11/02/2026 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Sandra Zampa (Italy, SOC), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Migration, International Protection and Economic Co‑operation, made the following statement today: “Reports from the central Mediterranean following Storm Harry in January 2026 point to a tragedy of immense scale, with estimates of...
10/02/2026 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE’s General Rapporteur on media freedom and safety of journalists, Valentina Grippo (Italy, ALDE), made the following statement today: “I am deeply concerned by the twenty-year prison sentence handed down yesterday to British media businessman Jimmy Lai by Hong Kong's High Court. Mr Lai was...
05/02/2026 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE President Petra Bayr and Mogens Jensen, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media today made the following joint statement: On the eve of the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina, PACE President Petra Bayr and Mogens Jensen, Chairperson of the PACE...
05/02/2026 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
On the eve of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Luz Martinez Seijo (Spain, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Co-ordinator of the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence, calls for the criminalisation of FGM, a violation...
05/02/2026 | News
The former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Rousopoulos, presented the fifth 2026 ‘Human Rights in Motion’ Award at the FIPADOC documentary award ceremony in Biarritz. The international jury selected Trade Secret, a documentary by Australian...
05/02/2026 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Mogens Jensen (Denmark, SOC), Chairperson of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, and Kim Valentin (Denmark, ALDE), Chairperson of the Parliamentary Alliance for Good Governance and Integrity in Sport, today made the following statement: “We have taken note with serious concern...
30/01/2026 | Session
Addresses by Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan were among highlights of the winter plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which took place in Strasbourg from 26 to 30 January 2026. There were urgent debates on...
30/01/2026 | New Democratic Pact
On 29 January the Parliamentary Assembly established a Special Committee on the New Democratic Pact, demonstrating the importance that the Assembly attaches to boosting democracy in Council of Europe member states and to the Council of Europe’s initiative to launch a New Democratic Pact for...
30/01/2026 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg, today decided “to close the post-monitoring dialogue with North Macedonia”. By adopting a resolution, based on the report by Sibel Arslan (Switzerland, SOC) and Joseph O'Reilly (Ireland, EPP/CD...
30/01/2026 | Session
Marking the 65th anniversary of the European Social Charter, PACE reaffirmed that social rights are a core pillar of democratic stability, recalling that the Charter was drawn up as a “cornerstone instrument” and as the counterpart, in the sphere of economic and social rights, to the European...
30/01/2026 | Session
PACE this morning held a “free debate” on current issues not included in the session agenda. On this occasion, members could speak on any issue which falls within the Assembly’s mandate. Seventeen parliamentarians took the floor.
30/01/2026 | Elections
The Parliamentary Alliance for Free and Fair Elections, which groups over 70 PACE members, has set out new ways to make election observation efforts “sharper and more practical” in the face of acute polarization, foreign interference, large-scale disinformation, cyber incidents, opaque financing...