23/11/2012 | President
“Millions of women throughout the world live in fear and are denied the first human right, the right to live free from violence,” today recalled José Mendes Bota, (Portugal, EPP/CD), PACE General Rapporteur on violence against women, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2012.
22/11/2012 | President
"If we are to be effective and above all credible, we must react firmly in all cases where our member states fail to honour their commitments and obligations," said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon today at the end of an official visit to Berlin, while calling on all member states to assume their responsibilities and show scrupulous respect for democratic and human rights standards.
21/11/2012 | President
"During a visit to the former Stasi prison in Berlin, I was very moved by the testimony of former detainees,” said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon today, speaking on the second day of an official visit to Berlin. “Their accounts of deprivation and suffering touched me deeply. This visit was a reminder for me of our duty to remember all those who suffered under totalitarian regimes, as well as our obligation to ensure that such atrocities never recur...”
21/11/2012 | President
"I have designated rapprochement with the EU as one of the priorities of my presidency. I am absolutely convinced that rapprochement and improved co-ordination with the EU are needed. This is indeed a question not of rivalry, but of complementarity We defend the same values and we must seek to do so in the most effective and efficient way possible, avoiding any duplication of efforts," said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon, speaking today in Berlin.
16/11/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon is to make an official visit to Berlin from 20 to 22 November 2012. He is due to meet the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Bundestag, the Federal Justice Minister and the heads of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs, Legal Affairs and EU Affairs committees, as well as the leaders of the different political groups in the parliament.
15/11/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon and Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), Chair of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and newly elected rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, today expressed their grave concern following the fresh outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip. “The international community cannot stand by and watch as what may become a new full-scale tragedy unfolds...
14/11/2012 | President
“There can be no serious efforts to combat the spread of HIV if at the same time we ignore a section of the population which is infected,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the PACE, speaking in Zürich today at a conference on discrimination against immigrants infected by HIV/AIDS and ways of preventing the disease.
09/11/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon and the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle, meeting yesterday in Brussels, have agreed a series of steps to deepen co-operation and enhance co-ordination between PACE and the European Commission. They agreed to meet much more regularly – every two months, beginning in December – to discuss current issues.
07/11/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon this morning congratulated Barack Obama on his re-election as President of the United States of America. “I send my heartfelt congratulations to President Obama on his re-election and wish him every success. Throughout his first term of office, he has placed social justice, equality and solidarity at the very centre of his actions; these are the same values which guide the activities of the Council of Europe. President Obama has given a commitment to continue along this path over the coming four years."
07/11/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon spoke this morning in Brussels in favour of closer co-operation between PACE and the European Parliament, particularly as regards specific issues of respect for fundamental rights in states both within the European Union and beyond. The President also called for the EU’s speedy accession to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to “fill a gap in the European human rights safeguards”.
30/10/2012 | President
At the close of their official visit to Tunisia, Edmond Panariti, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania, and Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly – accompanied by Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio – called on Tunisian authorities to push ahead with the on-going constitutional reform “so as firmly to establish the foundations of a democratic and pluralistic society in which the rights and freedoms of all individuals are respected...”
26/10/2012 | President
Edmond Panariti, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, and PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, will make an official visit to Tunisia on 29 and 30 October 2012. Meetings are to be held with the President of the Republic, the President of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), the head of the government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the leaders of the political parties represented in the NCA and representatives of the country’s civil society.