20/04/2021 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE’s General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, Momodou Malcolm Jallow (Sweden, UEL), today made the following statement: “A bill on ‘Strengthening respect for Republican principles and against separatism’ has now been read in the two parliamentary chambers and will be submitted to...
20/04/2021 | Session
Addressing parliamentarians at the Spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić was asked about the danger of imminent armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in the context of the build-up of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. She...
20/04/2021 | Session
In adopting a resolution today, based on the report by Georgios Katrougalos (Greece, UEL), PACE said that taxation was an essential tool for governments to raise the funds necessary for the proper functioning of public services, and that States needed to be provided with a broader tax base to...
19/04/2021 | Session
A minute of silence in memory of Cheryl Gillan At the opening of its spring session, the Assembly held a minute of silence in memory of Cheryl Gillan, “a great European and a most appreciated colleague who left us on 5 April,” PACE President Rik Daems stressed in his opening speech. “Dame Cheryl...
19/04/2021 | Prizes
The eighth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain Alhathloul. The 60,000-euro prize was presented at a special ceremony on the opening day of the spring plenary session...
19/04/2021 | Session
PACE today elected, at the opening of its Spring 2021 Session, Vlad Batrincea as a new Vice-President of the Assembly in respect of the Republic of Moldova. Twenty Vice-Presidents are elected annually at the beginning of an ordinary session and remain in office until the opening of the next...
19/04/2021 | Session
In his opening speech at the PACE spring session, taking place in hybrid manner, PACE President Rik Daems warmly welcomed the presence of some 100 members of the Assembly in Strasbourg, as well as the first physical visit of a Head of State since the beginning of the COVID crisis, the President...
19/04/2021 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“I am surprised and deeply disappointed by the announcement made by 12 elite European football clubs of their intention to launch a European Super League,” said Lord George Foulkes (United Kingdom, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Football...
19/04/2021 | Session
“Where there is popular will, there is change. Where there is political will, there is genuine reform,” today said Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg. Referring to the recent Presidential election, she said that “people voted for...
19/04/2021 | Session
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the organisation of the Assembly's work; the detention of Alexei Navalny; the recent developments in Turkey; the situation in Belarus; the issue of Armenian prisoners following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; elections observations, were among the topics...
19/04/2021 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly today reaffirmed its support for the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities – the first legally binding instrument to recognise the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities as fundamental human rights, and a cornerstone in...
18/04/2021 | Prizes
The overall winner of the 2020 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize - which honours outstanding human rights defenders in Europe or beyond - is to be announced during the award ceremony which takes place on the opening day of the PACE spring session. Learn more about the three shortlisted candidates...