European Conference of Presidents of Parliament of Council of Europe member states to kick off tomorrow

The Presidents and Speakers of Parliament of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as of states with observer and partner for democracy status and of Parliamentary Assemblies of International Organizations, will meet on the 21st and 22nd of October 2021 in Athens, in the framework of the Conference organized jointly by the Hellenic Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas, the President of the PACE Rik Daems and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić will open the Conference on Thursday 21^st of October.

More than 50 presidents of national delegations and parliamentary assemblies of international organizations and about 300 delegates will attend to discuss three important current topics:

• Democracies facing the Covid-19 public health crisis: sharing experiences

Keynote speeches by the President of the Romanian Senate Ana Dana Dragu, the Speaker of the Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvieyenko and the President of the National Council of Austria Wolfgang Sobotka.

• #EnvironmentRightNow: national parliaments and the right to a healthy and sustainable environment

Keynote speeches by the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava, the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Anu Vehviläinen and the Member of the Advisory Council on Youth Spyros Papadatos.

• The common future of all European citizens

Keynote speeches by the President of the Belgian Senate Stephanie D’Hose, the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Annita Demetriou and the President of the National Assembly of Slovenia Igor Zorčič.

In parallel, the Meeting of the Secretaries General of Parliament of the participating Parliaments and Parliamentary Assemblies will take place on Friday 22^nd of  October, chaired by the Secretary General of the Hellenic Parliament George Mylonakis and the Secretary General of the PACE Despina Chatzivassiliou.

The items on the agenda will be:

- Parliaments after the pandemic

- The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) activity report

- ECPRD priorities and programme for 2022-2023

On the sidelines of the work, bilateral meetings will be held between the participating presidents, between vice-presidents, parliamentary committees, parliamentary friendship groups and representatives of parliaments in international organizations, as well as between members of the Greek government with parliamentary presidents and parliamentary leaders.

The President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas will have the following bilateral meetings according to the current schedule:

Wednesday, 20^th of October 2021

With the President of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan (16:40)

With the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Lindita Nikolla (17:20)

With the President of the Georgian Parliament Kakha Kuchava (18:00)

Thursday, 21^st of October 2021

With the Secretary Ceneral of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić (10:00)

With the President of the Austrian Parliament Wolfgang Sobotka (15:30)

With the President of the Israeli Parliament Mickey Levy (16:10)

With the President of the Serbian Parliament Ivica Dacic (16:50)

With the President of the Northern Macedonian Parliament Talat Xhaferi (17:30)

With the President of the Russian Parliament Valentina Matviyenko (18:20)

Friday, 22^nd of October 2021

With the Speaker of the Finish Parliament Anu Vehviläinen (09:30)

Finally, the cultural program in the framework of the Conference includes the following:

• Welcome by the President of the Hellenic Parliament and guided tour of the Presidents /Speakers at the modern art exhibition Pyli / Portals at the former Public Tobacco Factory, a Hellenic Parliament building (Wednesday, 20^th of October, at 19:30).
• The tour of the Presidents/Speakers in the historic anniversary exhibition "Beholding Liberty! At the Hellenic Parliament, two centuries later” at the Parliament Megaron (Thursday, 21^st of October, at 19.00).
• Concert of the Hellenic Youth Symphony Orchestra at the southern courtyard of the Hellenic Parliament (Thursday, 21^st of October, at 19:45).