06/12/2005 | News
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden will meet EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana on 7 December in Brussels (12 – 1 pm, 175 rue de la Loi). Their discussions are expected to focus on alleged secret detention centres in Council of Europe member states as well as issues such as the EU’s Neighbourhood policy and Fundamental Rights Agency, EU-Council of Europe co-operation in Kosovo and co-ordinated action regarding Belarus.
25/11/2005 | News
In an information memorandum published today, Dick Marty, the PACE rapporteur who is investigating allegations about secret detention centres in Council of Europe member states, refers to suspicious movements by 31 aircraft allegedly belonging to entities with direct or indirect links to the CIA, and believed to have been used by the CIA to transport prisoners in the “war against terrorism”.
24/11/2005 | News
An eight-member delegation from the Council of Europe was present in the Chechen Republic from 26 to 28 November 2005 on the occasion of the 27 November elections. The delegation – composed of five members of the Organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly and three members of its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – gathered information on the situation in the Republic and will report back to these two bodies with its conclusions. It did not observe the elections.
24/11/2005 | News
Delegations from the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will be in Armenia from 25 to 28 November to observe the constitutional referendum on 27 November 2005. During the visit, the delegations will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Garegin Azaryan, as well as representatives of the media, NGOs and other international organisations.
22/11/2005 | News
René van der Linden has appealed to all Armenian citizens to participate in the forthcoming Constitutional referendum on 27 November. "The revision of the Constitution is a major political event that will affect the daily lives of all Armenian citizens. It is therefore important that everyone expresses their opinion," he said. "This is an opportunity for Armenians to show their commitment to Europe." An Assembly and Congress delegation will observe the referendum.
22/11/2005 | News
trasbourg, 22.11.2005 – The President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, René van der Linden, has appealed to all Armenian citizens to participate in the forthcoming Constitutional referendum on 27 November. “The revision of the Constitution is a major political event that will affect the daily lives of all Armenian citizens. It is therefore important that everyone expresses their opinion,” he said.
21/11/2005 | News
On 25 November, the PACE Standing Committee will meet in Bucharest, at the invitation of the Romanian Senate. The meeting will be opened by the President of PACE and the President of the Senate, Nicolae Vacaroiu. The participants will hold an exchange of views with Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Standing Committee, whose meeting will coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, is expected to adopt a declaration on this subject.
21/11/2005 | News
Senior legal advisors from the Parliament of Ukraine today begin a three-day seminar – organised at the initiative of the Assembly’s Secretary General Bruno Haller – on the legal standards of the Council of Europe. Topics to be covered include parliamentary monitoring, the Human Rights Court and Anti-Torture Committee, as well as other Council of Europe treaties, and the work of the Venice Commission and Commissioner for Human Rights. The advisors will also be briefed on the Council’s work against corruption and money-laundering.
28/10/2005 | News
Leo Platvoet (Netherlands, UEL), who is heading PACE's team of observers at the 6 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, has welcomed recent moves by President Ilham Aliyev to ensure transparent elections, including plans to ink voters’ fingers and his pledge to prosecute officials who interfere in the electoral process. "These respond to some of the recommendations we made to the President during our pre-election visit, and should contribute towards making these elections more democratic," he said. "This is a crucial opportunity for Azerbaijan to show it can uphold Council of Europe democratic standards which, as a member of our organisation, it has promised to do."
20/10/2005 | News
The fight against corruption and organised crime, legislative and electoral reform and freedom of the press are among the main topics which René van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be discussing during his official visit to Albania from 24 to 26 October 2005. The visit is in response to an invitation from the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Jozefina Topalli, with whom the President will hold talks on Monday 24 October. He will also meet the President of the Republic Alfred Moisiu, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Education and European Integration.
13/10/2005 | News
According to the pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on 6 November 2005 are a crucial opportunity for the Azerbaijani authorities to show that they have the political will and ability to organise democratic elections in line with Council of Europe standards and commitments that Azerbaijan itself subscribed to when joining the organisation. This is a chance Azerbaijan cannot afford to miss.
11/10/2005 | News
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden will participate on 12 October in Brussels in a meeting on the “Prospects for an effective EU-Russia policy and dialogue”, organized by the Platform for Democracy and Prosperity in the European Parliament (Room A5H1). The meeting will be opened at 5 p.m. by Ari Vatanen, member of the European Parliament. Guest speakers include Grigory Yavlinsky, Leader of the Yabloko Party, Gerhard Lohan, Head of Unit, External Relations-European Commission, and Tanja Lokshina, from the Center Demos.