08/11/2004 | Election observation
The 7 November referendum in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the redrawing of municipal boundaries was generally consistent with OSCE and Council of Europe standards for democratic electoral processes, international observers concluded today. "The referendum was an opportunity to confirm the maturity and self-confidence of all the people of this country for the consolidation of democracy," said Zekeriya Akcam, head of the PACE observer delegation.
05/11/2004 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A centre to commemorate victims of deportations, mass expulsions and population transfers should be created under the auspices of the Council of Europe, according to a draft report of PACE’s Migration Committee discussed in Geneva on 5 November. Presenting the idea to the committee, Mats Einarsson (Sweden, UEL) said such a centre – which could be endorsed by European heads of state at the Council of Europe's Third Summit in May – would raise public awareness and promote research on mass deportations past, present and future in the Council of Europe’s 46 member states, carried out "due to a political decision".
05/11/2004 | President
PACE President Peter Schieder today welcomed the signing by President Putin of the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement intended to combat global warming. He welcomed the role which the Assembly had played in the process of implementation of the Protocol, which, following ratification by Russia, would finally be able to come into force. Russia’s signature came just before the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (Buenos Aires, 6-17 December 2004), at which the Assembly would be represented. The Protocol had been ratified by the Duma on 22 September and approved by the Federation Council on 27 October.
02/11/2004 | Election observation
The first round of voting in the 31 October presidential election in Ukraine did not meet a considerable number of OSCE, Council of Europe and other European standards for democratic elections, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a preliminary statement. Nevertheless, the very high participation of the electorate and civil society in the election process show encouraging signs for the evolution of Ukrainian democracy. A 40-member PACE delegation, headed by Doros Christodoulides (Cyprus, UEL), took part in the observation.
29/10/2004 | President
Foreign Minister of Norway, Jan Petersen, in his capacity as Chairman of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder and Secretary General of the 46-nation Organisation Terry Davis welcomed the signing of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in Rome today as a significant step in the European integration process.
29/10/2004 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The creation of a centre to commemorate the victims of expulsions and mass deportations in Europe - and to help prevent them ever happening again - is to be discussed by parliamentarians, historians and experts in international law during a public seminar in Geneva on 4 November. The seminar, on “the establishment of a centre for European nations’ remembrance under the auspices of the Council of Europe”, has been organised by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), partly in response to the debate in Germany over the establishment of a “Centre Against Expulsions” in Berlin.
29/10/2004 | Monitoring
David Atkinson (United Kingdom, EDG) and Rudolf Bindig (Germany, SOC), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Russia, hold a final series of meetings in Moscow from 1 to 6 November, before drawing up their progress report, due for plenary debate in mid-2005.
29/10/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
An expert from Russian oil company Lukoil and a representative of the Council of Baltic Sea States discuss the environmental impact of this planned oil extraction operation in the Baltic, close to a UNESCO world heritage site at a meeting of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs in Paris on 4 November. An outline report by Daniel Goulet (France, LDR) explains the background.
26/10/2004 | Election observation
A 40-member PACE delegation will observe the presidential election to be held in Ukraine on 31 October 2004. Doros Christodoulides (Cyprus, UEL) has been appointed Head of the delegation. The parliamentarians will arrive in Kyiv on 28 October to meet with the different candidates, the President of the Supreme Court and the Chair of the Central Electoral Commission, as well as with representatives of the media and NGOs. On election day, they will be deployed in the capital and throughout the country. The observation will be carried out in co-operation with the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, the European Parliament and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE-ODIHR).
25/10/2004 | President
“May I say how much I personally admire you individually for your outstanding commitment and for the untiring energy that you devote to living and promoting human rights and peace,” PACE President Peter Schieder told the 2004 North-South Prize winners, Mrs Nawal El Saadawi and Ambassador Stéphane Hessel at a ceremony organized in Lisbon today. “Europe’s place and credibility, but also its stability in this world, depends on its capacity to dialogue and to establish or strengthen links with other continents. I believe that Europe has a major role to play in the construction of a solid interdependence and a world in which peace, security and dignity would be a human right for everybody and where the resources of the planet would be managed with intelligence and wisdom,” he said.
22/10/2004 | President
"Tomorrow’s elections are a very important moment for Kosovo,” said PACE President Peter Schieder today. He called on all communities to take part, reiterating that – for Kosovo Serbs in particular - this was their chance to “have a say in their own future”. Reiterating his statement earlier this month, Mr Schieder said: “This is a chance for Kosovo Serbs to protect their legitimate rights and interests and a chance to build a decent life for themselves and their families, together with all other inhabitants in Kosovo.”
20/10/2004 | President
PACE President Peter Schieder has condemned the reported arrests of at least 30 persons, including opposition leaders, at rallies of opponents of President Lukashenko. "These arrests clearly illustrate that the 17 October elections, which fell significantly short of international commitments for democratic elections, and the illegal referendum, have taken Belarus yet further away from European standards," he said.