The situation in Kosovo and children’s rights in PACE’s winter session
agenda
Strasbourg, 16.01.2007 – A debate on the current situation in Kosovo on
Wednesday 24 January, with the participation of the UN
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the future status process for
Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is one of the highlights of the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Winter Session (Strasbourg, 22-26
January 2007).
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is due to address
the Assembly on Monday 22 January, as a contribution to intercultural
and inter-religious dialogue, one of the priorities of PACE President
René van der Linden. Also invited to address the Assembly are the
Prime Ministers of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, and Greece, Kostas
Karamanlis.
Princess Caroline of Hanover, President of the World Association of
Children’s Friends, and the Executive Director of UNICEF Ann Veneman
will intervene, on Tuesday 23 January, in the debate on combating
violence against children and other forms of child exploitation and
abuse, as part of the three-year Council of Europe campaign "Building a
Europe for and with children".
Other highlights on the agenda include debates on:
* The peril of using energy supply as an instrument of political
pressure
* Fair trial issues in criminal cases concerning espionage or divulging
state secrets
* Sexual assaults linked to ‘date-rape drugs’
* HIV/AIDS, and more specifically the situation of children, including
AIDS orphans, as well as women and girls
* Monitoring reports on Albania and Armenia
Requests for urgent debates have been submitted on:
* Threats to the lives and freedom of expression of journalists
* Current tensions between Russia and Georgia
There is also a request for a current affairs debate on "Effectively
combating violence in everyday life".
On the sidelines of the session, the parliamentary delegations of
Armenia and Azerbaijan are due to attend a joint meeting to discuss the
implementation of Assembly Resolution 1416 (2005) on the conflict over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference
(Thursday 25 January, 2 p.m., not open to the press).
* * *
Monday 22 January (11.30 am)
* Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and
opening speech by the President
* Address by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
* Communication from Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, on the state of the Council of Europe
* Sexual assaults linked to "date-rape drugs"
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Tuesday 23 January
* Child victims: stamping out all forms of violence, exploitation and
abuse
– Statement by Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF
– Statement by Princess Caroline of Hanover, President of the World
Association of Children’s Friends (AMADE)
* Address by Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium
* Peril of using energy supply as an instrument of political pressure
* Honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia
Wednesday 24 January
* Current situation in Kosovo
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– Statement by Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process
for Kosovo
· Address by Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece
· Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the
Parliamentary Assembly presented by Fiorenzo Stolfi, Minister for
Foreign Affairs of San Marino, Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers
* Agriculture and illegal employment in Europe
* The situation of migrant workers in temporary employment agencies
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Thursday 25 January
* Possible urgent debate
* The Precautionary Principle and responsible risk management
* HIV/AIDS in Europe
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* A future for HIV/AIDS children and AIDS orphans
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* The spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to women and girls in Europe
< 3D/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc06/EDOC11108.htm>
– Statement by Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights
* Honouring of obligations and commitments by Albania
Friday 26 January
* Fair trial issues in criminal cases concerning espionage or divulging
state secrets
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* Towards responsible food consumption
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Practical information
PACE President René van der Linden will give a press conference on
Monday 22 January at 10 a.m. in Room 1. Other press conferences will be
announced on the spot.
See the Assembly’s website,
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may also be found on the Council of Europe web portal,
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Contact: PACE Communication Unit:
Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93; Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
For accreditation: Directorate of Communication,
Danielle Schreiber-Somoza, [email protected]
<mailto:danie [email protected]> , Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 44.