23/01/2024 | Session
At a plenary session debate in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) “unequivocally and in the strongest possible terms condemned the barbaric attack conducted by Hamas and other militia groups against Israel on 7 October 2023”, acts which “cannot be justified on...
23/01/2024 | Session
No candidate having obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast in the first round of today’s election for the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, a second round of voting will be held tomorrow, Wednesday 24 January 2024. The results obtained were as follows: Ms Megleva Kuneva...
22/01/2024 | President
Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/DC) has been elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Taking over from Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL), he is PACE’s 35th President since 1949 and the first Greek national to hold this office. The President serves for a one...
22/01/2024 | Session
The credentials of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have been challenged on procedural grounds on the opening day of the 2024 winter plenary session. Making the challenge, Ian Liddell-Grainger (United Kingdom, EC/DA) said that the new proposed...
22/01/2024 | Session
The credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have been challenged on substantive grounds on the opening day of the 2024 winter plenary session. Making the challenge, Frank Schwabe (Germany, SOC) cited political prisoners in the country...
22/01/2024 | Session
At the opening of its winter plenary Session today, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) elected its Vice-Presidents: Agnieszka Pomaska (Poland)Armin Laschet (Germany)Bernadeta Coma (Andorra)Bertrand Bouyx (France)Blerina Gjylameti (Albania)David Morris (United Kingdom...
22/01/2024 | Session
Commissioner Mijatović calls for determined and collective efforts to regain lost ground and advance human rights “The intensification of challenges to the protection of human rights cannot be an excuse for giving up. Rather, the moment calls for a renewed commitment to the principles and...
22/01/2024 | Session
Addressing the Assembly in the framework of the presentation of PACE’s progress report, PACE former President Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL) cited the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as the main priority of his mandate, “a war that should never have been started, and it now has to end as...
22/01/2024 | Session
Presenting to the Assembly today a report based the findings of the observation of the early parliamentary elections in Serbia, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) recalled the delegation’s statement that assessed that “this elections offered voters a choice between political alternatives and...
13/10/2023 | Session
The Assembly today called on the member States of the Council of Europe “to recognise Vladimir Putin as illegitimate after the end of his current presidential term and to cease all contact with him, except for humanitarian contact and in the pursuit of peace.” The Assembly emphasised that...
13/10/2023 | Session
According to PACE, the Covid-19 pandemic had a “devastating effect” on the mental health and well-being of children and young adults, who have also been affected by phenomena such as the global financial crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, uncertainties on the job market, a war in Europe, the ever...
13/10/2023 | Session
The Assembly strongly condemned “the systemic violence” against women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The parliamentarians urged member States to respect UNHCR's Guidance Note and especially not to return Afghans to Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, where over 95% of Afghan refugees are...