The PABSEC Participation in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament of Council of Europe member states, Athens, 21-22 October 2021
The Presidents and Speakers of Parliament of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as of states with observer and partner for democracy status and of the International Parliamentary Organisations, met on 21-22 October 2021 in Athens, in the framework of the Conference organised jointly by the Hellenic Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The PABSEC International Secretariat was represented by the PABSEC Secretary General Mr. Asaf Hajiyev and the Deputy Secretary General Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis.
The President of the Hellenic Parliament Mr. Constantine Tassoulas, the President of the PACE Mr. Rik Daems and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Ms. Marija Pejčinović Burić opened the Conference on Thursday, 21 October.
Participants discussed three important issues: “Democracies facing the Covid-19 public health crisis: sharing experiences”, “EnvironmentRightNow: national parliaments and the right to a healthy and sustainable environment”, “The common future of all European citizens”.
On Friday, 22 October, the Meeting of the Secretaries General of Parliament of the participating Parliaments and Parliamentary Assemblies took place, chaired by the Secretary General of the Hellenic Parliament Mr. George Mylonakis and the Secretary General of the PACE Ms. Despina Chatzivassiliou. The items on the agenda were: “Parliaments after the pandemic”, “The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) activity report”, “ECPRD priorities and programme for 2022-2023”.
In his intervention, Mr. Hajiyev presented information about the works and the activities of the PABSEC during the pandemic and underlined the importance of joint meetings between parliamentary assemblies using the facilities that modern technology provides. Moreover, he informed the participants about the coming PABSEC General Assembly meeting in the framework of the Romanian Presidency.
On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Haiyev met with the President of the OSCE PA Ms. Margareta Cederfelt and the Secretary General of the OSCE PA Mr. Roberto Montella, the Secretary General of the PACE Ms. Despina Chatzivassiliou, the Speaker of the Parliament of North Macedonia Mr. Talat Xhaferi, the President of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Ms. Sahiba Gafarova and the members of the Azeri delegation to the PACE and the Secretary General of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference Mr. Bodo Bahr.
During his meeting with the Azeri delegation, the Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE Mr. Samad Seyidov proposed to send interns to the PABSEC International Secretariat in accordance with the practice followed by PABSEC.