23/05/2007 | President
Reacting to today’s verdict in the murder of Zoran Djindjic, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden, who is currently on an official visit to Belgrade, expressed the hope that this verdict would help to heal the wounds not only of his family, but of all those democrats who suffered, of a country which had been derailed from its firm track towards Europe. “What counts,” he said, “is that your country is back on its way towards further European integration. This is probably the best way of honouring the memory of Zoran Djinjic.” “He had paved the way for a democratic Serbia, fully complying with international law by extraditing Slobodan Milosevic to the ICTY,” said Mr van der Linden expressing the hope that the newly formed government will follow Mr Djinjic’s path.
23/05/2007 | President
René van der Linden today warmly welcomed the election of Oliver Dulić (DS) as the new Speaker of the Serbian Parliament. “His election is an important signal for the international community. He is a committed democrat and a convinced European which he has shown as former chairman of the European Integration Committee of the now-defunct parliament of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. This is good news for the country and its people, for its further European integration and last but not least for the Council of Europe, as Serbia has just taken over the Chairmanship of the Organisation’s executive, the Committee of Ministers, for six months,” Mr van der Linden said.
22/05/2007 | President
Politicians in Ukraine must urgently find a clear political solution to the current crisis, or risk losing their credibility in the eyes of both Ukrainians and the international community, according to René van der Linden, who is concluding a two-day visit to the country (21-22 May 2007).
21/05/2007 | Standing Committee
On the occasion of Serbia’s six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s executive body, the Committee of Ministers, the President of the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), René van der Linden, will make an official visit to the country on 23 May, followed by a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee on 24 May.
16/05/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden will try to seek consensus between President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych during meetings with both leaders, as well as with representatives of parliamentary factions, in Kyiv on 21 and 22 May 2007. Speaking on the eve of his visit, President van der Linden said: “I will be encouraging the parties to continue trying to find common ground to defuse this crisis, including an agreement on a future election and further constitutional reforms, as recommended by the Assembly in its resolution last month.”
16/05/2007 | President
Speaking at the Europa-Karlspreis-Forum in Aachen today, PACE President René van der Linden called for more understanding and patience with Russia. “Let us give Russia some time to become a valuable partner of Europe. You can not change a power like Russia in a fortnight,” he said.
15/05/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A member of PACE Legal Affairs Committee will visit Skopje to seek “supplementary information” before deciding whether or not to recommend a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the former President of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” Boris Trajkovski. Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) has been authorised by the committee to make the visit, though no date or programme has been decided yet.
14/05/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The presentation of Belarus as an unopposed candidate for the UN Human Rights Council is "nothing less than scandalous" given Belarus’ dismal human rights record, according to a statement approved today by PACE's Legal Affairs Committee. The committee urges the UN General Assembly to reject Belarus’ candidacy.
13/05/2007 | Election observation
In a joint statement today, the International Election Observation Mission for the 12 May parliamentary elections in Armenia concluded that the elections demonstrated improvement from previous ones and were largely in accordance with international commitments, although some issues remain unaddressed. Leo Platvoet, Head of the PACE delegation, said: “We congratulate the Armenian people on showing the will to hold democratic elections. Some challenges remain, such as intertwining between political and business interests and improvements are still needed to the electoral complaints procedure. The Council of Europe and its Assembly continue to stand ready to assist Armenia in this process.”
12/05/2007 | President
“I would like to welcome last night’s announcement that agreement has been reached to form a new Serbian government,” said PACE President René van der Linden in a statement. “I hope this can bring an end to the recent period of political uncertainty, and that the new government will get on with the task of implementing democratic reforms for the benefit of all Serbians." The President also warmly welcomed the reported agreement between Mr Tadić and Mr Koštunica to elect a new Speaker of Parliament.
11/05/2007 | News
At the ceremony to mark Montenegro’s accession as 47th member state of the Council of Europe, Bernard Schreiner (France, EPP/CD), Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly, warmly welcomed what could be described as Montenegro’s “return to the fold”. He added that “Montenegro has shown itself able to put its troubled past behind it and move on as a member of the European family and the international community.”
11/05/2007 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee of PACE and the Greek Parliament’s Migration Committee today called for the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Migration Observatory in a joint statement adopted at a meeting in Athens. The Observatory, says the statement, should improve the common monitoring of migration policies and processes in the Euro-Mediterranean area, and better integrate migration and migrants into the economic, social, democratic and inter-cultural development of the region.