The third Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2019 ended today in Strasbourg, after a five-day work. The following members of the Permanent Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the PACE took part in the session: Head of Delegation Mr Predrag Sekulić, Ms Marija Ćatović, Ms Sanja Pavićević, and Mr Ervin Ibrahimović.
One of the key events of this session was the election of a new Secretary General of the Council of Europe. In September of the current year, that office will be overtaken by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia Ms Marija Pejčinović-Burić.
The session was marked by the discussion on the report by a member of the Belgian Parliament Ms Petra De Sutter on “Strengthening the decision-making process of the Parliamentary Assembly concerning credentials and voting”, which was adopted after a several-hours-long heated debate, while the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a decision enabling the Parliament of the Russian Federation to deliver the credentials of its delegation which had not participated in the work of this statutory body of the Council of Europe since 2015. Adopting the decision to ratify the credentials of the Russian delegation without limits on the right to participation or representation, and emphasising the commitment to dialogue as a means of reaching lasting solutions, the Parliamentary Assembly called on Russia to fulfil a series of recent recommendations, including the release of Ukrainian sailors, unconditional and full cooperation on bringing to justice those responsible for downing Flight MH17, full cooperation with the international community with regard to the investigation into the murder of Mr Boris Nemtsov, and taking measures to end violations of the rights of LGBTI people.
During the session, the Parliamentary Assembly also considered the reports on the activities of Bulgaria in the post-monitoring dialogue, situation in Syria, assassination of the journalist Ms Daphne Caruana Galizia and the rule of law in Malta, as well as the murder of Mr Boris Nemtsov. They also discussed the budget and priorities of the Council of Europe 2020-2021, and planned expenses of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium.
The agenda of the session also included the debate on “The Istanbul Convention on violence against women: achievements and challenges” within which a member of the parliamentary delegation Ms Sanja Pavićević, who is also a member of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, pointed out Montenegro’s progress achieved in developing a legislative, political and institutional framework for preventing and eliminating violence against women and domestic violence, which has also been recognised in the first GREVIO report for Montenegro. The significance of promoting the Istanbul Convention and raising awareness on all types of violence against women was also emphasised, as well as numerous activities that the Parliament of Montenegro, i.e. its Gender Equality Committee, was implementing in this field.
MP Pavićević also took part in the discussion on “Preventing violence against children” within which she spoke of the measures that the responsible Montenegrin institutions were undertaking at the strategic and operative level in order to create a violence-free environment for each child. The key measures which were implemented in the previous period within the Strategy for the Prevention and Protection of Children against Violence 2017-2021 were presented, and the commitment to achieving further progress in this area was emphasised.
In addition to the plenary session, members of the Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro took part in meeting of political groups of the Parliamentary Assembly, and meetings of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, and Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
At the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Disability and Multiple and Intersectional Discrimination, which was held on day two of the session, member of Montenegrin delegation Ms Sanja Pavićević was elected Chairperson of this working body formed within the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
At the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights, a list of candidates from Montenegro for membership to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) was presented and, along with the Sub-Committee’s recommendation on the top eligible candidate, it will be forwarded to the PACE Bureau for further action.
