President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades will address next Tuesday, January 24, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in Strasbourg.
Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasolides will also be present, while a day earlier will deliver a speech at the Assembly, in the context of the Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
According to an announcement by the Council of Europe (CoE), the PACE winter plenary part-session will be held in Strasbourg from January 23 to 27, 2017 debating the attacks against journalists and media freedom in Europe, the challenges and accountability of online media and journalism, and the need to end cyberdiscrimination and online hate speech.
There have also been requests for an urgent debate on developments in Turkey and Syria. Other debates will concentrate on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine and the situation in Lebanon.
President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland will also address the Assembly.
According to a draft schedule, during the first day of the session the President and the Vice-Presidents of PACE will be elected, while members will approve the minutes of proceedings of the Standing Committee, that convened last November in Nicosia.
The Republic of Cyprus assumed last November the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the fifth time in the fifty five years since its accession to the Organization. Foreign Minister Kasoulides will chair Committee of Ministers` sessions until May 2017.
CNA/AGK/GV/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY