23/06/2021 | 10:19:28 Thank you, Mister President. The situation in Belarus has deteriorated steadily over the past few months, The human rights situation in Belarus has continued to deteriorate in recent months. Thousands of people, members of the opposition, journalists and ordinary citizens have been beaten, arrested, tortured and sentenced to heavy prison terms or forced into exile. This brutal repression represents a further serious attack on the fundamental freedoms of the Belarusian people. The regime had... 21/06/2021 | 17:08:40 Mister Minister, I totally agree with you about the mask. We are all tested, apparently everyone is safe here, so there is no problem. First of all, on behalf of the EPP Group, I would like to take this opportunity to commend you on your chairmanship. Your country, Hungary, which has always been very close to Poland in the past, played a major role in the fall of the Iron Curtain alongside other Central European countries. We were together. I heard you very carefully. I find that many of your... 21/06/2021 | 12:21:15 Yes, thank you very much. I agree totally with Mr Stefan SCHENNACH. Speaking about Albania, we were really surprised how this country had changed over few last years. I must also say that those parliamentary elections were generally very well organized by the administration. We must also agree that in Bulgaria, for example, everybody was saying that this is a very important election that is going to change the country. The political verdict in Bulgaria, the public opinion is so split that we... 21/06/2021 | 12:09:51 Thank you very much Madam President. Let me start with congratulations to you for chairing this Assembly meeting. It's an honour to see you in this place. On 6 September 2020 the President of Albania called parliamentary elections for 25 April 2021. On 22 January 2021 the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly decided to observe these elections subject of course to the receipt of an invitation to set up an ad hoc Committee composed of 20 members as well as the two co-rapporteurs of the... 21/04/2021 | 13:14:24 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear Rapporteur, our group in the statement of March 26 strongly condemn the repression by the Belarusian authorities against members of the opposition, journalists, members of NGOs and citizens: As confirmed by the report on human rights violations in Belarus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 23 March last, human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, torture have increased following the electoral fraud observed during... 21/04/2021 | 10:40:51 Thank you very much. Mr President, On behalf of the PPE Group, I would like to thank you for your very direct and firm presentation. You do not hide behind diplomatic language which, above all, does not mean anything from time to time. It is true that democracy, the rule of law and human rights are fundamental values that are the essence of the European project. Even though the Council of Europe has acquired recognised experience and expertise in this field, with the mechanisms of the... 20/04/2021 | 14:44:42 Yesterday my very good colleague, the head of the Azeri delegation, Mr Samad SEYIDOV, used a phrase that marked me deeply: We should not speak of a country, but with the country. And I want to take this advice. So, it's the question. Later today we will debate the question of Armenian prisoners being held by Azerbaijan. This is a very important issue on a humanitarian and a human rights level. I would like to know if you have already had occasion to open a dialogue with Baku authorities on... 20/04/2021 | 10:23:41 Madam Chancellor, Allow me, on behalf of the EPP Group which I chair, to pay tribute to your work as Chancellor in favour of European integration. Despite the crises, you have managed to preserve and strengthen Europe's cohesion while preserving our values. I would also like to congratulate you on the success of the German Presidency of the Council of Europe. I am very pleased to hear that you are in favour of the European Union joining the European Convention on Human Rights. My question... 19/04/2021 | 17:30:17 Thank you so much to all of you. All subjects raised, I think they are very important. I would like only to go back to what Ms Petra BAYR said about the Istanbul Convention. Sometimes there are arguments coming from some countries by saying that we have better protection under our national laws, so we don't need this. I strongly believe that even if this is the truth, we have to show others, those who do not have such a good national law, that we stick to these rules. We stick to this... 19/04/2021 | 12:13:07 Thank you, Mister President. If you will allow me, I will remain seated. Speaking with a mask on is already no fun, but if I remain standing, it could end badly. Mister President, ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to present to you the latest progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee of our Assembly, covering the period from January to April 2021. I will not go into detail about all the activities in the report, but will concentrate on the main actions and the five...