24/11/2008 | Standing Committee
The influx of migrants by sea into southern Europe and how to address the “boat people” phenomenon will be the focus of the meeting of PACE Standing Committee to be held at the Spanish Senate in Madrid on 28 November 2008, as Spain takes over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s executive body. The meeting will be opened by PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, and Francisco Javier Rojo, Speaker of the Spanish Senate. Assembly members will then have an exchange of views with Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
21/11/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population is organising three consecutive seminars in Geneva on 25 and 26 November 2008 in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Participants will be discussing the following topics: Interaction between population decline in Europe, global population growth and migration; Protracted internal displacement in Europe; and the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families.
21/11/2008 | Monitoring
As part of the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE), Chair of the PACE Monitoring Committee, will be making a fact-finding visit to Ankara and Istanbul from 23 to 27 November 2008, where he will have talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Justice, and with the Head and Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Cassation, and the Chief Judge of the Constitutional Court. Mr Holovaty will also be meeting representatives of the political parties, the media, civil society, the diplomatic corps and religious dignitaries.
21/11/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Following my visit this week to the region of Abkhazia and the border district of South Ossetia, I am greatly concerned by the restrictions on movement into and from the conflict territories in Georgia and the great humanitarian concerns affecting the day-to-day lives of the people in the region,” said Corien Jonker, Chair of the PACE's Migration and Refugee Committee.
20/11/2008 | Monitoring
Albania’s political parties should “commit themselves to maintaining the current momentum for political change” ahead of the major challenge of the coming elections, according to PACE’s two monitoring co-rapporteurs on Albania. In an information note declassified yesterday, Jaakko Laakso (Finland, UEL) and David Wilshire (United Kingdom, EDG) also said Albania should implement adopted legislation more promptly and effectively, and criticised a lack of co-operation with some Council of Europe bodies.
20/11/2008 | Monitoring
PACE’s co-rapporteurs on Monaco have welcomed the progress achieved by the Principality since it joined the Council of Europe four years ago, but pointed to some promises it has not yet honoured. In a declassified information note on a recent visit, Leonid Slutsky (Russia, SOC) and Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) said adoption of the law on the functioning of the National Council would be a key part of the on-going programme to modernise the Principality’s democratic institutions.
20/11/2008 | Monitoring
“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” still faces systemic challenges, eight years after the closing of PACE’s monitoring procedure, and new challenges to democratic institutions have emerged, according to the Chair of PACE’s Monitoring Committee. In an information note on his recent visit, declassified yesterday, Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE) called for “constructive dialogue” between the majority and opposition, currently hampered by a climate of distrust and mutual accusations.
20/11/2008 | Monitoring
Moldova is “moving in a positive direction” in fulfilling the requirements to close the monitoring procedure, according to PACE’s two monitoring co-rapporteurs for the country, but they pointed out that new laws must be applied more effectively. In an information note on a recent visit, declassified yesterday, Josette Durrieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD) said that the 2009 parliamentary elections will be “the ultimate test” of Moldova’s democracy.
18/11/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Global safety and security depend on co-operation between world leaders, according to PACE Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today. The G20 meeting is a start for co-operation the committee declared. It welcomed the positive attitude adopted by the leaders who participated in the meeting in Washington DC last weekend.
14/11/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
In the framework of the follow-up to Resolution 1633 (2008) on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will visit Georgia from 16 to 21 November, where she will have meetings in Tbilisi with representatives of the authorities, humanitarian agencies, NGOs and the international community.
14/11/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Urging Council of Europe member states to adopt laws which protect “whistle-blowers”, PACE's rapporteur on the subject has said that encouraging insiders to report wrong-doing or go public with their concerns can “make democracies stronger”. Speaking at a hearing in Moscow organised by the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee, Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) said: “It is the essence of democracy and the rule of law that warnings by those who are uneasy about something are reported, investigated and resolved. This makes democracies stronger, because they can avoid mistakes.”
10/11/2008 | President
PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig has warned of the "danger" that tolerence in society is most severely tested when times are hard economically. Addressing an event at the European Parliament in Brussels to mark the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 when Jewish-owned buildings were smashed and burned across Nazi Germany, Mr de Puig pointed out that the Depression of the 1930s had been a contributory factor. Europe still faces challenges of intolerance, he said. "Old demons have often been replaced by new."