23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which brings together around 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 46 member states, met in Malta on Friday 23 May 2025. The meeting was opened by PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, followed by a...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
PACE has welcomed finalising the draft Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. Stressing the need for rapid and effective cross-border co-operation in the fight against transnational crime, the Assembly also underlined that such efforts...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
“Democracy and peace are not established once and for all, as we might have believed after the end of the Cold War. We must strive to uphold them each and every day continuously in all parts of our continent and beyond,” PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos said today at the opening of the...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
Malta’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers “will be a voice for dialogue, but not at the expense of justice. A host to all, but never neutral in the face of suffering. A builder of bridges, but never an observer of the erosion of human rights,” said Angelo Farrugia, Speaker of the Maltese...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
“We stand ready to do our part in strengthening the engagement and dialogue between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly,” said Ian Borg, Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of...
23/05/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “The absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza" made the following statement today: “The massacre underway in Gaza is man-made...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
Opening a current affairs debate on the need to ensure the survival of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty during the Assembly’s Standing Committee meeting in Malta, Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD) made an appeal for the EU to provide a “stable budget line” to support what he called “a...
23/05/2025 | Standing Committee
Opening a current affairs debate on the role of parliamentarians in safeguarding investment in human rights and democracy amid rising military expenditure, taking place during a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee in Malta, Andrej Hunko (Germany, UEL) said that the new emphasis on defence...
22/05/2025 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
A delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) visited FIFA Headquarters in Zurich on 21 May for high-level discussions on the promotion and protection of human rights in and through sport, with FIFA leadership and experts, including Mattias Grafström, Secretary...
22/05/2025 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The PACE General Rapporteur for political prisoners, Azadeh Rojhan (Sweden, SOC), made the following statement regarding the conviction of Igbal Abilov, a Talysh historian and ethnographer, on charges of high treason in Azerbaijan: “I am deeply concerned by the verdict of the Lankaran Serious...
21/05/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A PACE committee has called on member states to strengthen their national strategies for transitioning to clean, safe and affordable energy — a move seen as critical not only for environmental sustainability but also for social justice and human rights. The committee further underlined that...
21/05/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on Social Affairs, meeting on 16 May in Helsinki, emphasised the importance of rethinking policing strategies in the face of social mobilisation and rebuilding a lasting bond between institutions and citizens, including young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Analysing several...