10/04/2025 | 12:44:04 Just two brief comments on the merits. But I will start first by reminding colleagues that this Organisation, the Council of Europe, is at the origin of the European standards, the rule of law and the fundamental human rights standards. It is the Council of Europe. This is why we need to celebrate this year correctly. We are celebrating the anniversary of 75 years after the adoption of the European Convention of Human Rights that maintained the pre-eminence of our system established by the... 10/04/2025 | 12:07:28 Thank you very much, President. Dear colleagues, the purpose of this report was to follow the process of negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe member states on the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights, and to address any legal concerns from the Assembly's perspective. As you know, this is a very old story dating back more than 40 years. The EU Lisbon Treaty in 2007 finally created a legal obligation for the EU to accede to... 09/04/2025 | 18:02:02 Colleagues, the next day, after 24 February 2022, the Council of Europe started to define and to affirm its position. We have stated, first of all, an important package of fundamental principles such as multilateralism, international systems based on rules, accountability for the crimes committed by Russia. We have condemned Russia because for committing a crime of aggression and we have expelled Russia from the Council of Europe. We have also launched the project of establishing an... 08/04/2025 | 11:11:03 Colleagues, from the beginning I share and support the conclusions, the resolution and the recommendation drafted by our rapporteur. Foreign interference is indeed a fundamental and persistent threat to our European democracies and to democratic security. We should condemn and combat with democratic tools this threat, including those challenges, which are focused, inter alia, on undermining electoral and democratic processes and institutions. The Russian aggression is against Ukraine, the UK... 30/01/2025 | 10:40:28 President, distinguished guests, colleagues, On behalf of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, I would like to express clear and substantial both political and legal support for the adoption of the convention for the protection of the profession of lawyer during the Luxembourg Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, and of course, for the adoption of a very good opinion drafted by our colleague, rapporteur Mr Vladimir VARDANYAN. It's a good draft convention, that is true. It is a... 01/10/2024 | 12:38:32 Secretary General, I was negatively surprised a few weeks ago while learning the fact that during the recent opening for signature of the newly adopted Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence – our convention – the governments of the European Union (EU) member states, which are members of the Council of Europe, granted a unique right for signature to the European Commission, not accepting any individual signature on behalf of these member states. I think, and it's my opinion, it was a... 26/06/2024 | 11:11:03 Mr President, Colleagues, Very comprehensive, detailed, objective... Very good reports. I would like to congratulate all three rapporteurs for the wonderful, very professional work. I will focus in my brief intervention especially on the issue of accountability for the crimes committed by Russia and its political and military leaders. I make reference to the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Mr Davor Ivo STIER, but also Ms Yelyzaveta YASKO and Ms Yevheniia... 24/06/2024 | 17:24:03 Madam President, Dear colleagues, In a very spontaneous manner, I was among the co-signatories to this Amendment. The idea is very simple. Most of the colleagues members of different national parliaments are at the same time members of different parliamentary friendship groups with many other countries. In this capacity there is a need to try to offer them also the possibility to do things here in the Council of Europe, not to be put in the situation of incompatibilities because they are... 15/04/2024 | 16:47:23 Mister Minister. We are aware and we appreciate a lot the progress made by the Republic of Moldova during the past years: the candidate status for the EU accession, the decision for starting the negotiations and while facing very serious challenges and the hybrid attacks coming from Russia or its proxies. And this is happening exactly before fundamental Presidential elections and the referendum for European integration scheduled in October this year. I would like to ask you to indicate to us... 24/01/2024 | 16:06:47 Dear colleagues, Secretary-General CORMANN, First of all, on behalf of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, but also as a representative of member state Romania, which is advancing in having the quality of a candidate towards full membership of the OECD, I would like to emphasise a few topical issues which are reflected in this report and the draft resolution, so well drafted by our former rapporteur Mr George KATROUGALOS and now followed by Mr Bertrand BOUYX. This report, which is a...