April 2022 part-session highlights:
- Short video message from Jacques Maire: "It was the first full session after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Of course, we dealt extensively with this issue with three resolutions and three very important unanimous votes: the first one is to underline that we are mobilising the whole organisation to support the Ukrainians, but also the Belarusian and Russian opposition; the second is to call for the establishment of a special international tribunal on Ukraine if there is no possibility to seize the International Criminal Court; and finally, the third one is to use confiscated Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine"
- ALDE-PACE insisted on the need for the Council of Europe to “reinvent” itself to tackle the consequences of the war in Ukraine and to reinforce CoE’s presence in Ukraine without delay. Ahead of the plenary debates, the group exchanged views with CoE Deputy Secretary General Bjorn Berge and CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic.
- “Freedom to Vladimir Kara-Murza!”: ALDE members in the Council of Europe call for the immediate release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition figure and close associate of Boris Nemtsov. We have raised the situation with Luigi Di Maio, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy currently presiding the CoE Committee of Ministers, supported the statement issued by Damien Cottier, President of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and bureau member of the ALDE group, and co-signed the inter-group motion for a resolution asking PACE to closely follow this politically motivated persecution.
- In the light of PACE’s decision to suspend its relations with the Belarusian authorities, ALDE-PACE continues to reflect on how the Council of Europe and PACE could reinvent and reinforce their cooperation with the democratic movement of Belarus. We exchanged views with representatives of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic forces.
- ALDE-PACE members presented three reports at the April plenary session and were elected to lead four PACE sub-committees and the Parliamentary Network on healthy environment.
