02/11/2004 | Elections
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 | Elections
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.
19/10/2004 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
A young woman forced by her father to marry a stranger told parliamentarians at a hearing yesterday how she helped with preparations for her own wedding – without realising it. “Everybody knew except for us,” said Hafida B., who was married along with her sister. “I didn’t want this marriage and I didn’t want this person. It was all about my life, yet it wasn’t me who was deciding.” She is still in hiding from her family. The hearing, on forced marriages and child marriages, brought together PACE members with local authorities and associations which help victims.
19/10/2004 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The head of the PACE delegation taking part in a UN General Assembly debate in New York appealed for the world body to take into account ideas coming from regional organisations such as the Council of Europe. Adrian Severin (Romania, SOC) told the General Assembly: “We believe it would be fair and wholly justified that such ideas coming from regional organisations as ours are taken into consideration by the United Nations”. He also pointed to the Assembly’s texts aimed at strengthening the UN. PACE members David Atkinson and Christos Pourgourides also addressed the General Assembly, as well as Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis.
18/10/2004 | News
At the opening sitting of the International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action, Marcel Glesener (Luxembourg, EPP/CD), on behalf of the Assembly, pointed out the importance of parliamentarians’ role in the campaign to improve sexual and reproductive health. There were still major challenges to be met, especially fund-raising to help set up sex education programmes and family planning services. “I am sure we parliamentarians can play a decisive part in this policy by trying to convince our governments to take all the necessary steps,” he said.