The Presidents of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova to address PACE winter session
Tuesday, January 21
At its winter session in Strasbourg (27-31 January 2020), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will elect its new President.
The Presidents of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, as well as the Georgian Foreign Minister and President of the Committee of Ministers and the newly elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will address PACE and answer questions.
Debates on the agenda include a complementary joint procedure between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly in response to a serious violation by a member State of its statutory obligations, the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland, and reported cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. There has been a request for a current affairs debate on « Recent developments in Libya and in the Middle East: what consequences for Europe?”.
MPs will also discuss threats to media freedom and journalists’ security, a report on “Democracy hacked? How to respond?” and the protection of freedom of religion in the workplace.
The Assembly will hold two joint debates – one on migrant trafficking and missing refugee and migrant children, and another on organ transplant tourism and trafficking in human tissues and cells.
A report on minimum standards for electoral systems and a report on the observation of elections in Belarus are also on the agenda.
The Assembly will decide its final agenda on the opening day of the session.
The Assembly brings together 324 men and women from the parliaments of the Council of Europe's 47 member states. Though it contains many voices, reflecting political opinion across the continent, its mission is to uphold the shared values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law that are the "common heritage" of the peoples of Europe.
It holds governments to account over their human rights records, and presses states to achieve and maintain democratic standards, both in Europe and – increasingly – in neighboring regions.
PACE meets four times a year for week-long plenary sessions in Strasbourg. The parliament of each country sends a delegation of between two and eighteen representatives, depending on the country's population, which must reflect the balance of political forces in the parliament. Under current rules, at least one representative must also be a woman.
