http://www.assembly.coe.int/rss/rss.aspx?cat=2&size=20&title=Parliamentary+Assembly+of+the+Council+of+Europe+(PACE):+Parliamentary+Assembly&rssdesc=&lang=en-gb Mon, 20 May 2013 22:41:46 +0200 Around 100 parliamentarians from across Europe, media experts and NGO representatives are to gather at the House of Commons in London on 21-22 May for a conference on the role of national parliaments in media regulation in Europe. The conference, due to be addressed by Commons Speaker John Bercow, features sessions on... Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8735&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8735 A PACE delegation* looking into the consequences of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia has deeply regretted that the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali and Sukhumi refused to receive the delegation. The delegation has just returned from a visit to Moscow and Tbilisi (12-15 May 2013). Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8737&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8737 In his address to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 123rd session, PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, today called for reinforcement of Council of Europe action in the fields of democracy, human rights and rule of law. Fulfilment of this mission required that we guarantee the effective application of our standards Europe-wide, he recalled, stressing that... Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8727&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8727 To mark the International Day against Homophobia (May 17), Håkon Haugli, General rapporteur on the rights of LGBT people of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), made the following statement: “On 17 May 1990 the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases... Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8729&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8729 Wojciech Sawicki, the PACE Secretary General, has issued a call for nominations for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which will be awarded for the first time on 30 September next in Strasbourg. Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8723&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8723 Turkey is an indispensable partner for promoting the aims and values of the Council of Europe, PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, said today, speaking during an official visit to the country (13-15 May). The President, speaking in Ankara following a meeting with President Abdullah Gül and other leading officials in the country, said that Turkey, with its solid democratic system, was an exampl... Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8725&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8725 Bulgaria’s early parliamentary elections on 12 May were held in a competitive environment, fundamental freedoms were respected, and the administration of elections was well managed, although the campaign was overshadowed by a number of incidents that diminished trust in state institutions and the process was negatively affected by pervasive allegations of vote-buying, international observers sa... Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8721&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8721 The PACE delegation observing the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria yesterday met President Rosen Plevneliev, Prime Minister Marin Raykov, Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and Justice Minister Dragomir Yordanov. Discussions focussed on the atmosphere of the election campaign with just two days left to voting day. The 19-member delegation is observing the election alongside obse... Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8717&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8717 PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon, speaking on the eve of an official visit to Turkey, has strongly condemned the attacks in the town of Rehyanli, close to the Syrian border. “I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and my support to all who are working on behalf of those affected. I also express my support for the Turkish authorities [...]. The perpetrators of... Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8719&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8719 PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, will make an official visit to Turkey from 13 to 15 May, during which he is due to meet the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for the Family and Social Policy. Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8713&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8713 Håkon Haugli (Norway, SOC), PACE rapporteur of the Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee, will make a fact-finding visit to Kyiv on 15-16 May 2013 in the framework of the preparation of his report on "Tackling discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity". Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8715&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8715 A 19-member PACE delegation, headed by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), will travel to Bulgaria from 10 to 13 May to observe the early parliamentary elections alongside observers from the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly and Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8709&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8709 PACE and the European Parliament must speak with one voice in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon underlined at the end of his two-day visit to the European Parliament in Brussels, on 6 and 7 May. Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8711&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8711 PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has voiced concern about the current situation in the Republic of Moldova, where a political struggle seems to be in danger of jeopardising the Moldovan people’s aspirations on the road to European integration. Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8707&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8707 Marina Schuster (Germany, ALDE), PACE's newly-appointed General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty, and Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, have expressed their dismay at the first death sentence handed down in Belarus since the execution of the purported Minsk metro bombers in 2012. Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8703&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8703 PACE co-rapporteurs for Ukraine, Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), as well as Pieter Omtzigt, (Netherlands, EPP/CD) Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on “Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate”, urge the Ukrainian authorities to use all legal means to release Yulia Tymoshenko... Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8705&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8705 PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, will give a speech at the ceremony to be held on 10 May in Girona in tribute to the former President of the Assembly, Lluís Maria de Puig, who died in December 2012. He will be accompanied by the Secretary General of the Assembly, Wojciech Sawicki. Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8697&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8697 PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon will meet in Brussels on 6 and 7 May, Miguel Martinez, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Elmar Brok, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs... Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8699&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8699 Reacting to the death on Monday 30 April of a 5 year-old girl who had been raped two weeks earlier in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD) and José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) declared themselves worried about the fact that full protection of their life and safety is by far not guaranteed to all girls and women throughout the world... Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8701&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8701 At a time of budgetary restrictions affecting most member States, the Council of Europe budget for 2014 and 2015 will show zero nominal growth, notes Rudy Salles (France, EPP/CD) in an opinion on the budgets and priorities of the Council of Europe for 2014-2015... Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100 http://assembly.coe.int/ConsultationNews.asp?idNews=8695&Rss_Channel=2&Content-Language=en-gb&Rss_IDNews=8695