03/10/2025 | 11:22:57 Thank you, Mister Chair. "The military and civilian authorities of members and friendly states are requested to extend all national facilities to the bearer of the present card in carrying out his or her duties to allow him or her to pass without delay or hindrance, and in case of need, to accord all necessary lawful assistance and protection". This is the document each of us get when we become members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which we call a laissez-passer. I'm... 01/10/2025 | 17:21:11 I broke the logic, but I'm here. Honourable Chair, Dear colleagues, First of all, let me congratulate Lord Richard KEEN for the very balanced and topical report. No right can be derived from violation of law. This is one of the main principles of any national legal system and one of the core pillars of modern international law. The Draft Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine marks an important step within the Council of Europe framework. It translates the... 30/09/2025 | 17:56:09 I agree with Mr Max LUCKS that all political parties should be registered. But simultaneously it is impossible to push a country to do something from Strasbourg. It's necessary to actually respect the constitutional settings we have. We should more engage in the further understanding of what's going on in this process. But actually the paragraph we have and the amendment is not only concerning the registration of the political parties, also concerning the events which occurred in 2022. And it... 30/09/2025 | 17:17:59 Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, let me congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Zsolt NÉMETH, for the very balanced report. I would like to say that it is a crucial step not only for our Parliamentary Assembly, but also for Kazakhstan to have such a balanced resolution on further democratic developments. Europe is a geographical notion, but the Council of Europe is something about values, something about democracy, something about responsibility. This is not just an elite club for privileges... 25/06/2025 | 19:55:29 Thank you, Mr Chair. First of all, I would like to congratulate Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, the rapporteur, for this excellent opinion. It's a bit of a pity, I would like just to say that, when we are discussing the statutory opinions – actually about the binding legal instruments which should be adopted by the Council of Europe – and we have less interest in this report than we have in other cases where we have just the documents of the recommendation nature. So I would like to encourage all of you... 24/06/2025 | 16:54:18 Thank you, Mister Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, being a prisoner of war is not a punishment. This is just a military measure to prevent further participation in hostilities, to not allow a person to come back to the battlefield. What we are facing now, unfortunately, we are equalising the status of a prisoner of war with the status of a criminal. We are equalising the status of prisoner of war camps with the status of penitentiary institutions. And unfortunately, prisoners of war have become... 23/06/2025 | 16:37:55 "Thank you, Madam President" [spoken in French]. Another year, another part-time session, another progress report, and once again, we have more questions than answers. We have more challenges than solutions. For sure, it's very complicated to speak about the protection of human rights, about the respect towards the rule of law and the promotion of democracy in an environment where the rules-based order is totally damaged. Nevertheless, being a human rights organisation, which was based - and... 09/04/2025 | 11:05:36 Thank you, Honorable Mister Chair. First of all, let me congratulate Mr Frank SCHWABE, the rapporteur, for an excellent report reflecting the main challenges in the field of the fight against corruption that our Organisation is faced with. The Council of Europe was established to enhance respect for the rule of law, improve democracy and uphold human rights. During the last 75 years, we have reached tremendous results in the field of fight against corruption. It is important to recognise that... 08/04/2025 | 10:25:28 Thank you, Madam Chair. The issue we are discussing is interconnected with the three core principles of international law: the principle of sovereign equality, the principle of political independence of a nation, and the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs. The main core principles of international law. And we would like to say that in the past, for sure, we have had a lot of challenges of this ideal approach, because with a situation where some countries use military powers... 30/01/2025 | 11:02:47 Thank you, Mister President. I would like also to express words of gratitude to Lord HERMER for the very interesting discussion, which actually led us to Shakespearean patience. And, frankly speaking, when usually a person asks me who I am, and what is my specialisation, I say, "I am guilty, I am a lawyer". Because actually being a lawyer in contemporary society is somehow stigmatised because yes, everybody understands perfectly well that it is complicated to live in a contemporary society...