11/04/2025 Session
Urgent debates on “The situation in Georgia and follow up to Resolution 2585 (2025) ’Challenge, on substantive grounds, of the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegation of Georgia’”; on “The arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul and the state of democracy and human rights in Türkiye”; and on the “Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: the need for accountability, avoiding impunity”; were on the agenda of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which took place in Strasbourg from 7 to 11 April 2025.
Current affairs debates on “An urgent call for an immediate end to the humanitarian blockade of Gaza and the reinstatement of the ceasefire” and on “Protests and rallies in the Western Balkans and Central Europe” also took place.
Other debates were scheduled on foreign interference: a threat to democratic security in Europe; the interconnections between the Council of Europe and the European Political Community; the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; the legal aspects of the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights; and the draft Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law.
His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg addressed the Assembly, as well as Xavier Espot Zamora, Head of the Government of the Principality of Andorra, and Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg, Chair of the Committee of Ministers – who presented the traditional communication from that body and answered questions from members. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, held a question and answer session with the parliamentarians.
The 2025 Council of Europe Museum Prize was awarded at a ceremony to Euskararen Etxea (the House of the Basque Language) in Bilbao, Spain.
Other items on the agenda included debates on the observation of the elections to the Assembly of Kosovo*; strengthening relations between the Council of Europe and Latin America; putting an end to collective expulsions of aliens; respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption within the Council of Europe; and the modification of various provisions of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure.
*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.