30/09/2025 | 16:07:21 Thank you. Your Excellency, A conventional system is not optional, you said. I asked the Secretary General the same question this morning about the level of suppression in Azerbaijan. More than 300 political prisoners, among them journalists and human rights activists. 76 colleagues in this Parliamentary Assembly are declared persona non grata. The authorities neither co-operate in monitoring procedures nor in election observations. They do not implement judgments from the European Court of... 09/04/2025 | 17:49:14 Mister President, Dear colleagues, During the debate on the Progress Report, several speakers emphasised the high number of urgent debates during this session, as a direct consequence of the many recent setbacks of democratic values in our member countries, among them this debate on the need for accountability and avoiding impunity concerning the invasion and aggressive war in Ukraine. The people of Ukraine are fighting for our common freedom. Ukraine is entitled to our full support both now... 27/01/2025 | 17:35:17 Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2 Mister President, dear colleagues. I would like to start with thanking our rapporteur for this annual report on the progress of the Assembly´s monitoring procedure. Unfortunately, the report demonstrates how democratic values and human rights are under great pressure, even in many of our Council of Europe´s member states. As co-rapporteur for Azerbaijan, I am especially worried about the negative development in that specific country. During... 01/10/2024 | 18:35:25 Thank you, Mister President, and thank you to all the speakers in this current affairs debate. And as I heard in the debate, the speakers on behalf of the political groups, as well as other speakers, obviously share the same worries about the deterioration of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. And that's a good starting point for further efforts to assist Azerbaijan to move into the right direction. I note that there are different opinions regarding their credentials, but no one has... 01/10/2024 | 17:45:57 Thank you, Mister President. And dear colleagues, On 24 January, our Assembly resolved not to ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation. The Assembly was among other things worried about the lack of co-operation in the monitoring procedure and lack of invitation to observe the early presidential election of 7 February. It also cited the human rights situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately, as we approach the COP29, recent developments point in the wrong direction. The... 27/06/2024 | 11:54:40 Madam President, Dear colleagues, I want to thank my Norwegian colleague for her work on this important report on people displaced by Russia's war against Ukraine. There are nearly six million Ukrainian refugees in other European countries, almost as many internally displaced within Ukraine itself, and in addition half a million who have sought refuge in countries outside Europe. This is a humanitarian disaster that is almost impossible to comprehend. My home country, Norway, has a population... 26/06/2024 | 11:15:02 President. Dear colleagues. Russia's aggressive warfare against Ukraine is now in its third year. All our member states share an undeniable obligation to support Ukraine in their heroic resistance against the aggressor. Ukraine's fight is our fight. In fact, their fight is the fight for a democratic Europe, where people can live their lives in freedom. It is a fight for the core values of the Council of Europe. Thus, we are all obliged to with all means continue our support for Ukraine. For... 16/04/2024 | 20:09:27 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Mr. President, dear colleagues. Back home I have a very good friend. He is a Labor party member, active in local politics, human rights activist, author and a well known advisor in international politics. His last book came in 2023 and was titled “The Continent of War – Europe after the Cold War”. His name is Sylo Taraku. He came to my home town in 1991, 18 years old, alone, as an asylum seeker from Kosovo. He is very pleased to see that... 15/04/2024 | 16:02:38 Mister President, dear colleagues, I fully agree with the rapporteur. The consolidation of pluralist democracy is one of the main objectives of the Council of Europe. One main pillar in this consolidation is to establish a good relationship between the parliamentary majority and the opposition. A keyword is mutual respect, confidence in each other across party lines, based on a shared responsibility to make us worthy of the necessary trust of our electorates. I think we all know too well what... 13/10/2023 | 11:44:18 Madam President, dear colleagues, First, thank you to the rapporteur for focusing on mental health among young people and for pointing out necessary improvements to healthcare systems. I'm pleased to see Norway mentioned as an example of good practice. Still, we have a lot to do. In Norway every year approximately 650 people commit suicide. This is about six times as many as traffic deaths. Suicide numbers are higher than in the 1950s and 60s. The median age of suicide is 47. Two out of three...