Theodoros Roussopoulos re-elected as PACE President
Photo: Theodoros Roussopoulos (facebook com/RoussopoulosTh)
Greek Theodoros Roussopoulos was re-elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for another year. No other candidates were nominated for this position, so Roussopoulos' powers were extended without a vote in the session hall, RBC-Ukraine correspondent reports from Strasbourg, where the PACE winter session has begun.
Mr. Roussopoulos took over the PACE presidency a year ago, in January 2024. According to the Assembly's practice, the president's powers are usually extended for a second one-year term if his work has not caused any particular criticism during his term.
One of the main intrigues of the current PACE session will be the recognition or non-recognition of the Georgian delegation's powers. The elections to the Georgian parliament held in October 2024 caused many complaints from international observers, and their results were not recognized by the opposition, which refused to accept parliamentary seats in protest.
In this regard, the credentials of the new Georgian delegation, composed exclusively of representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party, were challenged by other PACE delegates due to the democratic problems that have recently intensified in Georgia. Now, within a day, the PACE monitoring committee will have to examine the situation and present its opinion to the session hall.
In his speech immediately after his re-election, Mr. Rusopoulos said that the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine would be his top priority in office.
“Supporting Ukraine and working with international actors to restore peace and justice will be my priority,” he said.
On October 2, 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on Ukrainian prisoners of war. Thus, PACE will work on their return.
At the end of June last year, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing the Russian actions as genocide of the Ukrainian people. The document also points out the need to decolonize Russia.
