28/09/2026 Session
Addresses by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, the President of the Portuguese Republic António José Martins Seguro and Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister Johann Wadephul were among highlights of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) which took place in Strasbourg from 28 September to 2 October 2026.
At a ceremony on the opening day of the session, the 14th Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which honours outstanding human rights defenders in Europe and beyond, was awarded to an overall winner selected from three shortlisted candidates. The 2021 Prize winner, Belarusian human rights activist Maria Kalesnikava, who was in detention at the time of the award but released in December 2025, also attended the ceremony and addressed the Assembly.
Two urgent debates were held, one on "Repression and targeted attacks on LGBTI persons and defenders in Türkiye", and the second on "Fake 'elections' in Russia and its destabilising attacks on Europe", as well as a current affairs debate on "Solidarity with Ceuta: a test case for Europe". A general policy debate was also held on "Council of Europe: grounded in core values to meet the challenges ahead".
Other highlights included debates on the role of the OECD in evaluating the impact of AI on the future of work, with the participation of OECD Deputy Secretary-General Yasushi Masaki; on ensuring the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the Russian Federation, including payment of the compensation awarded; and on threats to the International Criminal Court, with a statement by Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, First Vice-President of the International Criminal Court.
A joint debate addressed the issue of coherent policies on veterans in Europe and on the need for systemic support to Ukrainian soldiers who became disabled as a result of hostilities.
The Assembly also assessed the honouring of membership obligations to the Council of Europe by Greece.
The President of the Committee of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Monaco Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, presented the work of the Council of Europe’s ministerial body since the last session and take questions from members.
Also addressing the Assembly and answering members’ questions were the President of the European Court of Human Rights Mattias Guyomar and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset.
The parliamentarians also discussed growing threats to media pluralism and the independence of the media, and there was a general policy debate on “Europe, the fastest-warming continent: accelerating climate action with young people”, with the participation of European youth representatives.
Other topics on the agenda included a family-friendly Europe and recommendations for demographic renewal, the role of diasporas and migrants in developing social cohesion and democratic engagement, and streamlining the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure.
In addition, the observation of early elections to the Assembly of Kosovo* and the parliamentary elections in Armenia were discussed.
On the first day of the session the PACE Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces also organised, in co-operation with the Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee and its Parliamentary Alliance for Free and Fair Elections, a round table on the topic “Fake ‘elections’ in Russia: what next?”.
The agendas of committees meeting during session week can be found here, and a list of meetings of the Assembly’s networks, as well as other side-events and exhibitions, can be found on this page.
*All reference to Kosovo in this document, whether to the territory, institutions or population shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
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Practical information
Media accreditation: please fill in this accreditation form. More details here, or contact the Council of Europe Media Department via [email protected].
PACE website: the agenda, adopted texts, reports to be debated, voting results, speakers lists and the verbatim record of each sitting (in English, French, German and Italian) are available on the special session page. News items on all debates appear on the Assembly’s home page.
Social media: follow the Assembly’s official accounts via Instagram, Bluesky, X, Facebook and LinkedIn (#PACEautumn2026).
Livestream: the session is streamed live (in French, English, German and Italian). Each sitting is also streamed live via the Assembly’s YouTube channel in original languages, scrollable in mid-stream, with instant replay.
Video recordings: sittings can be downloaded in full from the Multimedia page, while clips can be edited and downloaded via this online tool.
Photos: photos from session week can be downloaded from the Council of Europe media library or via the Assembly’s Flickr account.
Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93, [email protected]