17/10/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE members from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macdonia" have agreed a number of steps that parliaments can take to ensure the political independence of public service broadcasting in the region, as well as its stable and secure funding. Public service broadcasters, academics and civil society representatives joined the parliamentarians to discuss the issue at a seminar in Zagreb on 15 October.
17/10/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Member states must set up robust procedures to enable local and regional authorities to take part in consultation processes,” confirmed Sir Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on Local and Regional Authorities, in a plenary debate during the 23rd session of the Congress held in Strasbourg today.
16/10/2012 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), PACE rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, will make a fact-finding visit to Turkey on 17-19 October 2012, in preparation for his report on “Management of mixed migration and asylum challenges beyond the European Union’s eastern border”.
15/10/2012 | Monitoring
Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC) and Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by the Republic of Moldova, started today a fact-finding visit to Chisinau until 19 October. They will be especially interested in the current political situation, the reform of justice, the measures taken to combat corruption and organised crime, and the implementation of Assembly Resolutions 1572 (2007), 1666 (2009) and 1692 (2009).
15/10/2012 | Elections
Montenegro’s early parliamentary elections on 14 October took place in a peaceful and pluralistic environment with respect for fundamental rights, although continued lack of confidence needs to be addressed, international observers said in a statement issued today.
12/10/2012 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
At the end of his three day visit to Rome and Sicily, the PACE rapporteur on "The arrival of mixed migratory flows to Italian coastal areas", Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), met with some of the survivors of the recent boat tragedy off Lampedusa in the migrant detention centre of Contrada Milo in Trapani (Sicily).
12/10/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon this morning welcomed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU). “I welcome the Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU for its contribution to the promotion of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe..."
11/10/2012 | Monitoring
PACE rapporteur for the monitoring of Armenia, Axel Fischer (Germany EPP/CD), today expressed his concern about the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, on controversial criminal charges, by the National Assembly. “This is especially worrying in the light of persistent allegations that political motives have played a role in the charges that are levied against him,” emphasised Mr Fischer.
11/10/2012 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
‘Putting people before politics’ was the theme of discussions in Moscow between Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE), PACE rapporteur on “The War between Georgia and Russia: the humanitarian situation in the war-affected areas”, and Russian representatives. “I have now been able to put my message across of ‘people before politics’ in dealing with humanitarian issues in my visits to Russia and Georgia,” said the rapporteur.
11/10/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE General Rapporteur on Children, Marlene Rupprecht (Germany, SOC), and the PACE General Rapporteur on combating violence against women, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), today welcomed, in a joint statement, the designation by the United Nations of the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October of each year with effect from 2012.
11/10/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, in a wide-ranging assessment of the state of media freedom in Europe, has demanded that Council of Europe member States properly investigate and hold liable the instigators of attacks on investigative journalists and those working with them.
10/10/2012 | Elections
A 10-member delegation of the PACE, led by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), will travel to Montenegro from 12 to 15 October to observe the early parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights(ODIHR).