgia and Russia, and Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the humanitarian consequences of the war. “We hope this will help to lower tension in the region, which is sorely needed, and may herald further releases of prisoners on both sides.”
17/12/2009 | Monitoring
Only urgently-needed Constitutional reforms can unblock the “deadlock” within the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a PACE committee said in a draft report approved in Paris today. The report – by Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD) – demanded “meaningful and constructive dialogue” between all domestic stakeholders on concrete proposals to amend the Constitution ahead of the autumn 2010 elections.