PACE winter session starts in Strasbourg today
The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) starts today, on January 25, in Strasbourg and will last until January 29.
On January 26, the PACE will vote on two draft resolutions on Nagorno Karabakh - British MP Robert Walter’s report “Escalation of violence in Nagorno Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” which is a controversial report that drew a wide response, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s MP Milica Marković’s report “Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water”.
The Russian delegation will skip the PACE session as it was stripped of its powers due to the events in Ukraine.
“Europe's migration and refugee crisis, international terrorism and the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland will take centre-stage at the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, “ the press service of PACE said.
The Assembly will elect its President for a one-year term, renewable once.
Among the personalities who will be addressing the Assembly are the President of Bulgaria Rossen Plevneliev and the Captains Regent of San Marino Lorella Stefanelli and Nicola Renzi.
Daniel Mitov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, will address the Assembly in his capacity as Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland will make his annual statement.