31/08/2010 | President
Mevlüt Çavusoglu today sent a letter to John Prescott, Chairman of the United Kingdom delegation to the Assembly, conveying the following message: “I was very saddened by the news of the death of Lord McIntosh, whom I knew very well. His friendly and honest character and genuine interest in European affairs made him an outstanding member of our Assembly..."
31/08/2010 | Election observation
A 15-member PACE delegation, led by Egidijius Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), will be in Moldova from 3 to 6 September to observe the referendum on the choice of the presidential election procedure. It is the only European parliamentary organisation which will be present in the country to carry out this observation. The electorate will be asked to vote on the proposed amendment to Article 78 of the Constitution and the introduction of the direct election of the President of the Republic.
25/08/2010 | President
PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, is making an official visit to Romania (29 August-1 September). During his visit, he is due to meet in Bucharest the President of the Republic Traian Basescu, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Roberta Alma Anastase, the President of the Senate Mircea Geoana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi and the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel of All Romanians. He already met representatives of local authorities in Tulcea.
23/08/2010 | Prizes
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has praised the “spirit of openness” shown by the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv during a ceremony to award the 2010 Europe Prize to the city. Presenting the prize to Kharkiv’s Mayor today at the head of a PACE delegation, the President said the judges were impressed by the number and depth of friendly ties the city had built up – including 17 twinnings with towns across the world – enabling large sections of the population to enjoy enriching international experiences. It is the first time a Ukrainian town has won the 55-year-old prize.
20/08/2010 | President
“Recent developments in several European countries, most recently evictions of Roma camps in France and expulsions of Roma from France and Germany, are certainly not the right measures to improve the situation of this vulnerable minority. On the contrary, they are likely to lead to an increase in racist and xenophobic feelings in Europe,” PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, today declared.
20/08/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, will make a visit to Minsk from 23 to 25 August. She will meet the Chairman of the Council of the Republic Anatoly Rubinov, the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on relations with PACE Viktor Guminsky, the Minister of Justice Viktor Golovanov, the Prosecutor General Grigory Vasilevich, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valery Voronetsky, the Minister of Information Oleg Proleskovsky and the Head of the parliamentary working group on the issue of the death penalty Nikolai Samoseiko.
19/08/2010 | Prizes
A parliamentary delegation led by PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, and the Chairman of the PACE Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize, Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD), will present the 2010 Europe Prize to Kharkiv’s Mayor, Gennadiy Kernes (Ukraine), at a ceremony on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 August. Kharkiv is the first Ukrainian town to receive this honour and the 66th winning town since the prize was created in 1955.
18/08/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
As aid workers fight to bring relief to those affected by the flooding in Pakistan, John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG), Chair of PACE Migration Committee, has hailed humanitarian workers around the world as “unrecognised heroes”. In a statement issued on the eve of the second annual World Humanitarian Day – designated by the UN General Assembly to take place on 19 August each year – Mr. Greenway said: “They often work on the front-line, in difficult conditions and life-threatening situations, putting their lives at risk for the benefit of those most in need.”
12/08/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC), former PACE rapporteur on the handling of the H1N1 pandemic, has welcomed yesterday’s publication by WHO of the list of members of its Emergency Committee on the pandemic, as well as their declarations of interest. “A year ago, these 15 experts told us the world was facing a grave health emergency. On this occasion, regrettably, they got it wrong: their advice led WHO, the EU and national governments to vastly overrate the seriousness of the H1N1 epidemic.”
30/07/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE’s rapporteur on the death penalty has called on Thailand to abolish capital punishment, where more than 70 per cent of death row prisoners face execution for drug-related offences. Speaking in Bangkok at a seminar on “Drugs and the death penalty”, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) pointed out that drug-related cases were particularly prone to human error and manipulation, leading to miscarriages of justice.
27/07/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“National parliaments are key players in promoting gender equality. Progress has been made, but much remains to be done. It is time to bridge the gap between de jure and de facto equality. Drafting and adopting laws is not enough. Parliamentarians should also be accountable for the implementation of the laws and responsible for controlling the effective implementation of the laws”, José Mendes Bota, Chairperson of PACE’s Committee on equal opportunities, today said in Beirut addressing the Regional Workshop for Arab Parliaments organised by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the IPU, the Lebanese Parliament and the UNDP.
20/07/2010 | Monitoring
Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC) and Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia, have expressed their satisfaction with the positive political developments that have taken place following the recent local elections in Georgia. At the end of a five-day visit to Tbilisi (12-16 July 2010), the co-rapporteurs said: “The efforts of both authorities and part of the opposition to maintain a constructive dialogue and to secure the opposition’s rightful place in the governance of the country are an important step for the consolidation of democracy in Georgia.” But they underscored that the planned electoral and constitutional reforms should be based on an all-inclusive process.