PACE Standing Committee to meet at the Seimas

Press release, 20 May 2024

On Friday, 24 May 2024, at 9 a.m., the Seimas Plenary Chamber (Building 2) is set to host the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

In May 2024, Lithuania took over the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers from Liechtenstein for the next six months. It has been 22 years since Lithuania last held the rotating Presidency of Europe’s most important human rights organisation. Drawing on the conclusions of the 2023 Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavík, Lithuania chose protection of our values against aggression and authoritarianism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law at home and worldwide, and digital dimension of freedom among the priorities for its Presidency.

The Standing Committee will prepare for the further work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and ensure the continuation of the Assembly’s activities in line with the Lithuanian Presidency priorities.

After the opening addresses by Mr Theodoros Rousopoulos, PACE President, Ms Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Mr Vytautas Landsbergis, first Head of State of the re-established independent Lithuania, the Standing Committee will discuss a variety of topics, including child labour, quality education for children with special educational needs, cultural heritage, climate change, and ending the detention of ‘socially maladjusted’ persons.

The meeting of the Standing Committee will also be preceded by a meeting of representatives of the Presidential Committee and the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The meeting of the Standing Committee will be broadcast on the Seimas YouTube Channel Atviras Seimas (Open Seimas):

broadcast link in Lithuanian,

broadcast link in English.