24/05/2024 President | Standing Committee
In the framework of the PACE Standing Committee meeting, held today in Vilnius, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Theodoros Rousopoulos, made the following statement:
“At the start of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and taking account of the numerous challenges faced by the Organisation, I emphasise the importance of dialogue and constructive co-operation between the Committee of Ministers and our Assembly to address together the emerging challenges we face and work together towards implementation of the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency.
Providing meaningful and timely support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression remains a top priority, as do the efforts aimed at ensuring the accountability of the Russian Federation for all the criminal and wrongful acts it has committed in and against Ukraine. Expanding membership of the Registry of Damage and making decisive progress in setting up an ad hoc tribunal on the crime of aggression are key goals towards which we must work hand in hand.
We have recently observed very worrying developments in Georgia around the adoption of the new Law on the Transparency of Foreign Influence, which raise serious concerns regarding that country’s compliance with its obligations as a member state of the Council of Europe. The Assembly remains committed to work with the Georgian authorities on ensuring that these concerns are properly addressed and that the Opinion of the Venice Commission on this law is fully taken into consideration. The Georgian people, whose attachment to the core values of democracy, human rights and rule of law is unquestionable, deserve nothing less.
Remarkable progress has been made recently by Kosovo* on many human rights and rule of law issues. I look forward to the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers continuing to work on achieving a timely and appropriate follow-up to the statutory opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly on the accession application by Kosovo to the Council of Europe.
Dialogue will be continued with Azerbaijan to address the issues that led to the non-ratification of the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Assembly at the start of this year, to enable this country to resume as rapidly as possible its full participation in the activities of both of the Organisation’s statutory bodies.
I am convinced that it is by working in synergy, united in our standards and values, that the two statutory bodies of our Organisation can best rise to the challenges of our turbulent times and fulfil together the commitments entered into by member States in their Reykjavik Declaration of 2023.”
* Throughout this text, all reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.