20/04/2026 | President
PACE President Petra Bayr, opening the spring plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, has called on Europe and its parliamentarians to show determined and principled leadership in the face of the pattern of crises on the international scene...
20/04/2026 | Election observation
Bulgaria’s 19 April early parliamentary elections were marked by an increase in participation and were administered transparently and efficiently, despite gaps in the legislative framework and a last-minute amendment on the number of polling stations abroad, that undermined the stability of the...
20/04/2026 | Session
The early elections to the Assembly of Kosovo* on 28 December 2025, prompted by a prolonged political stalemate, were conducted smoothly following a subdued campaign, according to the PACE delegation – the only international organisation to observe these elections, alongside an EU mission of...
20/04/2026 | Session
The ‘most joyful museum in the world’ receives the 2026 Council of Europe Museum Prize The Young V&A in the United Kingdom was hailed as offering children “a message of hope for the future” as it was awarded the 2026 Council of Europe Museum Prize at a ceremony today in Strasbourg in front of...
19/04/2026 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
A PACE committee is calling on Council of Europe member states to strengthen co-operation between national parliaments and equality bodies, warning that democratic values and the principle of non-discrimination are under growing pressure across Europe. In a draft resolution based on a report by...
17/04/2026 | President
At a Forum of Women Parliamentarians during the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Istanbul, PACE President Petra Bayr evoked the current situation faced by women in conflict across the globe. “This is not collateral damage, but strategy - a war against women and girls,” she...
17/04/2026 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), PACE rapporteur for “Threats to life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan”, made the following statement today: “I am deeply disappointed by the recent decisions of Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court rejecting the appeals of imprisoned...
16/04/2026 | Election observation
A 13-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), headed by Chris Said (Malta, EPP/CD), will travel to Bulgaria from 17 to 20 April to observe the early parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human...
14/04/2026 | Monitoring
Following a visit to Tirana from 30 March to 1 April 2026, the co-rapporteurs of PACE for post-monitoring dialogue with Albania, Ionut Stroe (Romania, EPP/CD) and Pawel Jabłoński (Poland, ECPA), have welcomed the constructive discussions with the authorities and all other stakeholders about the...
14/04/2026 | Election observation
On 17 April 2026, Yunus Emre (Türkiye, SOC), Chairperson of the ad hoc Committee for the observation of the early elections to the Assembly of Kosovo* (28 December 2025) and Georgios Stamatis (Greece, EPP/CD), Vice-Chairperson, will pay a technical post-electoral visit to Priština to gather...
13/04/2026 | Election observation
The 12 April parliamentary elections saw active citizen engagement, with record voter turnout and genuine choice, but there was no level playing field, with the ruling party benefitting from systemic advantages that blurred the line between state and party, international observers said in a...
10/04/2026 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), PACE rapporteur on “Analysis and guidelines for a sustainable and socially fair energy transition”, made the following statement today: “War in the Middle East is sending shock waves across the energy sector in Europe and worldwide. Large swathes of national...