PACE autumn session: consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia

An urgent debate on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia will be the main focus of the autumn session (*) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 29 September to 3 October 2008. The debate will be in two parts: it starts on the morning of Tuesday 30 September and resumes on the morning of Thursday 2 October. As part of the run-up to the debate, an ad hoc committee will conduct a fact-finding visit to Georgia and Russia from 22 to 25 September.

Another highlight of the session will be the debate on the situation in Cyprus, on Wednesday 1 October. Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus, will address the Assembly on Tuesday 30 September, the day before the debate, and Mehmet Ali Talat, Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community, will do so on 1 October.

Other personalities to address the Assembly include Haris Silajdžić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden, and Jorge Sampaio, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.

The agenda also includes the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina and by Serbia, the proposed 42 days’ pre-charge detention in the United Kingdom and the OECD and the world economy.

The Assembly will finalise its agenda only at the opening of the session.