The Presidents of Armenia and Austria, as well as the Prime Minister and the Crown Princess of Denmark, are among VIPs to address the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which takes place in Strasbourg from 22 to 26 January 2018.
The Assembly is also due to elect its President and a new Commissioner for Human Rights.
Key debates will cover good football and modern sports governance, the humanitarian consequences of the war in Ukraine, the case for a basic citizenship income and the protection of regional and minority languages. Also due for discussion are the latest monitoring report on how far Bosnia and Herzegovina is meeting its Council of Europe obligations and commitments, as well as “periodic reviews” of the situation in Estonia, Greece, Hungary and Ireland.
The Foreign Minister of Denmark will report to the Assembly on the work of the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s executive body which he currently chairs, and respond to questions. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe will present his annual communication, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights will report on his activities in 2017.
Three requests for urgent debates have been received so far, two of them relating to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the role of the Council of Europe, and a third concerning rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia in Europe.
The Assembly will decide its final agenda on the opening day of the session.
