11/10/2022 | Session
Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins has called for a longer-term vision of the Council of Europe’s role in a post-conflict Europe, and how that might fit within the wider multilateral architecture, in order to effectively uphold human rights, the rule of law and democracy whilst ensuring there...
11/10/2022 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called on the European Union to give new impetus to the enlargement process for the Western Balkans, “rewarding progress in compliance with criteria” and fostering a climate of trust. “It is imperative not to lose the focus on the...
11/10/2022 | Session
States should not “misuse” the EU’s Schengen Information System (SIS) by making unjustified alerts, including on politically motivated grounds, PACE has said. Approving a resolution based on a report by Ziya Altunyaldiz (Türkiye, NR), the Assembly said that – while states had a sovereign right...
10/10/2022 | President
“The Council of Europe supports the brave struggle of the people of Ukraine to protect, uphold and regain national sovereignty and territorial integrity of their country and our member State” President Tiny Kox said today at the opening the 2022 Autumn Session of the Council of Europe...
10/10/2022 | Prizes
The tenth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza. The 60,000-euro prize was presented at a special ceremony on the opening day of the autumn plenary...
10/10/2022 | Session
The PACE contribution to a fourth Council of Europe Summit; the participation of the delegation of the Assembly of Kosovo* in Assembly debates; the 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize; as well as the observation of the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria and the general elections in Bosnia...
10/10/2022 | President
Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Simon Coveney, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Kox, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, have made the following...
10/10/2022 | Session
"The pressing need now is for both sides to reengage in peace talks without further delay. We need to see much greater effort from the international community to ensure that this happens. Above all, we cannot have this issue being subject to global political gains between superpowers vying for...
10/10/2022 | Session
“The crises we are going through today – foremost among them Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine - force us to question what we used to take for granted. They remind us of our duty to stand up for the values we hold dear, and that have been cherished by the Council of Europe since its...
10/10/2022 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Ukrainian diaspora in Alsace, the second largest in France, saw its role and responsibilities change after the 24 February 2022 when Russia's aggression against Ukraine began. In an exchange of views held with the Sub-Committee on Diasporas and Integration, Iryna Petrovska, Vice-President of...
10/10/2022 | Session
PACE today elected, at the opening of its Autumn 2022 Session, Bertrand Bouyx as a new Vice-President of the Assembly in respect of France. Nineteen Vice-Presidents are elected annually at the beginning of an ordinary session and remain in office until the opening of the next session (but a Vice...
09/10/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the occasion of the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD) made the following statement: "In this year’s World Day against the Death Penalty, we focus on capital punishment and the...