20/04/2021 | Session
“Europe is the continent with the highest human rights standards. (...)However, a look at Europe’s external borders and in the East of Europe shows us that, even today, peace and security, stability and welfare cannot be taken for granted,” said Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, in a...
20/04/2021 | Session
“The Council of Europe’s overall priority is to remain the pillar of democratic security, the guarantor of human rights and rule of law, as well as platform for genuine multilateralism in Europe”, the Assembly said today setting out its vision of the Council of Europe's strategic priorities for...
20/04/2021 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The government of Germany has made a voluntary contribution of €100,000 to support the activities of PACE’s Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence and No Hate Parliamentary Alliance. The Network Women Free from Violence aims to promote the ratification and effective implementation of the...
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...