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Civic Space, Democracy and Artificial Intelligence: how do they intersect?
On the occasion of World NGO Day, the Council of Europe’s Conference of International NGOs, bringing together representatives of civil society organisations enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe, held a public interactive and hybrid event “Civic Space, Democracy and Artificial...
Congress President condemns plans for Russian presidential elections in occupied Ukrainian regions
The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement: “I strongly condemn the plans by the Russian Federation to organise presidential elections in the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine.” “The illegal conduct...
Congress President denounces so-called local elections in Belarus
The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement: “The so-called local elections organised in Belarus on 25 February 2024 are nothing but a sham. Without freedoms of speech, assembly and association, without...
PACE President: “The ‘elections’ in Belarus are a travesty of democracy”
“There cannot be free and fair elections in a situation where freedoms of speech, assembly and association are curtailed; where opposition political parties are liquidated and their leaders persecuted; where the freedom of the media is not respected; and where there is no redress against these...
Hungary: report calls for improving access to justice and legal remedies for human trafficking victims
In a new report the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) calls on the Hungarian authorities to take further action against human trafficking, notably by improving the assistance provided to victims of trafficking and their access to legal aid...