18/08/2020 | President
"Events in Belarus demonstrate the paramount importance of the values the Council of Europe stands for. By actively defending their fundamental freedoms, the people of Belarus have chosen the path of democratic change. Therefore, an all-inclusive national political process is urgently needed to...
10/08/2020 | President
Following the Presidential election in Belarus, PACE President Rik Daems made the following statement: “I have been following closely the Presidential election in Belarus as well as the events of last night following the closing of the vote – I deeply regret that this election was far from being...
27/07/2020 | President
PACE President Rik Daems today made the following statement, jointly with Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, General Rapporteur on violence against women, and Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) and Azadeh Rojhan Gustafsson (Sweden, SOC), co-rapporteurs on the monitoring of Poland: “The announcement by...
21/07/2020 | President
Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has urged European governments to do more to crack down on online hate, in a statement to mark the European Day for the Victims of Hate Crime (22 July). “Online hate is getting worse and worse,” said the President...
15/07/2020 | President
PACE President Rik Daems has appealed to European governments, currently negotiating a 750 billion euro recovery fund in the context of Europe's pandemic crisis, to dedicate part of it to a common vaccination programme. "Such a recovery plan must include a joint vaccination programme, co...
08/07/2020 | President
The European Convention on Human Rights, as well as many other Council of Europe legal instruments that form our Convention system, set clear “red lines” that cannot be crossed even in times of severe public health emergency, PACE President Rik Daems said today. “We have to protect the lives of...
24/06/2020 | President
Strasbourg, 24.06.2020 – “I am extremely worried by the persistent deadlock in the Middle East peace process. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians remains a major source of instability for the whole region,” said Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...
04/06/2020 | President
PACE President Rik Daems has underlined the need to keep democratic safeguards in place during and after a pandemic, particularly parliamentary scrutiny of the executive, and again warned governments against trying to keep some restrictions in place once the COVID-19 crisis was over. Speaking...
04/06/2020 | President
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, the Chair of the Committee of Ministers and Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, and the President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Rik Daems...
09/05/2020 | President
“Life after the Corona crisis will be different – but our rights and freedoms should stay the same,” said PACE President Rik Daems in a special video message to mark the Schuman Declaration (9 May) and the forthcoming 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. “In the Council of...
04/05/2020 | President
“The Council of Europe was born on the ashes of World War Two, thanks to brave people who, in a spirit of sacrifice, resisted tyranny and oppression to affirm the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...
30/04/2020 | President
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has recalled the vital role of journalists and the media in a democratic society. “In the age of misinformation and propaganda, professional and reliable...