27/05/2011 | Monitoring
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Montenegro, will be visiting Podgorica on 1st and 2nd June, where they are scheduled to meet the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Interior, Justice, Human Minorities and Rights, and the Montenegrin parliamentary delegation to PACE.
27/05/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE rapporteur on Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan, Christoph Strässer (Germany, SOC) welcomed the release of Azerbaijan opposition journalist and newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev. “Mr. Fatullayev should never have been imprisoned in the first place”, Mr Strässer said, and recalled that “there is still a large number of similar cases of alleged political prisoners in Azerbaijan”.
27/05/2011 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan, Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) and Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC), welcomed the release of Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist and newspaper editor of the defunct newspaper Realny Azerbaijan who was pardoned by President Ilham Alyev along with some 90 convicts ahead of the forthcoming 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
27/05/2011 | President
Addressing the 2nd Alumni Meeting of the European Forum Cyprus, PACE President today called for a lasting and comprehensive solution for a peaceful and united Cyprus, which would guarantee the legitimate rights of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, in full compliance with the values and principles of the Council of Europe. “In order to build confidence and trust between both Cypriot communities, I have called on political leaders on both sides of the island to multiply bi-communal activities.
26/05/2011 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs for Armenia, John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) and Alex Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD), welcomed the general amnesty that was adopted by the parliament on proposal of the President of Armenia. The rapporteurs noted that this amnesty will result in the release of all persons that are still in prison in relation to the events of March 2008.
26/05/2011 | President
The information according to which the Serbian authorities have arrested the former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic is great news for the future of Serbia, for law and justice and the fight against impunity,” PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said today. He paid tribute to the Serbian authorities for the arrest, stressing that he had repeatedly expressed his confidence in the authorities’ efforts to do everything possible to apprehend the remaining indictees of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
26/05/2011 | Monitoring
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC) and Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) expressed their concern about reports of disproportionate and excessive use of force by the police during the breakup of the protest in central Tbilisi last night.
26/05/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu today welcomed the imminent release of Azerbaijan opposition journalist Eynulla Fatullayev and others, following their pardon by the country’s President Ilham Aliyev. “With Mr Fatullayev’s release, the authorities of Azerbaijan put an end to the injustice done to this journalist, who has already spent far too much time in prison..."
25/05/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Europe must share, not shirk, responsibility for the large number of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants arriving by boat to the island of Lampedusa, a five-member delegation from PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and population has declared.
25/05/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
How to handle the large-scale arrival of irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees on Europe’s southern shores will be a main focus of meetings of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Corfu, Greece, on 1-2 June 2011.
24/05/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“National parliaments should play a key role when it comes to strengthening protection of children and prevention of all forms of violence against them,” Ivan Popescu (Ukraine, SOC), Vice-President of the PACE, said today at the opening of a conference in Kyiv on combating violence against children. He added that it was up to the parliaments to go ahead with reinforcing national legislation and introducing the highest standards of protection.
20/05/2011 | Monitoring
The Assembly’s co-rapporteur for Albania, Thomáš Jirsa (Czech Republic, EDG), has expressed his concern about the growing tensions in the country over the mayoral election in Tirana and called upon all sides to remain calm and move away from confrontation. "I am following developments in Albania closely and with grave concern. I call upon both sides to avoid escalating the situation and to fully respect the legal framework for the resolution of election complaints and appeals," said Mr Jirsa.