09/04/2025 | 18:36:19 Thank you, President. [spoken in French] The Committee adopted the draft resolution by overwhelming majority and the draft recommendation unanimously. This report is the fourth report from the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on Russia's full scale war of aggression on Ukraine and we need to ensure accountability. We were the first to propose the idea of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression in April 2022, with a report by our former colleague, Mr Aleksander POCIEJ. We... 08/04/2025 | 16:44:40 Thank you, Chair. The political crisis that happened in Catalonia in 2017 was a clear example of foreign interference. RT and Sputnik distributed nearly 48 000 posts and news about the coup d'état. And those were read by 126 million people. News like tanks in the street of Catalonia, a map that shown a majority of countries recognising the independence of Catalonia, or quotes that independent Catalonia will recognise the independence of Crimea. There were congress for the pro-independent... 08/04/2025 | 10:11:09 Many thanks, Madam President. I shall be speaking the language of Cervantes. Today is a happy day because today is the end of a path. Presenting a report to the plenary is a long trajectory. A report that started almost two years ago with a member of the Group of the European People's Party, Ms Valentina MARTÍNEZ, and which went down successfully with our colleague Ms Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA. Today is a happy day also, because the Council of Europe has a very strong instrument, a powerful... 29/01/2025 | 16:53:38 Thank you, President. I want to begin with congratulations – Ms Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA, also the secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Ms Petra BAYR. The times were not easy. The political heat very high, the expectations extreme. And you follow the mandate of this institution: to promote democracy, human rights and always the rule of law. We are living in troubled times. The invasion of Ukraine is only one chapter in the struggle between the dark forces of... 29/01/2025 | 12:19:16 Thank you, President, Secretary General, ladies and gentlemen, Chief Rabbi LAU, representatives of family of the deceased and survivors of the Shoah, In this temple of democracy, as the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called this room, we are gathered together today to mark in a solemn manner one of the blackest periods, nay, the darkest periods in humankind. We may feel that it is our credit to gather together to mark this anniversary. But, my friends, it... 27/01/2025 | 17:26:20 Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much for all of those comments. Thank you very much indeed for all of your speeches. Obviously, one of the most complex issues that we have had to deal with recently is Georgia. It's something that has been going on for some time. We were already looking at it last year. We realised this morning of course that this is something which is set to occupy us for some time to come. So, the challenges are what they are. We have got the issue of Ukraine as... 27/01/2025 | 16:30:56 Okay, thank you. Mister President. I'm honoured to present to you the latest progress report on the activities of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly. This report covers the period from the Bureau's meeting on 4 October 2024 through to the pre-session meeting on 21 January 2025. It includes key decisions made by the Bureau during its meetings in Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Paris, as well as glimpses into upcoming plans and priorities. I will on purpose limit my intervention to only a few... 27/01/2025 | 12:39:56 Thank you, President, and welcome and congratulations for your elections. Your Holiness, welcome to this Assembly. I am a Roman Catholic and leader of the Group of the European People's Party in this institution, a group with deep Christian values. Thank you for being with us and for the words that you have given to us that have been very inspirational. I am going to ask about one of the challenges of our times. How do you envision the church's role in supporting refugees and promoting peace... 02/10/2024 | 16:16:56 Thank you very much, Mister President, First of all, I want to recognise how the president of the Assembly, Mr Theodoros ROUSOPOULOS and the Secretariat, have accomplished their difficult duty and been an example of respect, [with regards to] the right of the members of the assembly and the proceedings of this institution. Also, the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs has acted in a very professional way, analysing the requests made by the competent authority... 01/10/2024 | 18:53:09 Thank you very much, Mister President. The violence in the Middle East is reaching levels that we have not ever witnessed to date. It will be the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks against Israel in just a few days time. The consequence was hundreds of murdered and more than 200 taken hostage. Since 1945, Israel had not suffered an aggression as terrible as this. Today, almost one year later, 100 Israelis remain hostages, which is a good sign of the inhumanity of the Hamas terrorist...