On day four of the session, the Assembly held discussions on the topics: “Recent attacks against women in European cities – the need for a comprehensive response”, “The situation in Kosovo* and the role of the Council of Europe” and “Strengthening the protection and role of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States” and “How to prevent inappropriate restrictions on NGO activities in Europe?”.

The Parliamentary Assembly has strongly condemned the recent violence against women in European cities and called on the media to report objectively and truthfully on such events. In the Resolution 2093 (2016) “Recent attacks against women in European cities – the need for a comprehensive response”, the Assembly called for an investigation into the attacks, demanded that perpetrators be prosecuted, and urged Council of Europe member states to fully implement the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

In the afternoon part of the session, the parliamentarians discussed the situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council of Europe”. Member of Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to PACE Ms Snežana Jonica took part in the discussion. On the occasion, the Assembly adopted the Resolution 2094 (2016), which notes the progress achieved in Kosovo in the area of democracy and emphasises that ensuring respect for the rule of law and its effective implementation must be a priority for the Kosovo authorities. Endemic and widespread corruption in all aspects of government, justice and economy negatively impacts the lives of people in Kosovo and hinders economic development, so the Kosovo authorities have been called to implement a set of activities for fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law and decreasing unemployment. PACE further called on Belgrade and Pristina to implement all agreements created in their dialogue, and to continue building trust among communities.

Following the debate on the position of human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations in the Council of Europe member states, the Assembly adopted the Resolution 2095 (2016) and Resolution 2097 (2016). The Assembly said it was deeply concerned about increased reprisals against human rights defenders in certain member states, including Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Turkey. Additionally, it was said that during the previous years, the position of non-governmental organisations in some member states has been seriously deteriorated, including Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. PACE has called on Council of Europe member states to do more to protect human rights defenders and to ensure an enabling environment for NGOs in order to implement their activities freely, and to refrain from adopting laws that impose disproportionate restrictions on their activities.

During the day, meeting of several PACE working bodies were held.

Monitoring Committee discussed a report of the PACE co-rapporteurs for Montenegro in post-monitoring dialogue on the visit to Montenegro, carried out in November 2015. The information has devoted a special attention to political developments in Montenegro, building trust in the election process and state of the media.