15/10/2024 | President
Addressing the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at its 47th plenary Session today, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos highlighted the most pressing challenges the Assembly and the Congress both needed to face, including democratic backsliding, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the...
11/10/2024 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Under the chairmanship of Alexis Tsipras (Greece, UEL), PACE’s Sub-Committee on the Western Balkans met in Belgrade on 10-11 October 2024, at the invitation of the Serbian parliament. Addressing the meeting, Ana Brnabić, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, emphasised the...
10/10/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
An award-winning documentary film showing the human stories behind migration to European shores was screened for parliamentarians on the margins of the PACE plenary session in Strasbourg as the Assembly debated the fates of missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and new proposals to tackle...
10/10/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
According to the Committee on Migration, demographic ageing in Europe and the worrying reduction in the youth and working age population will have profound implications, not only for individuals, but also for governments and business, impacting in particular health and social care systems, labour...
09/10/2024 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the eve of the 22nd World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty, Gala Veldhoen (Netherlands, SOC), made the following statement: “This year’s theme, ‘The death penalty protects no one,’ is a timely reminder of the persistent...
07/10/2024 | President
“It has been one year since the horrific acts of terror carried out by Hamas against Israel, killing over 1,250 men, women and children in a brutal attack, and taking over 250 people hostage,” PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos said today. “I reiterate the Assembly’s unequivocal condemnation of...
04/10/2024 | Session
Expressing its concern at the lack of consistency in the legislation of member states aimed at combating the smuggling of migrants, PACE today proposed that the Council of Europe draw up an instrument on the smuggling of migrants “which ensures as much consistency as possible in the understanding...
04/10/2024 | Session
Noting that the metaverse represents a new frontier for digital technology, the Parliamentary Assembly is nevertheless concerned that governance and legislation struggle to keep pace with technological innovation, and that questions of accountability for criminal behaviour in the metaverse...
03/10/2024 | Session
Ninety years on from the Holodomor, Stalin's genocide by artificial famine which resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33, Ukraine again faces the threat of genocide, PACE has declared, urging all governments to help the people of Ukraine "fight off the ongoing genocidal...
03/10/2024 | President
In the second edition of “Round table with the President”, a brand-new video podcast in which PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos hosts leading figures who act to uphold Council of Europe values, 2024 Havel Prize winner María Corina Machado dedicates the award to the millions of Venezuelans who...
03/10/2024 | Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today, Timcho Mucunski, North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, reaffirmed his country's steadfast dedication to European values, human rights, and the rule of law. Minister Mucunski emphasised that...
03/10/2024 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly today decided to refer the report on “Protecting the human rights and improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation” back to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, following the proposal of the Chair of the Committee on Equality...