21/07/2020 | President
Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has urged European governments to do more to crack down on online hate, in a statement to mark the European Day for the Victims of Hate Crime (22 July). “Online hate is getting worse and worse,” said the President...
15/07/2020 | President
PACE President Rik Daems has appealed to European governments, currently negotiating a 750 billion euro recovery fund in the context of Europe's pandemic crisis, to dedicate part of it to a common vaccination programme. "Such a recovery plan must include a joint vaccination programme, co...
08/07/2020 | President
The European Convention on Human Rights, as well as many other Council of Europe legal instruments that form our Convention system, set clear “red lines” that cannot be crossed even in times of severe public health emergency, PACE President Rik Daems said today. “We have to protect the lives of...
24/06/2020 | President
Strasbourg, 24.06.2020 – “I am extremely worried by the persistent deadlock in the Middle East peace process. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians remains a major source of instability for the whole region,” said Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...
04/06/2020 | President
PACE President Rik Daems has underlined the need to keep democratic safeguards in place during and after a pandemic, particularly parliamentary scrutiny of the executive, and again warned governments against trying to keep some restrictions in place once the COVID-19 crisis was over. Speaking...
04/06/2020 | President
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, the Chair of the Committee of Ministers and Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, and the President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Rik Daems...
09/05/2020 | President
“Life after the Corona crisis will be different – but our rights and freedoms should stay the same,” said PACE President Rik Daems in a special video message to mark the Schuman Declaration (9 May) and the forthcoming 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. “In the Council of...
04/05/2020 | President
“The Council of Europe was born on the ashes of World War Two, thanks to brave people who, in a spirit of sacrifice, resisted tyranny and oppression to affirm the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...
30/04/2020 | President
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has recalled the vital role of journalists and the media in a democratic society. “In the age of misinformation and propaganda, professional and reliable...
23/04/2020 | President
Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, spells out the red lines no democracy should cross, even in a crisis – and warns that the COVID-19 emergency measures fast-tracked by governments around Europe should not become “the new normal”.
16/04/2020 | President
The Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) issued the following joint statement:
09/04/2020 | President
“Until enough people have been vaccinated against this coronavirus, we must limit its spread. One way is to track-and-trace infected people and those whom they meet. But this has huge privacy implications and will need very careful regulation to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law,” said Rik Daems.