29/10/2012 | Elections
Ukraine’s parliamentary elections were characterized by a tilted playing field, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. This was the result, primarily, of the abuse of administrative resources, as well as a lack of transparency in campaign and party financing and of balanced media coverage.
29/10/2012 | Monitoring
Robert Walter (United Kingdom, EDG), PACE rapporteur for post-monitoring dialogue with “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 31 October to 2 November 2012. He will have talks with the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Vice-Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, the Vice-President of the Government responsible for the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and the Ministers of the Interior and Justice.
26/10/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the situation in Kosovo*, will make a field visit on 29-30 October 2012 to assess the political situation. The rapporteur will have talks with the Kosovo authorities, including the President and Prime Minister as well as the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Justice, Local government administration, and Communities and returns.
26/10/2012 | Elections
The heads of the parliamentary delegations of the OSCE, Council of Europe, European Parliament and NATO, and of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission today met in Kyiv to begin the final phase of the international election observation mission.
26/10/2012 | President
Edmond Panariti, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, and PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, will make an official visit to Tunisia on 29 and 30 October 2012. Meetings are to be held with the President of the Republic, the President of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), the head of the government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the leaders of the political parties represented in the NCA and representatives of the country’s civil society.
24/10/2012 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Moldova, Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC) and Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), have expressed their concern at the investigation and prosecution in Transnistria of Alexander Bejan, an 18-year-old high school student, on charges of "threat of a terrorist act".
24/10/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC), who chairs PACE’s Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, has called on the Greek authorities to modify two 2010 reforms to Greek labour law recently judged illegal by the European Committee of Social Rights.
23/10/2012 | Elections
A 41-member PACE delegation, headed by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), will be in Ukraine from 26 to 29 October to observe the parliamentary elections alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
22/10/2012 | President
PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, today issued a call for calm and restraint after the outbreak of violence in Beirut following the funeral of General Wissam al Hassan: “I have sent a letter to the Lebanese Ambassador expressing the Assembly’s wholehearted sympathy and unfailing support following last Friday’s cowardly bomb attack in Beirut.
22/10/2012 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC) and Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD) praised the political will and high ambitions of the Moldovan authorities to fulfill the country's commitments and obligations towards the Council of Europe while awaiting concrete results of the democratic reforms in Moldova.
18/10/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“We all act at our respective levels to combat violence against women and domestic violence. It can be by providing direct assistance and support to victims, running helplines, securing funding for assistance services, implementing action plans, drafting legislation… but more can be done,” said PACE General Rapporteur on violence against women José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD)...
17/10/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The rise in poverty and social exclusion is a threat to the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights by an increasing part of the population and a danger to the social cohesion of our societies,” today said Sir Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC) in Strasbourg, speaking on behalf of the PACE President in the Conference “Building Europe through Human Rights: Acting Together against Extreme Poverty”, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.