12/03/2024 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Political Affairs Committee, at its meeting on 5 March in Paris, welcomed the elaboration of the Venice Commission Checklist Parameters on the relationship between the parliamentary majority and the opposition in a democracy. It recommended this checklist to the parliaments of the Council of...
08/03/2024 | Monitoring
The PACE Monitoring Committee, meeting in Paris on 6 March, has proposed closing the monitoring procedure in respect of Albania and engaging in a post-monitoring dialogue with the country, on the basis of the report prepared by Ionuţ-Marian Stroe (Romania, EPP/CD). It welcomed the easing of the...
08/03/2024 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Hannah Bardell (United Kingdom, NR), PACE rapporteur on “Threats to life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan”, has strongly condemned the recent arrests of journalists associated with the independent media outlet Toplum TV and activists of the Institute for...
08/03/2024 | Secretary General of the Assembly
Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, participated today, on the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, in a round table organised by the General Council (Parliament) of Andorra. Speaking to members of the General...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe met at the Senate in Paris on Thursday, 7 March 2024. Following opening addresses by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Theodoros Rousopoulos, and the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, participants held...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
"The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was born in 1789 in the wake of the French Revolution. Since then, individual rights and freedom have become integral parts of our societies. However, the reality is that we still have to continue to defend them again and again against...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
"This is not the time to succumb to war fatigue. While we recognise the social and economic challenges facing our societies, they pale in comparison to the devastation caused by Russia. As parliamentarians of democratic states, it is our responsibility to build consensus, to explain the need for...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
"I am looking at the image of smiling Alexei, in fact the last known image of him being alive, and I know that Putin has lost", Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD) today said at the opening of a current affairs debate on the death of Alexei Navalny. "Perhaps he thought that by killing Alexei...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
Meeting today in Paris, the Standing Committee emphasised the recognition of the right of access to information as “a universal human right”, particularly regarding State-held information. “As a general rule, all information held by public authorities should be freely accessible,” the...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
Jacques Maire, a former member of the Assembly who prepared reports on Alexei Navalny’s arrest and detention, as well as on his poisoning, addressed members during today's current affairs debate on his death. He described his meeting with Mr Navalny in Berlin in December 2020, a month before...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee, meeting today in Paris, expressed its concern at the precarious and irregular work situations of migrant seasonal and domestic workers, which have increased over the years. This phenomenon is aggravated by factors such as the temporary nature of seasonal employment...
07/03/2024 | Standing Committee
“These are difficult times within the Council of Europe itself, when we see states carrying out aggression against other member states and committing crimes, carrying out operations to forcibly displace populations or erase their cultural heritage,” said Gérard Larcher, President of the French...