Athens, 20 October 2021

European Conference of Presidents of Parliament of Council of Europe member states to kick off tomorrow

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 Parliamentary Assemblies of International Organisations, will meet on the 21st and 22nd of 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 President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas, the President of the PACE Rik Daems and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić will open the Conference on Thursday 21 October.

More than 50 Presidents/Speakers of representative bodies and parliamentary assemblies and about 300 representatives will participate in order to discuss three important current issues:

• Democracies facing the Covid-19 public health crisis: sharing experiences

Keynote speeches by the President of the Romanian Senate Ana Dana Dragu, the Speaker of the Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvieyenko and the President of the National Council of Austria Wolfgang Sobotka.

• #EnvironmentRightNow: national parliaments and the right to a healthy and sustainable environment

Keynote speeches by the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava, the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Anu Vehviläinen and the Member of the Advisory Council on Youth Spyros Papadatos.

• The common future of all European citizens

Keynote speeches by the President of the Belgian Senate Stephanie D’Hose, the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Annita Demetriou and the President of the National Assembly of Slovenia Igor Zorčič.

In parallel, the Meeting of the Secretaries General of Parliament of the participating Parliaments and Parliamentary Assemblies will take place on Friday 22 October, chaired by the Secretary General of the Hellenic Parliament George Mylonakis and the Secretary General of the PACE Despina Chatzivassiliou. The items on the agenda will be:

- Parliaments after the pandemic

- The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) activity report

- ECPRD priorities and programme for 2022-2023

On the sidelines of the Conference, bilateral meetings will be held between the participating presidents, vice-presidents, parliamentary committees, parliamentary friendship groups and representatives of parliaments in international organisations, as well as between members of the Greek government with Presidents of Parliament and Heads of Parliamentary Assemblies of international organisations.

The President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas has so far been scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the following:

Wednesday, 20 October 2021

The President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan (16:40)

The Speaker of the Parliament of Albania Lindita Nikolla (17:20)

The Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava (18:00)

Thursday, 21 October 2021

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić (10:00)

The President of the National Council of Austria Wolfgang Sobotka (15:30)

The Speaker of the Knesset Mickey Levy (16:10)

The President of the National Assembly of Serbia Ivica Dacic (16:50)

The President of the Assembly of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi (17:30)

With the Speaker of the Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko (18:20)

Friday, 22 October 2021

The Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Anu Vehviläinen (09:30)

The cultural programme of the Conference includes:

• Welcome by the President of the Hellenic Parliament and guided tour of the Presidents/Speakers around the modern art exhibition PORTALS at the former Public Tobacco Factory, a Hellenic Parliament building (Wednesday, 20 October, 19:30)
• A guided tour around the anniversary exhibition “Beholding Liberty! At the Hellenic Parliament, two centuries later” (Thursday, 21 October, 19:00)
• A concert by the Greek Youth Symphony orchestra in the courtyard of the Hellenic Parliament (Thursday, 21 October, 19:45).

 

 

 

Back