Viktor Yushchenko and Mikheil Saakashvili to address PACE winter session
Strasbourg, 19.01.2005 – Addresses by Ukrainian President-elect Viktor
Yushchenko and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili are among highlights
of the winter session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE), which takes place in Strasbourg from 24 to 28 January 2005.
Another highlight is a debate during which the Assembly will put forward its
proposals for the coming Third Summit of the Council of Europe. At the
summit, which takes place in Warsaw on 16-17 May, the heads of state and
government of the Organisation’s 46 member states are due to take stock of
its role as the guarantor of human rights across the continent and map out a
plan of action for the years ahead. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier
will take part in the debate.
On Tuesday 25th at noon, there will be a ceremony to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with the participation of the
Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council and former Knesset Speaker Szewach Weiss
and Auschwitz survivor Jean Samuel.
There will be possible urgent debates on the Asian Tsunami disaster and on
the prospects for Middle East peace. Other reports to be discussed include
relations between Europe and the United States, the circumstances
surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives, and the
conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Kosovo’s Ombudsman Marek Antoni Nowicki will take part in a debate on the
protection of human rights in Kosovo and there will be the first assessment
since “the Rose Revolution” of Georgia’s honouring of its obligations and
commitments towards the Council of Europe.
The opening day of the session sees the election of a new Assembly President
as well as addresses from OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Alcee L.
Hastings, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis – who will give
the annual communication on “the state of the Council of Europe” – and
Claude Frey, chairman of the Executive Council of the North-South Centre. On
Wednesday, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski, representing
the Polish chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, will address the
Assembly.
The parliamentarians will also debate how European governments should
respond to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), put forward a proposal to
establish a European remembrance centre for victims of forced population
movements and ethnic cleansing, and consider Europe’s response to
unemployment.
The Assembly will adopt opinions on new draft Council of Europe conventions
on trafficking in human beings and on the prevention of terrorism, including
terrorist financing.
An updated list of scheduled press conferences is available on the
Assembly’s website.
The following is a provisional order of business which may be altered by the
Assembly on the first day of the session.
Monday 24 January
* Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
* Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee
* Statement by Claude Frey, Chairman of the Executive Council of the
North-South Centre
* Statement by Alcee L. Hastings, President of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly
* Communication from Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, on the state of the Council of Europe
* Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Tuesday 25 January
* The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with by the OSCE Minsk
Conference
* Ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz
* Address by Viktor Yushchenko, President-elect of Ukraine
* Protection of human rights in Kosovo
* Statement by Marek Antoni Nowicki, Ombudsperson in Kosovo
* The circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos
executives
Wednesday 26 January
* Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to
Serbia and Montenegro
* Possible urgent debate: prospects for peace in the Middle East
* Address by Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia
* Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary
Assembly presented by Jan Truszczynski, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs
of Poland, representing the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers
* The Third Summit
* Statement by Michel Barnier, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France
* Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia
Thursday 27 January
* Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to
Serbia and Montenegro (possible second round)
* Relations between Europe and the United States
* Possible urgent debate: Europe and the Tsunami disaster
* Establishment of a European remembrance centre for victims of forced
population movements and ethnic cleansing
* Opinion on the Draft Convention on laundering, the financing of terrorism,
search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime
* Opinion on the Draft Convention for the prevention of terrorism
Friday 28 January
* What solutions to Europe’s unemployment?
* Boosting social cohesion and employment: more and better jobs
* Opinion on the Draft Council of Europe Convention on action against
trafficking in human beings
* Revision of the terms of reference of Assembly committees
* Constitution of the Standing Committee
See the Assembly’s website, , for further details.
Additional information may also be found on the Council of Europe web
portal,
Contact:
Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: [email protected]
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Press Release
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 015a04
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:
The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 630 members from the national
parliaments of the 46 member states.
President: Peter Schieder (Austria, SOC); Secretary General of the Assembly:
Bruno Haller.
Political Groups: SOC (Socialist Group); EPP/CD (Group of the European
People’s Party); LDR (Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group);
EDG (European Democratic Group); UEL (Group of the Unified European Left).