29/09/2026 | 11:30:49 Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to start by congratulating the first speaker, Lord Michael GERMAN, for his balanced approach and we expect a lot from your report. The city of Ceuta has once again been subjected to an attack. An attack against Europe’s external borders, similar to those experienced by Greece in 2020 and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, in 2021. This was a hybrid attack with a single weapon: human beings. People were sent into the sea with one sole objective: to cause... 29/09/2026 | 10:21:06 Thank you, Madam Chair. Dear colleagues, I want to start by thanking Mr Knut ABRAHAM for his clear words. At a time when the rules-based international order is in retreat, the multilateral institutions that embody it are facing a deep crisis. The Council of Europe, one of these institutions, has never had an easy path. Founded in the dawn of the Cold War, with Europe divided and on the brink of conflict, and with more than half of its citizens living under dictatorship, it seemed that the... 24/06/2026 | 16:32:15 Thank you, Chair. And I want to start this intervention in the name of the Group of the European People's Party, saying that we are going to support the report, to congratulate the rapporteur and also to say that this serious engagement that he proposes, I think, is what we should do. There is a famous quote by a Latin writer, CICERO: "How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?" I think that we can say the same about what is happening in Azerbaijan. We know that Azerbaijan is a key... 23/06/2026 | 18:01:34 Thank you, Chair. Colleagues, This report provides a thorough account of the destructive acts of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The country has been a threat to peace in the Middle East since 1979. A country that has called to destroy some of its neighbours. The regime has used terrorism and supported terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The repression of women, the political opposition, religious minorities, and the LGBTI community has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths... 22/06/2026 | 12:06:49 Thank you, Madam Chair. Dear colleagues, The recent parliamentary elections in Hungary were not ordinary elections. They were not only about the composition of the Hungarian National Assembly. They were about whether a European country, after 16 years of democratic erosion, could still find its way back through the ballot box. They were about whether citizens could still overcome fear, propaganda, state capture and resignation. And they were about Europe itself: about the credibility of our... 20/04/2026 | 16:34:53 Welcome, Mister Minister [in French]. Welcome to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. We are living in times of sorrow and uncertainty, with a war of aggression in Europe and a state of war in the Middle East that directly affects Europe. Thousands of Ukrainians have died in the war. A French soldier died some days ago in Lebanon. The economic consequences of the war have only started, but the middle class is suffering a lot. How do you foresee the possibility of peace in... 20/04/2026 | 12:46:32 Thank you very much, colleagues, for all your comments. The election in Hungary was a very special moment for this institution because, as some of our colleagues have said, NGOs and some political parties, especially the parties that won the elections, didn't want to engage with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We were the only international institution that had engagement with all the political actors in those elections. So for us, it was very important. In... 20/04/2026 | 11:54:34 Madam Chair, At its meeting on 2 March 2026, the Bureau appointed me as the rapporteur for this report, which covers activities from the last Bureau meeting of the first part-session of Friday 30 January 2026, until this morning's press session Bureau meeting. As you know, the progress report is basically a compilation of the decisions taken at Bureau meetings. Furthermore, Addendum 1 on gender equality in the functioning of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2025... 29/01/2026 | 11:36:42 Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to begin by congratulating Mr Piero FASSINO, one of the true professors from whom we have the privilege to learn in this institution every single day. Once again, he has demonstrated that moral clarity and political firmness are fully compatible with balance and elegance. Institutions are strengthened when those who are part of them treat one another with seriousness and respect. There is no such thing as old or new politics; there is only good or bad... 27/01/2026 | 19:24:34 Thank you, Madam Chair, Dear colleagues, Even though the next November general elections will be crucial for the future of the entire country, the news is currently focused on the governance of the Republika Srpska. I wish to remind you that the recent conflict escalated after the Republika Srpska adopted legislation asserting ownership and control over public assets, in defiance of the Constitutional Court and the Office of the High Representative. The ensuing confrontation led to legal...