05/06/2024 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A PACE committee is urging Council of Europe member states to act “rapidly and with determination” on existing environmental standards and practices, from a less anthropocentric perspective and taking into account recent legal developments in environmental matters. The Assembly’s Social Affairs...
04/06/2024 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the international community has imposed sanctions to counter this aggression and hold Russia accountable for its violations of international law. PACE’s Political Affairs and Democracy Committee condemned...
03/06/2024 | Election observation
A 9-member delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Oleksii Goncharenko (Ukraine, EC/DA), will travel to Bulgaria from 7 to 10 June to observe the conduct of the early parliamentary elections on 9 June. The delegation will meet the team of election...
03/06/2024 | Secretary General of the Assembly
Speaking at the 4th International Congress of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 27th May in Athens, PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis recalled that freedom of religion was a fundamental human right, and one of the foundations of our democratic society. “I believe...
31/05/2024 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE's Culture Committee has condemned the systematic erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity by the Russian Federation following the 2014 occupation of Crimea and parts of Donbas and the 2022 full-scale invasion. The parliamentarians highlighted extensive policies of "Russification", historical...
31/05/2024 | President
Theodoros Rousopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will make a working visit to Luxembourg on 5-6 June. During his visit, he will meet the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the Foreign Affairs Minister, as well as the members of the Executive...
30/05/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Since the start of Russia's war of aggression on 24 February 2022, millions of Ukrainians have left their homes to seek refuge. According to the UNHCR, two years later more than 5.9 million Ukrainian citizens have taken refuge in Europe, and more than 500,000 have moved outside Europe. There are...
30/05/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee, meeting in Paris today, expressed its concern about the use of explosive weapons in populated areas – particularly landmines – which often results in the displacement of people within and across borders, and later impedes their voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable...
30/05/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A PACE committee has warned against the gradual erosion of the right to seek asylum, which will eventually lead to “chaos and suffering”, and urged the Council of Europe’s 46 member states to avoid resorting to “policies of deterrence” to dissuade migrants and asylum-seekers from travelling to...
24/05/2024 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Vilnius today, considers that the crises Europe has experienced – such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine – have highlighted the weakness of a narrow understanding of inclusive education, pointing out that children with complex needs have been...
24/05/2024 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Vilnius today, called on member states to include cultural heritage preservation in their strategies designed to address climate change and its impact. The parliamentarians expressed their concern at the fact that “all forms of cultural heritage – tangible...
24/05/2024 | Standing Committee
“In the early 90s, the people of Lithuania called this building the heart of Lithuania. It was here that thousands of Lithuanians gathered to protect our young democracy on the bloody night of 13 January 1991, forming a living human shield against those who sought to reverse our course to...