20/03/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"In 2006, PACE strongly condemned the massive human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes and expressed sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes", Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the PACE Political Affairs Committee, recalled today at a Conference organised in Toronto on ‘Twenty Years After: Dealing with the Heritage of Communism’.
18/02/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE rapporteur on Belarus, Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), has said he will propose restoring Special Guest status to a delegation from the country’s parliament – provided a mechanism can also be found to associate representatives of the extra-parliamentary opposition. Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), the head of a PACE delegation which has just ended a four-day visit to the country, said: “The Assembly wants to bring Belarus closer to Council of Europe standards. Isolation has been tried and it has not worked. Mr Rigoni’s proposal would allow the beginning of a structured dialogue, partly as a response to some positive developments in the country.”
13/02/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I am extremely disappointed that for the fourth time the Kosovo Assembly has failed to elect an Ombudsperson,” said Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), PACE Rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo. “The Ombudsperson is the main human rights mechanism available to the people in Kosovo. It is an effective institution which, moreover, enjoys the trust of all communities. The fact that this position has been held ad interim since January 2006 risks undermining the credibility of the Institution.”
12/02/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
A three-member PACE delegation will visit Minsk from 16 to 19 February 2009 to sound out the Belarusian authorities on the prospects for developing a constructive dialogue with the Council of Europe and its Assembly in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The delegation is made up of Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE’s Political Affairs Committee, Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), Chair of the Sub-Committee on Belarus, and Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), the Assembly’s Rapporteur on the situation in Belarus.
10/02/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“A normal, dignified life – this is what the ordinary people of Kosovo have told me they would like most,” said Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo, at the end of a four-day visit there, his first since the unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovo Assembly. “Everybody can surely agree at least on this lowest common denominator – that people in Kosovo should enjoy the same legal standards as other Europeans, irrespective of the ethnic community to which they belong, or whether they live north or south of the Ibar River,” he said.
16/12/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In his report on private military and security firms and the erosion of the state monopoly on the use of force, adopted today by the Political Affairs Committee, Wolfgang Wodarg (Germany, SOC) criticises the shift in public security obligations to the private sector. He warns against the uncontrolled activities of European private military and security companies.
28/11/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"I very much welcome the decision of the Belarusian authorities to allow the printing of two independent newspapers – Narodnaya Volya and Nashe Niva – in Belarus and their distribution through the state network," the PACE rapporteur on Belarus Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE) said today. "This is another tangible sign that the Belarusian leadership has a clear understanding of Europe’s expectations and is prepared to respond to them with actions, along the lines indicated in a recent non-paper by the Belarusian authorities on how to improve EU-Belarus relations."
18/11/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Global safety and security depend on co-operation between world leaders, according to PACE Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today. The G20 meeting is a start for co-operation the committee declared. It welcomed the positive attitude adopted by the leaders who participated in the meeting in Washington DC last weekend.
17/10/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
At the end of the Council of Europe Forum on the Future of Democracy, participants today welcomed the current work of the Parliamentary Assembly on e-democracy and called on it to “take further initiatives”, in particular with regard to e-parliament as a way to “help parliaments at all levels, as well as elected representatives, to better fulfil their role as representatives of the people”. E-democracy, they said, “can help to restore the declining interest in politics and the democratic process”.
16/10/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"New technologies and e-voting must serve democracy. The standards evolved by the Council of Europe, particularly as regards the preservation of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, have become internationally accepted norms which must be applied to e-democracy," Luc van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) pointed out today in Madrid at the Forum for the Future of Democracy. He added: "Likewise, it is our responsibility to keep up European standards for the organisation of democratic elections.
16/10/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“We have a duty to be active and interactive. Electronic democracy is already all around us and, like it or not, we have to live with it,” said Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Political Affairs Committee, this morning in Madrid at the Council of Europe’s Forum for the Future of Democracy. As he went on to say, we still need to know how we propose to live with it and above all how to use it for the greater advancement of participatory democracy, human rights and rule of law in our societies, and how we are to reverse the electorate’s disinterest in the democratic process.
15/10/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"As with all technological tools, e-democracy in itself is neither good nor bad," said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today, opening the 2008 Forum for the Future of Democracy in Madrid dedicated to this theme. "The debate on the connection between direct democracy and representative democracy is open, but we don’t necessarily need to choose one over the other: both these forms of participation are desirable and both can coexist," the President said.