(coe) - PACE's Winter Session today opened in Strasbourg with an adress by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the re-election of PACE President RenР№ van der Linden for a one-year term. A debate on the current situation in Kosovo on Wednesday 24 January, with the participation of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on the future status process for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is one of the highlights of the session.
The Assembly will also hold, on Thursday 25, an urgent debate on Threats to the lives and freedom of expression of journalists and a current affairs debate on Threat to the European Court of Human Rights: urgent need for Russia to ratify Protocol No. 14". The Prime Ministers of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, and Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, are invited to address the Assembly, reports Trend.
The Princess of Hanover, President of the World Association of Children's Friends, will intervene, on Tuesday 23 January, in the debate on combating violence against children and other forms of child exploitation and abuse.