01/10/2024 | 13:02:57 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear Mister President and colleagues, Initially, Mister President, I want to say that I reject this report. Freedom of speech is the very core value and foundation of a democratic society and we must be aware of the forces threatening this. We have been spoilt in our part of the world and are now waking up and realising what is happening. With the large immigration of people from countries in the Middle East and North Africa, our freedom of... 30/09/2024 | 16:58:53 President, Dear colleagues, It is not too often that one hears the expression "small is beautiful" in connection with international financial institutions. And it is true that the Council of Europe’s own Development Bank, the CEB, is by far not as big as for example the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. But it is precisely this characteristic that gives our Bank its particular flexibility, in what has, since its founding in 1956, always been its main mandate and its forte. But as...