15/09/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Citizens must be able to trust those they have elected to office, PACE Bureau has said in a declaration to mark the third UN International Day of Democracy, celebrated each year on 15 September.
07/09/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
There have been many advances in reconciliation between the countries of the former Yugoslavia over the past few years, but bilateral relations are still fragile, with unresolved issues including territorial disputes and strong nationalistic rhetoric, according to PACE rapporteur on the topic, Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC).
07/09/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Concerned by recent developments in several Council of Europe member states, the Political Affairs Committee of the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Belgrade today, has proposed an urgent debate at the Assembly’s forthcoming autumn session (4-8 October 2010) on: “Recent rise of national security discourse in Europe: the case of the Roma”.
07/09/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), rapporteur on Belarus for PACE, has expressed her concern at the death of Oleg Bebenin, a co-founder of the Charter 97 website in Belarus, on Friday. “Questions have been raised about the circumstances of his death, and I expect the authorities to conduct a full, transparent and exhaustive investigation into this tragic event,” said Mrs Hurskainen, who met opposition representatives in Minsk less than two weeks ago.
02/09/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
A hearing on “Peace-building in the countries of the former Yugoslavia” will be the highlight of a two-day meeting of PACE's Political Affairs Committee in Belgrade on 6-7 September 2010. Topics at the hearing, on Monday afternoon, include the possibility of a trans-national truth commission, justice for war crimes, and EU integration as a catalyst for dialogue. Earlier on Monday, the committee will hold an exchange of views with the Serbian authorities.
20/08/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, will make a visit to Minsk from 23 to 25 August. She will meet the Chairman of the Council of the Republic Anatoly Rubinov, the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on relations with PACE Viktor Guminsky, the Minister of Justice Viktor Golovanov, the Prosecutor General Grigory Vasilevich, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valery Voronetsky, the Minister of Information Oleg Proleskovsky and the Head of the parliamentary working group on the issue of the death penalty Nikolai Samoseiko.
29/06/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In an information note on her fact-finding visit to Brussels from 9 to 10 June 2010, the rapporteur on the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe (Kerstin Lundgren, Sweden, ALDE) considers that while the technical details posed by the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights should be tackled at the intergovernmental level, it is the role of parliamentarians “to provide a powerful political signal in favour of a smooth accession process and its rapid completion”. According to Mrs Lundgren, accession modalities “should be kept as simple as possible”.
01/06/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Discussing today a report by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) on democracy in Europe: crisis and perspectives, the Political Affairs Committee concluded that the world economic crisis had accentuated symptoms of crisis of democracy: lack of necessary regulation and political control over financial interests, highly centralised executive decision-making, concentration of power and money, disinterest in the current institutionalised procedures of democracy...
01/06/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Discussing a report by Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC) on the situation in Kosovo[1] and the role of the Council of Europe, PACE Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, expressed its concern about the poor respect for the rule of law in Kosovo affecting the everyday lives of all persons, irrespective of the community they belong to, and their trust in the political system.
01/04/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I welcome the official condemnation of the Srebrenica massacre, declared by the Serbian Parliament, as a major step forward in the process of reconciliation taking place in the former Yugoslavia. This is a sign of present-day Serbia’s willingness to turn away from the past and to reinforce its place in a Europe which cherishes peace and shares common values,” declared Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), who is preparing a report on “reconciliation and political dialogue between the countries of the former Yugoslavia” for PACE.
24/03/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Sinikka Hurskainen, Jacek Protasiewicz and Uta Zapf, who head the bodies dealing with Belarus for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, have firmly condemned the execution of Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk which, according to human rights organisations, took place in Belarus last week in complete secrecy and which has yet to be confirmed officially by the authorities.
19/03/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Concerned at the upsurge of piracy, PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has encouraged Council of Europe member states to provide naval escorts to ships crossing areas at risk and asked NATO, the EU and countries concerned to renew and strengthen their anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. Following the proposals by the rapporteur, Birgen Keles (Turkey, SOC), the committee called for a common and more relevant domestic legal framework in order to criminalise the act of piracy wherever it takes place. The Assembly will debate this question during its Spring Session (26-30 April 2010).