27/01/2021 | 17:23:41 President, colleagues, First of all, let me underline the importance of this debate. We are discussing the arrest and detention of Mr Alexei Navalny. As an opposition party leader, he has been a target of the Russian regime. Their many efforts to silence him have not succeeded. However, this debate is not only about Mr Navalny, this is also a debate about freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. Article 10, freedom of expression, and Article 11, freedom of assembly and... 26/01/2021 | 18:31:31 Mr President, I will speak on behalf of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs. First of all I would like to say that I really appreciate that Mr Lee is in the room and to see him again. I also like to use the opportunity to give my thanks to Mr Oleg SAVITSKY. He has really been dedicated and contributed to the Assembly for many years. Thank you so much. I would also like to congratulate Despina with her new position and all the best in your new position... 26/01/2021 | 09:32:14 Thank you chair, The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the Council of Europe's foremost and Europe's most important human rights body: 820 million European citizens can have their case tried in the court, if they believe that a Council of Europe member state has violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Through this unique system, the Court has guaranteed the rights and freedoms of thousands of individuals for more than 70 years. I am pleased to read that... 20/11/2020 | 15:42:39 Mr President and colleagues, today I have the honour to present the conclusions of the reflections of the Committee on Rules of Procedure on some simple proposals to improve our procedures during plenary sittings and committee meetings. None of these proposals contain any radical changes. They simply intend to amend those provisions in the Rules of Procedure which need to be supplemented or reviewed in order to better correspond to our parliamentary practice. I therefore hope that the members... 20/11/2020 | 15:00:33 Dear president, dear colleagues. COVID-19 has, once again, shown how fragile democracy, rule of law and also human rights are. As of the crisis we also see fundamental values and principles being challenged. We have seen political leaders using the ongoing crisis to extend their power and also influence, sidestepping democratic processes. We have also seen basic human rights, such as freedom of expression and assembly, being challenged and limited, explained by the need to protect public... 29/01/2020 | 17:00:03 Thank you Chair. Dear colleagues, After years of internal difficulties which have prevented us from focusing on our mandate, monitoring and safeguarding the human rights of 800 million citizens in the Council of Europe's member states, it has been reassuring to follow the Assembly's good work on this complementary joint procedure. The discussions and deliberations have been held in a constructive tone. I encourage everybody to continue along this line, also in today's debate. I am equally... 24/06/2019 | 18:33:32 Thank you Madam Chair. First, a big thank you to our Rapporteur Ms Petra De Sutter. You have done a tremendous job with this report and I think we all know how demanding it has been. It has required the utmost of political skill and patience. Thank you. Dear colleagues, in its 70 years, the Council of Europe has found itself in deeply challenging situations. It has suffered from internal divisive conflicts. At the same time, there is a rise in nationalism, populism and repression in Europe... 10/04/2019 | 17:12:16 I thank Mr Tiny KOX for his report and the work he has done on it. For 70 years, the Council of Europe has been an arena for pan-European dialogue and a watchdog for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Today this position is both challenged and weakened. This is due to growing nationalistic and populist trends in Europe, but it is also a result of our own internal difficulties. These internal difficulties have for too long prevented us from focusing our time and energy on the mandate... 10/04/2019 | 10:48:33 I thank the two rapporteurs for bringing the issue of hate speech, which continues to rise in Europe, to our agenda today. Hate speech not only happens among extremist groups; it has become a part of the political discourse. Hate has a chilling effect on speech. It stifles public debate, and it leads to the alienation and possible radicalisation of those who are targeted. Well-functioning democracies depend on societies in which every individual feels welcome and has an active role to play... 09/04/2019 | 11:31:54 Time is running out fast. We have only 11 years left to implement history’s most ambitious set of goals, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs hold the promise of putting the world on to a sustainable course by 2030. It might seem overwhelming but if we all pull together in the same direction, I believe we can make the necessary changes. In June 2017 I tabled a motion for a resolution, “The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – how parliaments and Member States...