01/10/2012 | Session
In his opening address at the 4th session of PACE, its President Jean-Claude Mignon called for "dialogue with our Russian friends and colleagues. I hope that we shall soon have another opportunity to hold an exchange of views with Mr Naryshkin, President of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, who has unfortunately cancelled his trip to Strasbourg during this part-session,” said the PACE President. The tensions surrounding the report made him uneasy for they had no foundation. “We hold our debates according to the principles of dialogue and mutual respect, treating all participants on an equal footing and applying no double standards."
19/09/2012 | Session
Debates on the honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, the humanitarian crisis in Syria (for which a request for a debate under urgent procedure has been made) and the definition of political prisoner, as well as speeches by the Presidents of Albania and Moldova, are among the highlights of the 2012 autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 1 to 5 October.
29/06/2012 | Session
At a press conference on the role of the PACE in the Council’s work in the youth sector, the Assembly President, Jean-Claude Mignon, today announced that a Youth Assembly would be held in Strasbourg from 5 to 7 October.
29/06/2012 | Session
While underlining the link between free movement of persons and freedom of expression, the Assembly today said that some Council of Europe member States have misused their legal right to determine entry into their territory in order to deny entry “to some persons merely as punishment for a political or ideological position they peacefully hold”.
29/06/2012 | Session
In a resolution unanimously adopted today, on the basis of the report by Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), the PACE summarises progress and concerns in ten countries under the monitoring procedure, and in four countries engaged in post-monitoring dialogue.
28/06/2012 | Session
Whilst welcoming the election of the first civilian President in Egypt as a “historical step in the country’s transition to democracy”, the Assembly today expressed its deep concern about recent developments which constitute “real obstacles to a slowly emerging democracy”.
28/06/2012 | Session
The recent creation of a new EU Special Representative on Human Rights may be unnecessary duplication of work already being done by the Council of Europe, warned Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), opening a current affairs debate today on European institutions and human rights in Europe.
28/06/2012 | Session
Mayors of 12 prize-winning municipalities were today presented in Strasbourg with the European Diploma 2012, on the occasion of a ceremony attended by some 50 participants. About ten mayors from several European countries travelled to Strasbourg.
28/06/2012 | Session
Despite facing challenges, Tunisia is “well advanced in its process of reform”, the Parliamentary Assembly declared today at the end of a debate attended by the President of the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia Mustapha Ben Jaafar.
28/06/2012 | Session
Concerned about the critical situation of Roma migrants in Europe, the Assembly today called on the Committee of Ministers to encourage member States to put an end to the collective expulsion of Roma, to reconsider their forced return policies of Roma to Kosovo, and to take the necessary steps to naturalise stateless Roma.
27/06/2012 | Session
While a sound State is not usually possible without a lively and strong democracy, a strong democracy also needs a sound State in order to be able to meet the expectations of the citizens, especially by providing social justice, says PACE in a resolution adopted today, during its biennial debate on the state of democracy in Europe.
27/06/2012 | Session
The PACE today welcomed the substantial progress made by Montenegro in fulfilling its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe. Drawing on the conclusions of the co-rapporteurs on this question, Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Nursuna Memecan, (Turkey, ALDE), the Assembly observed that the country had signed and ratified 83 Council of Europe conventions...