28/04/2006 | News
At the opening of the ''International Conference on European Parliamentarianism: Past and Present'', jointly organised by PACE, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Russian State Duma in St Petersburg, PACE President Rene van der Linden today called on members of Parliament to make more and better use of the instrument of parliamentary diplomacy. "As members of parliaments we play a key role. We can bring our national matters to the international level, we can bring international matters to the national level and more important, we are in the position to involve our citizens in national and international matters. We need to step up the efforts to practices our pivotal role", he said.
27/04/2006 | News
Addressing in St Petersburg a special session of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the occasion of its centenary, René van der Linden today called on Russia to strengthen its role on the European scene using the next Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chairmanship.
27/04/2006 | News
René van der Linden has condemned the arrest in Belarus of opposition politicians at a peaceful rally and called for their immediate release - including Alexander Milinkevic, a candidate in the recent presidential elections.
26/04/2006 | News
On 28 April, the PACE President will be co-chairing an “International Conference on European Parliamentarianism: Past and Present" in St Petersburg.
18/04/2006 | News
PACE President René van der Linden has resolutely and unconditionally condemned the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, calling on all sides to do the same. In a statement he said: "The slaughter of innocent people can never be justified by any cause. It can never be ‘self-defence’. Only last week the Assembly called on Hamas to renounce violence and condemn terrorist actions. It must now do so, clearly and unambiguously. Killing innocents will never bring peace."
13/04/2006 | News
At the end of a debate on the future Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU, PACE today warned that the duplication of activities already undertaken by the Council of Europe could have “disadvantageous consequences” for European integration. “The fact of having two parallel institutions engaged in similar activities within the same geographical region would create new dividing lines in Europe (…) The apparent incoherency of creating a new EU body to duplicate work already satisfactorily undertaken elsewhere would cause confusion amongst a European public already uncertain about the process of European integration,” the adopted recommendation underlines. PACE called on all EU parliaments to give “serious consideration” to the creation of such an Agency.
13/04/2006 | News
Elmar Brok, Chair of European Parliament’s (EP)Foreign Affairs Committee, called for enhanced co-operation between the EP and PACE to relaunch European values and to develop human rights. “The Council of Europe is a champion of human rights and we’re at your side in developing them,” he said today, addressing the Assembly. “We are counting on PACE’s help to develop stronger relations between the EU and the Council of Europe.”
13/04/2006 | News
PACE today called on the Belarussian authorities to “accede to the opposition’s demand for a re-run of the presidential election”, and ensure the pre-conditions exist for it to be free, fair and in line with international standards. At the end of an urgent debate, the parliamentarians encouraged Belarusian democratic forces to remain united and called on the authorities “to immediately release all those detained in connection with the March Presidential election”.
13/04/2006 | News
The Assembly today encouraged Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to continue their efforts to achieve peaceful and permanent settlements of the different conflicts in the region in order to enable voluntary returns of refugees and displaced persons. The parliamentarians also welcomed steps by Armenia and Azerbaijan and, to a lesser extent, Georgia, to begin local integration of refugees and IDPs, while stressing that there were still urgent humanitarian needs which would require international aid.
12/04/2006 | News
"I am determined to fully take advantage of Jean-Claude Juncker’s political vision in the process of conducting the future negotiations on the Memorandum of Understanding. We are all confident that the guidelines and the valuable ideas of this Report will undoubtedly give a decisive boost to the partnership between the two organisations" said Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania adressing the Assembly.
12/04/2006 | News
The Council of Europe must play a leading role in stepping up action to combat any resurgence in Nazi ideology, as well as racist and xenophobic trends in European society, PACE said today. In a resolution based on a report by Mikhail Margelov (Russia, EDG), the Assembly called for a major international conference to prepare such action. “Hitler’s ideas, however outrageous they look today, found sympathy in many European countries,” the parliamentarians said, pointing to worrying recent developments such as daubing of swastikas on graves, the use of Nazi symbols and attempts to deny the holocaust.
12/04/2006 | News
"The European idea has caused a radical switch in the awareness of the Balkan people, people that today prefer cooperation and joining together of the countries in the region. Today, more than ever, the common Balkan people are interested in economic development and global progress both of the region and of Europe in general", today said adressing the Assembly Vlado Buchkovski, Prime Minister of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".