27/01/2023 | 11:06:20 Thank you, Mister President and colleagues. The Statute of the Council of Europe and the values enshrined therein are just now undermined by the Russian war against Ukraine. This constitutes the severest challenge to human rights and democracy in Europe since World War Two. It's therefore the right moment now to debate the excellent report of my colleague Ms Marta GRANDE on strategies for defending those values. And to do so by raising awareness of them through the open Council of Europe... 12/10/2022 | 20:32:17 Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2. Mr President, We debate this afternoon two aspects of European migration and refugee policy, which have divided the European Union for years: the so-called pushbacks and the issue of safe third countries. Let us remember that the Council of Europe was founded when the wounds of the Second World War were still very visible and millions of persons had been displaced in Europe. The only logical and humane response was to protect and support them... 11/10/2022 | 10:14:07 Mr President and Members, I congratulate warmly Mr George PAPANDREOU for his excellent report. As I come from a country that has left the European Union recently but remains an active founding member of the Council of Europe and considers itself a European country, allow me to emphasise the important European perspective provided by the Council of Europe for more than seven decades. Many countries consider the common market and the subsidies of the EU as a strong incentive. However, a... 23/06/2022 | 19:47:00 Thank you, Madam President. Dear Colleagues, Politics is dependent on communication. Today this is mainly, as we know, online. Moreover democracy is dependent on free access to quality, reliable, unbiased information. Therefore, as has been frequently said today, we have to control the threat from a number of internet participants who seek to unwind the flow of information online. As the report by Mr Frédéric REISS correctly highlights, the key issue here is not the huge economic and... 15/03/2022 | 11:37:16 Madam President, I will briefly connect three points. The convincing way in which our states have recently responded to nationalistic aggression, the transcendency of human rights over nationalistic concerns, and the prospect of greatly improved arrangements for welcoming and integrating refugees. Within our military response, certain wise aspects are of course during the Cold War already well-practised and not in the least new, such as the avoidance of actions which would escalate fighting... 27/01/2022 | 17:19:41 Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I warmly congratulate my distinguished colleague Mr Bertrand BOUYX on his excellent and timely report. I will briefly pick up three points: why setting out to learn history in a Council of Europe context is the right approach; however, why this approach should be as much as possible learner centred, using the Socratic dialogue; then the connected reasons why the Council of Europe shared values together with certain attitudes towards history assist an improved... 26/01/2022 | 12:37:54 Thank you very much, Madam President. Dear colleagues, This excellent report by Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES emphasises how important sport and physical activity are to the good health of people of all ages, as well as for bringing them together in their local and national communities, as the rapporteur in his reference to solidarity has just emphasised. Clearly sports and being physically active benefit everyone. Both should be encouraged by all those in a position to do so, whether they be... 26/01/2022 | 11:43:22 Well, thank you, Mr President. Dear colleagues, when in 2011 the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media first discussed good governance and ethics in sport, many considered that to be a waste of time. However, majority opinion is now completely different, for over the last ten years dealing with sport in this context has proved to be very necessary. Consequently, sports and human rights have become one of the key subjects for the Council of Europe, which is able to stress the... 25/01/2022 | 19:04:09 Thank you Mr President, dear colleagues, Before we come to voting on proposed amendments, I would like to thank our rapporteur for the excellent work which she has done on this report. In view of Covid-19, an assessment of the role of the media in times of crisis is extremely relevant just now. No doubt it's still too early to calculate the full measure of Covid-19´s negative effects, as it also is to devise a complete range of counter plans and remedies. In so doing there is, of course... 25/01/2022 | 12:37:10 Mister President, Along with colleagues, while thanking you very much for joining us today and in welcoming the current peace stabilisation intervention of EUFOR and NATO, as well as looking forward to the future prospect and to the mutual advantage of your great country joining the European Union, do you agree – and following your own remarks – that there are three key elements now perhaps agreed between your administration and the United States which should be addressed and deployed this...