03/06/2007 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs of PACE's Monitoring Committee today called on Ukraine’s political forces to come to an agreement on building democratic institutions, carrying out legal reform and fighting corruption, despite political infighting. Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of an eight-day monitoring visit, Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend said they wanted to be able to recommend the lifting of monitoring but needed assurances from the Ukrainian authorities that they were “committed to engaging in serious, coherent and well-targeted reforms”. There were “positive signs”, they said, but “substantial concerns remained”.
11/05/2007 | Monitoring
Speeding up judicial reform, building consensus between ethnic groups and making the fight against corruption more effective will be among issues discussed when the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) meets leading members of the government of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” on Tuesday 15 May in Skopje. The committee is due to hold exchanges of view with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the President of the Assembly Ljubisha Georgievski, Vice-Prime Minister for European Integration Gabriela Konevska Trajkovska, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski.
05/04/2007 | Monitoring
Although “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” has made “enormous strides” to meet its Council of Europe commitments, state authorities should significantly speed up the implementation of reforms in the areas of justice, rule of law, decentralisation and fight against corruption and organised crime, PACE’s Monitoring Committee says in an information report made public following a recent fact-finding visit of the Committee’s Chair Eduard Lintner (Germany, EPP/CD).
05/04/2007 | Monitoring
In its annual report, the Monitoring Committee says progress has been made in all 13 countries under a monitoring or post-monitoring procedure, but also points to “setbacks” and lists problem areas – such as free and fair elections, full respect for the principle of the rule of law, or corruption. The committee also makes recommendations to the 11 non-monitored states subject to this year’s cycle of periodic reports. The report constitutes the committee’s contribution to the plenary session’s special debate on the state of democracy and human rights in Europe, scheduled for Wednesday 18 April.
30/03/2007 | Monitoring
“PACE monitoring is a mutal enterprise, not a one-sided interference in internal affairs,” said Luc van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee, speaking at the end of a visit to Novosibirsk and Moscow from 26 to 29 March 2007. “Our intention is to end PACE’s monitoring of Russia as soon as possible, but for this we need the full co-operation of the Russian authorities,” said Mr Pangalos at a Moscow press conference.
23/03/2007 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Russia of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC), will make a fact-finding visit to Novosibirsk and Moscow from 26 to 29 March to assess the country’s honouring of its obligations and commitments.
27/02/2007 | Monitoring
Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), the Assembly’s co-rapporteur for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, has said he is “extremely disappointed” that the issue of a license for the TV station ANS has still not been definitively resolved. “I am disappointed that a second tender has been announced after it was discovered that ANS was the only bidder in an earlier tender,” he said, in an interview. “It was never a public condition that there should be more than one bidder.” Azerbaijan had promised, when it joined the Council of Europe, not to use administrative means to restrict media, Mr Lloyd pointed out. The Monitoring Committee is due to make public its assessment of Azerbaijan – taking into account the recently-received comments of the authorities – on 28 March.
23/02/2007 | Monitoring
Two members of PACE's Monitoring Committee travelled to Brighton and London on 26 and 27 February 2007 to look into allegations of irregularities involving postal and absentee votes in the United Kingdom. Former German Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin (SOC) and Polish Senator Urszula Gacek (EPP/CD) will now report to the Monitoring Committee, which will decide whether or not allegations of electoral fraud merit the opening of the Assembly’s “monitoring procedure”.
16/02/2007 | Monitoring
Former Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin (Germany, SOC) and Senator Urszula Gacek (Poland, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs of PACE’s Monitoring Committee, will be in London on 24 and 25 February to assess whether or not electoral fraud in the United Kingdom merits the opening of the Assembly’s full monitoring procedure
25/01/2007 | Monitoring
Continual confrontation in Ukraine is frustrating hopes for a political consensus in making strategic decisions or stepping up the badly-needed reform process, PACE’s monitoring co-rapporteurs have warned. In an information note, Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, ALDE) and Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) regretted the "incessant tug-of-war" between President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovich, and said the "promises of the Maidan" had not been met. They called on Ukraine to resolve its constitutional crisis in order to move ahead with serious reform.
23/01/2007 | Monitoring
"Disagreements between countries are normal; but they must be solved through dialogue and negotiations", according to a statement adopted by PACE'S Monitoring Committee. The members of the Committee strongly encouraged the parliamentary delegations of Georgia and Russia "to pursue the constructive dialogue that they engaged in during the Committee meetings and also within the framework of the forum for parliamentary democracy provided by the Assembly."
18/01/2007 | Monitoring
“I have positive impressions of the progress made by ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ in such a short time,” said the chair of PACE’s Monitoring Committee Eduard Lintner (EPP/CD, Germany), speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Skopje (16-18 January 2007) in the framework of post-monitoring dialogue with the country. Mr Lintner said he was happy there was general consensus on achieving EU and NATO membership, and the large-scale reforms needed to achieve those goals, but said the speed of progress had recently slowed. He called for “concentrated efforts” by the new government to engage all political forces in the process of carrying out vital reforms.