02/12/2004 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The Council of Europe's Museum Prize for 2005 has been awarded to the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, Greece. The museum, displayed in eleven galleries each devoted to a specific subject, aims to communicate all aspects of life in the Byzantine era, including art and intellectual development, the organisation of society, religion and everyday life. The jury appreciated “the excellence of the museum and the balance between conservation, restoration and presentation”.
02/12/2004 | President
During his visit to China from 3 to 7 December, PACE President Peter Schieder will meet, among others, with Wu Bangguo, President of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Assembly, Gong Xueping, President of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai National People’s Assembly and Zhang Yesui, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Talks are expected to focus on human rights, a proposal for an Asian Parliamentary Assembly, and relations between China and the Council of Europe.
30/11/2004 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Meeting in Paris on 2 December, the Committee on Culture, Science and Education holds a hearing with Muslim, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Evangelical Christian clerics to discuss the place of religions in education in Europe.
25/11/2004 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Speaking on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, PACE rapporteur Jean-Guy Branger (France, EPP/CD) recalled the Assembly's appeal for a pan-European campaign to combat domestic violence. “Every day, European women are being battered, abused and subjected to sexual or other forms of violence – usually by men who know or have power over their victims,” said Mr Branger. “Domestic violence is happening in every single Council of Europe member state, and it is happening now. This must stop.” Awareness-raising was vital, he said, stressing that the coming Third Summit would be “the ideal occasion” to deal with the question of domestic violence.
25/11/2004 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE President Peter Schieder has strongly urged the Ukrainian authorities and the opposition to find a peaceful solution to the current political crisis and to refrain from any provocative action that could lead to violence. "The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) found that the second round failed to meet democratic standards. It is now essential that the complaints by the opposition about cases of alleged electoral fraud be examined by the competent Ukrainian courts in a speedy and transparent manner and the decisions implemented before a new President takes office", Mr Schieder said.
23/11/2004 | News
The Chairman of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Peter Schieder and the Secretary General Terry Davis express their deep concern about the irregularities observed during the presidential elections in Ukraine. These irregularities have increased significantly in the second round as confirmed by numerous independent observers and increased considerably the risk of a serious political crisis in Ukraine because many Ukrainians do not accept the results announced by the Ukrainian Central Election Commission.
23/11/2004 | News
PACE President today urged his fellow-parliamentarians and European leaders to be on the alert for, and to take action against, the resurgence of racist and xenophobic acts in Europe. At a meeting of the PACE Bureau and Standing Committee in Warsaw - on topics including preparations for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, to be commemorated in the Assembly Chamber on 27 January 2005 - Mr Schieder expressed his regret that 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz it was still necessary to fight racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance.
23/11/2004 | News
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting in Warsaw today, stressed the importance of the organisation of the election of a successor to Yasser Arafat. It decided to send a delegation to observe the election of the President of the Palestinian Authority.
23/11/2004 | Standing Committee
The situation in Belarus, as we can see every day, blocks the fulfilment of the very mission of the Council of Europe which was set up in order to ensure greater unity in Europe on the basis of common values, said PACE President Peter Schieder, speaking today during a debate on the situation in Belarus at a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee in Warsaw.
22/11/2004 | News
The second round of the presidential election in Ukraine on 21 November did not meet a considerable number of OSCE commitments, Council of Europe and other European standards for democratic elections. As in the first round, state executive authorities and the Central Election Commission displayed a lack of will to conduct a genuine democratic election process, concluded the International Election Observation Mission.
19/11/2004 | President
PACE President Peter Schieder today called on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that the decisive second round of the presidential election on Sunday 21 November is in accordance with Council of Europe standards. The President in particular stressed that it was the responsibility of the Ukrainian authorities to remedy the shortcomings found by the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) during the first round of the presidential election and take all appropriate measures to reduce the risk of fraud. A 20-member PACE delegation will observe the second round in the framework of an IEOM, composed of delegations from the Council of Europe, OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, the European Parliament and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE-ODIHR).
18/11/2004 | News
The PACE Standing Committee met in Warsaw on Tuesday 23 November at the invitation of the Polish Parliament. The meeting was opened by PACE President Peter Schieder and the Speaker of the Sejm Jόzef Oleksy. The participants held an exchange of views with Polish Foreign Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the 46-nation Organisation, which focused on the 3rd Summit of Heads and State and Government, which will be held in Warsaw under the Polish chairmanship on 16-17 May 2005. In the framework of the Council of Europe’s increased efforts to combat terrorism, the parliamentarians adopted a text on ‘combating terrorism through culture’.