10/12/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Top officials and parliamentarians from the Council of Europe and the European Union have discussed ways of strengthening co-operation between the two organisations, in the light of their shared aims, at a PACE parliamentary hearing which took place on Human Rights Day. Participants at the...
07/12/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Strengthening co-operation between the 47-nation Council of Europe and the 27-nation European Union, including EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, will be the focus of a virtual parliamentary hearing to be livestreamed from around 10.30 am CET on Thursday 10th December. The...
30/11/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Over 20 years after the drafting and opening for signature of the Charter of European Political Parties for a Non-Racist Society, the time is ripe to update this text, as we have witnessed changes in the political landscape – with the emergence of populist and xenophobic movements – and in...
30/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"In an already difficult context of the health crisis and now of lockdown, France has once again been struck by cowardly violence and a blind brutality that shatters lives and families. My thoughts and condolences go out to the relatives of the victims," said Marietta Karamanli (France, SOC...
15/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“The unilateral move to open the closed parts of Varosha is clearly contrary to the provisions of the standing international resolutions on the Cyprus issue,” said Dame Cheryl Gillan (United Kingdom, EC/DA), Chair of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly...
06/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I welcome the inter-Libyan dialogue, of which the second round of talks continues in Bouznika (Morocco), between the delegations of the Libyan High Council of State and House of Representatives,” declared Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), PACE rapporteur on “Recent developments in Libya and the Middle...
06/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Chair of PACE's Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Dame Cheryl Gillan (United Kingdom, EC/DA), has expressed concern at the unfolding situation in Kyrgyzstan. “I am concerned by the news of mass unrest and street violence in Kyrgyzstan following the parliamentary elections on 4...
23/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
As states reintroduce extraordinary measures to deal with recent increases in the COVID-19 virus, PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has again warned that “democracy, human rights and the rule of law cannot be allowed to become the collateral damage of the pandemic”. While supporting States and...
23/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“There is a need for a global regulatory framework for AI, with principles based on the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” said the Political Affairs Committee today, which proposed that the Committee of Ministers support the elaboration of a “legally binding instrument...
08/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“My country, my nation, my people now need help,” said Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, former Belarusian presidential candidate, addressing PACE's Political Affairs Committee today during an exchange of views on the situation in Belarus following the Presidential election. “Peaceful protesters have been...
08/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“The prevailing political situation in Belarus is to evolve. We understand that it has not kept up with the times”, Andrei Savinykh, Chairperson of the Standing Commission on International Affairs of the National Assembly of Belarus, said today addressing PACE Political Affairs Committee during a...
08/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“The events that have unfolded following the presidential election of 9 August 2020, including the disproportionate use of force and widespread detentions of peaceful protesters, confirm the need for substantial reforms to bring Belarus’s legislation, institutions and practices in line with...