10/09/2004 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“The concept of cultural diversity is more important than individual cultural identities,” said French Culture and Communication Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, speaking yesterday in Paris at a hearing on cultural diversity organised by the Assembly’s Culture Committee. The committee’s Chair Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) added that European culture itself was “a further element in the mosaic” of individual European cultures. Stressing the strategic priority of culture in national and international policy, the French Minister said he “took his hat off” to the work of the Council of Europe in the field.
10/09/2004 | President
In a letter to the Presidents of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate, Assembly President Peter Schieder expressed his support for the families of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who have been taken hostage in Iraq. "It is with a feeling of outrage that I turn to you to express the Parliamentary Assembly members’ full solidarity with the steps taken by the Italian authorities to secure the release of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. This cowardly act is particularly horrible in view of the dedication of these two young Italian citizens, whose work and presence alleviated the daily sufferings of the Iraqi people. At this difficult time, please convey to the Pari and Torretta families the Parliamentary Assembly’s support, the solidarity of 800 million European citizens and the unanimous demand of all advocates of freedom for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages."
09/09/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Europe should not “play with fire”, parliamentarians were told at a hearing on the question of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) organised by the Assembly’s Environment Committee in Paris yesterday. Several Assembly members considered that the potential risks were much harder to pin down than the benefits. The committee had invited a number of experts to the hearing to share their views on the risks and benefits of “crop engineering” for a report being prepared by Wolfgang Wodarg (Germany, SOC).
08/09/2004 | Standing Committee
During its meeting in Oslo on 7 September at the invitation of the Norwegian Parliament, the Standing Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly held an exchange of views with Jan Petersen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway (which currently holds the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers). “Last week’s terrible and barbaric terrorist action have made it clear to all of us that the fight against terrorism must remain a top priority. The attack in Beslan, only the latest in a spate of terrorist attacks in Russia, is an acute reminder that we still have a long way to go in this fight”, Mr Petersen said.
07/09/2004 | News
The Assembly's Standing Committee, meeting in Oslo today at the invitation of the Norwegian Parliament, endorsed a statement by PACE President Peter Schieder stressing that the Assembly joins the whole of Russia during this day of mourning in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan. "We convey our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to all those injured or affected and express Europe’s full solidarity with the Russian people and authorities at this tragic time. Terrorism has no justification.(...) It must be fought with all legal means available. First of all, international cooperation against terrorism needs to be strengthened. At present, the legislative framework is fragmented and incomplete and so far the United Nations has not been able to conclude a comprehensive convention on the fight against terrorism. It is therefore more urgent than ever to begin work without delay on the elaboration of a comprehensive Council of Europe Convention on Terrorism."
06/09/2004 | President
Jan Petersen, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Peter Schieder, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, and Terry Davis, Secretary General of the 45-nation Council of Europe, today expressed the "horror felt within the Council of Europe" following the tragedy in Beslan. "This barbaric act – which has shocked us all the more as it targeted what is most precious to us, our children – has ended in a dreadful bloodbath. There are no words strong enough to express our consternation, nor our feelings of friendship and solidarity towards the Russian people, the families of the victims and the country’s authorities," they said.
06/09/2004 | President
Speaking to participants of a seminar on "The Council of Europe - Politics and Practice", organised in Oslo today in connection with Norway’s Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, PACE President Peter Schieder launched an appeal for reinforced co-operation with the EU and OSCE. "I strongly believe – and always did – that together we shall always be more successful in responding to the expectations of our citizens than working alone," he said. "Our co-operation with the EU should be reinforced, in promoting more systematic accession to CoE treaties, and in particular taking the necessary steps to allow EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. This important topic will, I trust, be discussed by Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member states when they meet for their third summit in Warsaw next spring," he said.
01/09/2004 | President
Peter Schieder, President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, this morning made the following appeal: “We have just learned with great horror that hundreds of children and adults have been taken hostage in a school in Beslan, North Ossetia. We urge the perpetrators to free all of the hostages immediately. No cause can be furthered by such an act and nothing can justify it. “The Assembly stands ready to assist the Russian authorities in any way possible to secure a peaceful outcome,” he said. Peter Schieder also strongly condemned last night’s terrorist attack outside an underground railway station in Moscow, which killed ten people and left many wounded. On behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, he extended his condolences to the families of the victims and expressed Europe’s full solidarity with the Russian people and authorities at this difficult time.
01/09/2004 | News
“Peace cannot be ordered, but must be made by all people even if they have dissenting opinions,” Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), Assembly rapporteur on the political situation in the Chechen Republic concluded at the end of the fact-finding mission of a Council of Europe delegation to the region from 28 to 31 August. He expressed serious reservations with regard to the presidential elections which took place in the Chechen Republic on Sunday 29 August. In his opinion, these elections were far from meeting Council of Europe standards. Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland, SOC), Assembly rapporteur on the humanitarian situation of the Chechen displaced population, speaking at a press conference in Moscow today, strongly supported concrete plans to rebuild entire districts of the Chechen capital. These efforts, he said, combined with the federal scheme of compensation for lost housing – if realized – would have a very positive effect on the Chechen population.
31/08/2004 | President
In a letter addressed to his French counterparts and to Reporters without Borders, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, Peter Schieder, expressed his support this morning for the families of the French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, who have been taken hostage in Iraq. "On behalf of the Assembly, I should like to assure the families of the two journalists of our support and our respect for the determination with which Mr Malbrunot and Mr Chesnot practise their profession in extremely difficult conditions." He firmly condemned the hostage-taking and called for the immediate, unconditional release of the two French journalists. "In holding freedom of expression hostage, the terrorists are trying to undermine democracy as a whole. There can be no justification for such an act," he concluded.
30/08/2004 | President
Assembly President Peter Schieder strongly condemned the terrorist act which, according to the FSB security service, caused the plane crashes last week in the Russian Federation. “In addition to the message of profound sympathy for the families of the victims which I sent to my counterparts at the Russian State Duma and the Council of the Federation, I would now like to express the Parliamentary Assembly’s full support in the fight against terrorism. “This heinous act illustrates the need to further improve international coordination against terrorism. No form of terrorism, whatever the cause it claims to serve, can ever be justified,” he said.
27/08/2004 | Monitoring
Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, LDR) and Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs for the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly monitoring of Ukraine, will make their next fact-finding visit to the country from 29 August to 1st September. The co-rapporteurs will focus on the preparations for the forthcoming Presidential election on 31 October 2004, in particular on the functioning of local self-government and state authorities within the election process and the independence of the media.