01/09/2009 | Monitoring
Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee on Bosnia and Herzegovina, will start today a four-day fact-finding visit to Banja Luka, Mostar and Sarajevo to take stock of the implementation of Resolution 1626 (2008) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the Council of Europe, and of progress with regard to the constitutional reform.
18/08/2009 | Monitoring
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Evguenia Jivkova (Bulgaria, SOC), PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan, said today they were saddened to learn of the death in prison of Novruzali Mammadov, a prominent member of the Talysh ethnic community who is considered a political prisoner by the Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan. PACE had made numerous calls for his release, including on humanitarian grounds, given his age and state of health, which "fell on deaf ears", they said.
23/07/2009 | Monitoring
Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) and Leonid Slutsky (Russian Federation, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee on Monaco, are to make a fact-finding visit to the Principality on 27 and 28 July, to take stock of the honouring of its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe and finalise the report to be debated during the autumn PACE session (28 September – 2 October 2009).
13/07/2009 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs for Georgia of the PACE Monitoring Committee, Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), have welcomed the statement by the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, David Bakradze, that the draft amendments to the laws on rallies, police and administrative offences will be submitted to the Venice Commission to ensure their compliance with Council of Europe standards of democracy and human rights.
08/07/2009 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Ukraine, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), have called on the Ukrainian parliament to pass a law on the presidential election which takes fully account of Council of Europe recommendations. Draft law No. 4741 on the presidential election is currently under discussion in the Verkhovna Rada, which is due to decide on it tomorrow, Thursday 9 July 2009.
07/07/2009 | Monitoring
In the context of the monitoring procedure relating to Montenegro's honouring of its obligations and commitments, Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE), co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee, are starting today a fact-finding visit to Podgorica, during which they are due to meet the President of the Republic, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice.
24/06/2009 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee today urged the Parliament of Azerbaijan to seize the Venice Commission for an opinion on a package of amendments to the legislation on NGOs prior to their adoption, as well as for an opinion on the amendments on the Law on Freedom of Religion adopted in May 2009, in line with the spirit of co-operation with the Venice Commission set forth in the decree of the President of Azerbaijan of 3 April 2009.
23/06/2009 | Monitoring
The PACE Monitoring Committee held an exchange of views today on the situation in Moldova and made public the information note on follow-up to Resolution 1666 (2009) prepared by the committee’s co-rapporteurs, Josette Durieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), on the basis of their visit to Chisinau on 10 June 2009. In this note the rapporteurs called on the authorities to apply scrupulously the new provisions of the Electoral Code. They also recommended that the Assembly Bureau appoint a strong delegation to observe the elections in Moldova on 29 July 2009.
17/06/2009 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs Josette Durrieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD) for the monitoring of Moldova’s obligations and commitments, today took note of the positive changes to the Electoral Code which the Moldovan Parliament adopted on Monday and which tend in the direction of the Venice Commission’s and the Assembly’s recommendations. These changes, which were adopted by 59 out of 101 votes, the opposition having declined to associate itself with the ballot, are intended to reduce the electoral threshold from 6% to 5%, and the participation threshold from 50% plus one vote to 33% plus one vote.
15/06/2009 | Monitoring
Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE co-rapporteurs on the monitoring of the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia, will be making a fact-finding visit to Yerevan on 16 and 17 June 2009, as part of the implementation of PACE Resolutions 1609 (2008), 1620 (2008) and 1643 (2009) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. The co-rapporteurs are to meet the President of the Republic Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian and the Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan.
10/06/2009 | Monitoring
Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, are to make a fact-finding visit to Belgrade on 12 June, during which they are due to meet the President of the Republic, Boris Tadic, to discuss the authorities' practical plans to honour their remaining obligations and commitments, in the spirit of Assembly Resolution 1661 (2009). Talks are also scheduled with the members of the Serbian delegation to PACE.
08/06/2009 | Monitoring
Josette Durrieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of the obligations and commitments of Moldova, are to make a fact-finding visit to Chisinau on 10 June, as part of follow-up to PACE Resolution 1666 (2009) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Moldova.