Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary assembly
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2024 | Theodoros Roussopoulos from Greece, representing the Group of the European People's Party, becomes the current president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. |
April 16 2024 | The Parliamentary Assembly voted in favour of Kosovo's membership, with 131 votes in favour, 29 against, and 11 abstentions. |
2023 | PACE adopted a motion expressing regret that Members of the European Parliament accepted and failed to declare trips to Azerbaijan, visits to Nagorno-Karabakh, and luxury hotel stays organized and paid for by Azerbaijani officials. |
June 2023 | The Assembly urged a total ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympics, in response to the International Olympic Committee considering their participation as 'neutral individuals'. |
April 24 2023 | The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved Kosovo's application for membership, allowing the application to progress to the Parliamentary Assembly. |
January 2023 | The Assembly unanimously demanded the establishment of an international criminal tribunal in The Hague to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders for war crimes. |
October 2022 | The Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the Russian regime a 'terrorist' regime. |
March 16 2022 | The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe unanimously decided to expel Russia, ending its 26-year membership. |
March 15 2022 | The Parliamentary Assembly held an Extraordinary Session and adopted a resolution calling for Russia's immediate expulsion from the Council of Europe, marking the first such call in the Assembly's history. |
February 25 2022 | The Council of Europe suspended Russia's membership following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after consulting with the Parliamentary Assembly on the same day. |
March 2021 | Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis began her five-year term as Secretary General, leading an 80-member multi-national secretariat based in Strasbourg. |
January 2021 | Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis was elected as Secretary General of the Assembly, becoming the first woman and first Greek national to hold this position since the Assembly's creation in 1949. |
January 2020 | Ukraine returned to PACE. |
June 25 2019 | Russian parliament immediately presented credentials for a new delegation, which was approved with 116 votes in favor, 62 against, and 15 abstentions. Pyotr Olegovich Tolstoy headed the delegation. |
June 25 2019 | After an eight-hour debate, PACE voted to change its rules, allowing members the right to vote, speak, and be represented, which paved the way for the Russian delegation's return. |
January 2019 | Russian parliament once more did not submit its delegation's credentials for ratification. |
2018 | The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe launched an online archive of historic speeches, titled 'Voices of Europe', containing 263 speeches from 216 Presidents, Prime Ministers, monarchs, and religious leaders from 45 countries, spanning 70 years. |
2018 | An independent investigation found strong suspicions of corruptive conduct involving PACE members, leading to sanctions against multiple members who breached the Assembly's Code of Conduct. |
January 2018 | Russian parliament continued to leave its delegation seats empty by not submitting credentials. |
January 2017 | Russian parliament again did not submit its delegation's credentials for ratification. |
2016 | Jordan was granted Partner for Democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, permitting their delegation to participate in Assembly work without full voting rights. |
January 2016 | Russian parliament decided not to submit its delegation's credentials for ratification, effectively leaving its seats empty. |
2015 | PACE passes a resolution on religious freedom and tolerance, reiterating its stance on circumcision being performed only under appropriate medical conditions, clarifying that they never called for an outright ban on infant circumcision. |
January 2015 | PACE renewed the sanctions against the Russian delegation for a full year. |
2014 | Kyrgyzstan was granted Partner for Democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, enabling their delegation to take part in Assembly and committee activities without voting privileges. |
June 2014 | Russian parliamentary delegation suspended its cooperation with PACE in response to the sanctions. |
April 2014 | PACE suspended the Russian delegation's voting rights and representation in Assembly leading bodies following Russia's annexation of Crimea and involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian War. |
2013 | The New York Times reported that some Council of Europe member states, notably Central Asian states and Russia, attempted to influence the Parliamentary Assembly by offering lavish gifts and trips. |
October 2013 | Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passes a resolution and recommendation on children's right to physical integrity, addressing potential harmful practices like female genital mutilation, male circumcision, intersex medical interventions, and body piercings. |
2012 | The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development initiates a motion addressing children's physical integrity and potential harmful practices. |
2011 | Morocco and Palestine were granted Partner for Democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, allowing them to send delegations to participate in Assembly work without voting rights. |
2010 | Marcello Dell'Utri (Italy) was found guilty on appeal and sentenced to 7 years in prison for complicity in conspiracy with the Mafia. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles List of presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe & Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.