26/01/2024 | 12:05:55 Thank you, Madam President. [said in French] I will speak in Italian. As you know, the Monitoring Committee has a twofold task: that of putting into practice an assessment of the state of application of the commitments made by each country by signing the founding Charter of the Council of Europe, and a periodic follow-up on the same issue with the member countries. Regarding the implementation of the commitments made, we have developed a monitoring action on 11 countries, including Albania... 23/01/2024 | 18:16:41 Thank you, President, I think the debate shows how much this crisis shakes the consciences of each of us, and I think it is natural that it should. In the face of the massacre of Jewish citizens on 7 October, in the face of the huge number of civilian casualties in Palestine, it is quite obvious that there are feelings and emotions. Politics never prescinds from feelings and emotions. I also think, however, that one must be able to look at things without having any form of passivity or... 23/01/2024 | 16:43:44 Thank you, Mister President. Given the sensitivity of the subject I will speak in Italian. For 100 days the world has been watching with anguish the very serious crisis that hit the Middle East on 7 October. A crisis triggered by Hamas, which on 7 October invaded the Israeli territories bordering the Gaza Strip, exterminating entire families, slaughtering young people attending a concert, ravaging kibbutzim, viciously raping young girls and mothers of families, and kidnapping and deporting... 23/01/2024 | 15:12:36 Thank you, Mister President. Thank you for your presence. This year, as you mentioned, will mark 60 years since the deployment of a UN Interim Force and 50 years since the partition of the island. At least five generations, including your own, were born, raised and lived on a divided island. Since the Annan Plan and the Crans-Montana negotiations, all attempts in recent years to reach a solution have failed. I ask you, because questions need to be asked, what do you think are the obstacles... 12/10/2023 | 15:52:11 Mr Claude KERN, who is draftsman of the Monitoring Committee's opinion, has asked me to present the Committee's opinion in his absence. The Monitoring Committee congratulates Ms Lesia VASYLENKO on her work and the report she is submitting to us today. The report outlines the policy needed to ensure that early warning systems and confidence-building measures are fully utilised and improved, to ensure compliance, accountability and conflict prevention in the future. Early warning mechanisms... 11/10/2023 | 15:38:59 The whole world is shaken by the chilling images of these days: children killed in their sleep, homes devastated by thousands of missiles on a defenceless population, hundreds of young people slaughtered while peacefully attending a concert, families exterminated in their homes, citizens kidnapped and deported to be hostages or even human shields. Barbaric and terrorist acts that question us as human beings and for which there can be no justification. Nothing really can justify the atrocities... 10/10/2023 | 19:53:41 I would like to thank our rapporteurs for their hard work. This report on the fifth review report on democracy in the various countries is an exercise that our Council of Europe decided to encourage countries to fulfill all the democratic criteria and principles of the rule of law. There is no doubt that France is a great democratic country. All over the world, when we think of democracy, we think of France. No one can interpret this report as a criticism of French democracy. However, even... 22/06/2023 | 16:38:39 "Thank you, I will speak in Italian, on Channel 4." [spoken in English] Mister President, The war, as we all know, continues. The suffering, the destruction, the casualties continue. There are increasing calls to stop the weapons, to try to start peace negotiations. There are many initiatives: the Vatican, African presidents, Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, China, and many others. But these efforts to seek a peace settlement are thwarted by Vladimir Putin's choice to annex the Donbas... 21/06/2023 | 19:27:20 Thank you, Madam President. I agree with the report that has been presented and congratulate our colleague Mr Kamal JAFAROV. Let me read what the UK Parliament's Joint Committee said: "These laws weaken the protection of rights; they undermine the universality of rights; they show contempt for our international legal obligations; they create legal uncertainty and hamper effective enforcement. They will increase the number of cases in Strasbourg and damage our international reputation as... 20/06/2023 | 17:45:11 Thank you, Madam President. Our colleague Mr Pieter OMTZIGT has already explained the content of this law on Russian influence and the danger it represents. I think we have to be honest with each other: this law is really an attack on the Polish opposition in the run-up to the elections, which will be hotly contested. The aim is to prevent Mr Donald Tusk, who was prime minister between 2007 and 2014, from standing again, when today he is the politician who can represent the leader of the...