12/09/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Laws aimed at combating Covid “might be used to further restrict the rights and fundamental freedoms of civil society actors”, PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee has warned. Approving a report by Margreet De Boer (Netherlands, SOC), the committee said Covid restrictions had had a “deleterious effect...
08/09/2022 | Election observation
A pre-electoral delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)* visited Sarajevo and Banja Luka to assess the election campaign and the state of preparation of the General Elections to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 2 October 2022. The delegation had meetings in...
06/09/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights held its meeting in Bern and Neuchâtel (Switzerland) on 5 and 6 September 2022. In particular, it discussed the report of its ad hoc sub-committee which visited Kyiv, Bucha and Irpin at the end of June, and decided to declassify this document...
06/09/2022 | Prizes
The selection panel of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond, has today announced the shortlist for the 2022 Award. Meeting in Prague today, the panel – made up of independent figures from the world of...
31/08/2022 | President
PACE President Tiny Kox and Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić have paid tribute to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In a joint statement, they said: “Europe has lost a great statesman and peacemaker. By bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end, Mikhail Gorbachev...
31/08/2022 | Election observation
A five-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), will make a pre-electoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 5 to 7 September to assess the election campaign and political climate prior to the general elections on 2...
30/08/2022 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“This weekend’s announcement by the President of Serbia that EuroPride, due to be held in Belgrade in September, may be postponed or cancelled, is a worrying step backwards for both equality and democracy,” declared Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI...
24/08/2022 | President
PACE President Tiny Kox, in a message to mark the 31st anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, has again pledged the Council of Europe’s full support in the coming months and years, adding: “Ukraine needs Europe, and Europe needs Ukraine”. “I want to express my admiration for the courage and...
02/08/2022 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The news of the shockingly brutal killing of a Nigerian man in broad daylight in an Italian town is heart-breaking and deeply concerning, but not surprising,” said Momodou Malcolm Jallow (Sweden, UEL), PACE rapporteur on the role of political parties in fostering diversity and inclusion. “This...
29/07/2022 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“On the eve of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons (30 July 2022), I call on everyone to speak out against the immense suffering and abuse inflicted on huge numbers of victims of trafficking,” said Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/CD), Chair of the Migration Committee of the...
23/07/2022 | President
“I very much welcome the ratification by the United Kingdom of the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty which is of tremendous importance for those who suffer from violence against women and domestic violence in all our member States. The United Kingdom becomes thus the 37th State to...
15/07/2022 | Monitoring
Ending a visit to Podgorica (10-13 July 2022), the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for post-monitoring dialogue with Montenegro, Damien Cottier (Switzerland, ALDE) and Nicos Tornaritis (Cyprus, EPP/CD), have hailed recent advances in the fight against...