19/04/2021 | 19:17:11 The Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities is a highly important document of the Council of Europe. It is very important for the Assembly to maintain it. I'd like to make a few points on the protection of national minority languages in the education system of my own country, Latvia. Latvia is successfully balancing the maintenance of the mother tongue of national minorities in the education system with support for better proficiency of all students in the national... 28/01/2020 | 11:47:43 Ladies and gentlemen. Democracy is not a dictatorship of the majority. The discussion here is about the decision to set up new procedures and disciplinary tools, possibly to ensure control of the judiciary by governing majority. I think this assembly is right to be concerned, as its role is to uphold democracy and human rights, and I do not see this concern as confrontational. On the contrary, I think we should take regard of the concerns of many Polish citizens who are protesting against... 27/01/2020 | 11:56:12 Thank you Mr President. I challenge the credentials of the Russian delegation on procedural grounds under Rule 7. The election of parliamentarians from nationwide party lists in Russia includes votes from the illegally occupied and annexed territory of Crimea. In international law individuals residing in this territory are entitled to continue to participate in elections in the state to which the territory lawfully belongs. Instead the votes are illegally counted in the elections of the... 26/06/2019 | 16:56:37 Ladies and gentlemen. We have challenged the credentials of the Russian delegation on both procedural and substantial grounds because we believe that ratifying these credentials unconditionally will not bring us closer to achieving the goals of the Council of Europe: peace and protection of Human rights. On the contrary, it will be a major setback for the very values which we in this Assembly claim to uphold. The reasons for this are clear. Russia has not followed the resolutions of this... 24/06/2019 | 18:51:32 Ladies and gentlemen, I have heard many arguments today in favour of supporting this report because, as many of my colleagues have said, they think that if we support this report then Russian citizens will still be able to have recourse to the Court when human rights violations happen, and we will be in this way able to protect them. I'm skeptical about this given the fact that the Russian Constitutional Court has basically passed a statement saying that only if in the Court's opinion those...