29/09/2008 | Session
The Assembly today elected, at the opening of its Autumn 2008 Session, two new Vice-Presidents: Juan Fernando López Aguilar, for Spain, and Luigi Vitali, for Italy.
26/09/2008 | News
Both Georgia and Russia could have done more to prevent the war between them, according to the head of a PACE delegation visiting the two countries ahead of an urgent debate on the consequences of the war next week in Strasbourg. Speaking at a press conference in Tbilisi at the end of the second part of the visit (24-25 September), Luc van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) said that it was important to understand events leading up to the outbreak of war: “This conflict didn’t start on 7 August,” he pointed out.
25/09/2008 | President
“Under no circumstances can the reintroduction of the death penalty ever be on the Council of Europe or European Union agenda again”, said PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, today, in reply to the call for an EU debate on the subject by the Chair of the Latvian Parliament’s Human Rights Commission.
24/09/2008 | News
A PACE delegation in Moscow has called for an international investigation into the circumstances surrounding the war between Georgia and Russia. “Truth is the precondition for reconciliation,” said Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD), leading the nine-member, cross-party delegation, which is visiting both countries to gather information ahead of an Assembly urgent debate on the consequences of the war next week in Strasbourg.
22/09/2008 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today firmly condemned the weekend’s terrorist attacks in Ondarroa and Vitoria and the one in Santoña in which Staff Sergeant Luis Conde de la Cruz was killed. “On behalf of the Assembly, I extend our condolences to the victim’s family and express our complete solidarity with those who have been wounded. No cause in the world could justify such appalling acts.
22/09/2008 | News
A nine-member, cross-party delegation from the PACE, headed by Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD), is visiting Russia and Georgia from 22 to 25 September to gather information ahead of an urgent debate on “the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia” during the Assembly’s plenary session (Strasbourg, 29 September-3 October).
18/09/2008 | Session
An urgent debate on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia will be the main focus of PACE's autumn session, to be held in Strasbourg from 29 September to 3 October 2008. The debate will be in two parts: it starts on the morning of Tuesday 30 September and resumes on the morning of Thursday 2 October. As part of the run-up to the debate, an ad hoc committee will conduct a fact-finding visit to Georgia and Russia from 22 to 25 September. Another highlight of the session will be the debate on the situation in Cyprus, on Wednesday 1 October. Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus, will address the Assembly on Tuesday 30 September, the day before the debate, and Mehmet Ali Talat, Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community, will do so on 1 October.
18/09/2008 | Election observation
A five-member, cross-party pre-election delegation from the PACE, visiting Azerbaijan ahead of October’s Presidential election, has noted improvements that should create conditions for a good election. Those improvements took account of a number of recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, the delegation said. However, not of all of the recommendations were fully addressed. It nevertheless acknowledged that some key issues, such as equitable representation in electoral commissions or fairness in conducting the campaign, are more a matter of electoral practice than the letter of the law.
16/09/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The current talks on Cyprus represent “the best opportunity in many years” to reach a settlement of the conflict, according to PACE Political Affairs Committee.
15/09/2008 | Monitoring
“Serbia must complete its programme of reforms”, said Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) PACE co-rapporteurs for the honouring of obligations and commitments by Serbia. In a draft report made public today, PACE Monitoring Committee said the strengthening of democratic institutions and concrete implementation of reforms, in particular the reinforcement of parliament, abolition of the "imperative mandate" (a provision making the Members of Parliament entirely dependent on the goodwill of party leaderships) and judicial reform, can but further Serbia's European integration.
15/09/2008 | Election observation
A five-member PACE delegation consisting of one representative for each of the five political groups and headed by Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) will be visiting Azerbaijan from 15 to 18 September 2008 in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for 15 October.
15/09/2008 | Prizes
The Polish town of Katowice yesterday received the 2008 Europe Prize in a ceremony which took place during the town’s annual festival. A delegation of parliamentarians, led by the Chair of PACE’s Environment Committee Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC) and the Chair of its Europe Prize Sub-Committee Danuta Jazlowiecka (Poland, EPP/CD), presented the prize to Katowice’s Mayor Piotr Uszok at a ceremony attended by several hundred invited guests.