PACE marks 70th anniversary with ceremony

Liliane Maury Pasquier opened a special ceremony to mark seven decades of the organisation’s existence. "Today, as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, we have the opportunity to give a new political impetus to our organisation, in order to continue to defend together the rights and fundamental freedoms of all Europeans living in our "Common House", said the PACE President. "I am convinced that our Assembly has all the assets to meet this challenge and I count on each and every one of you to work in this direction," she added.

The newly-appointed Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, and the Presidents of the five political groups of the Assembly (Aleksander Pociej, EPP/CD; Frank Schwabe, SOC; Hendrik Daems, ALDE; Ian Liddell-Granger, EC; Tiny Kox, UEL) also made speeches during the ceremony.