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Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Luis Maria de Puch, believes that there is no institutional crisis in the structure and all the institutions of the Council of Europe (CoE) conduct normal activities, he said at the press conference held within the summer session of the PACE on June 22. He said that at the opening of its summer session, the Assembly decided not to include on its agenda the election of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
“As Chairman of PACE, I have always supported the position of the majority in the Assembly. I told this position to the MPs while making a decision on this issue at the April session of the PACE. This morning, the Bureau decided not to include in the agenda the elections. We choose the way of democracy,” said de Puch.
If a new Chairman of the Council of Europe is not elected within the session, a new phase will open, said the Chairman of PACE. “This means that PACE does not accept the proposals of the Committee of Ministers. I will discuss this question today with the Chairman of the Committee, Foreign Minister of Slovenia. We will hold discussions in order to bring closer the positions of PACE and the Committee of Ministers,” he said.
“PACE’s position is that the procedure of election of secretary general has been violated. The Committee of Ministers made a decision in this regard without consultations with the structure. If to put aside some procedural violations, in general, the procedure was correct. This is a legal problem,” he said.
“During joint discussions on election of secretary general held with the Committee of Ministers on June 18, we witnessed a positive approach, positions of the Committee. However, differences still remain. I hope that an agreement will be reached in this issue. I believe that the CE’s activity will be normal. I do not think that there will be an institutional crisis,” said de Puch.
“I would like to say that the issue of election of secretary general will be again considered. This will depend on the decision of the PACE members. I voluntarily accept the position of PACE in this regard,” he said.
“With regards to the relations with the new secretary general, I can say that I see them at a high level. We want the position of secretary general to strengthen, him to be elected by consensus of both sides – the PACE and the Committee of Ministers. We want the new secretary general to be elected by majority of votes of the Assembly and on the basis of strong political support,” said Chairman of PACE.
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