Council of Europe

BELGRADE - Maria Lina Veca, an Italian journalist and researcher who was among the first in the world to uncover the story of organ trafficking in Kosovo-Metohija, says Europe has never had a genuine interest in prosecuting those responsible for these crimes, and notes that the last hope of this ever happening is dashed following Dick Marty's death.

BERN - Dick Marty, the former Council of Europe rapporteur who investigated crimes committed by the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" ("KLA") and human organ trafficking in Kosovo-Metohija, died on Thursday aged 78, Swiss.info reported.

The news of his death was confirmed by Switzerland's Radical-Liberal Party.

BELGRADE - In a letter to European institutions, the opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition has requested a "full international investigation into electoral irregularities" in Serbia and called on the institutions not to recognise the results of the parliamentary, provincial and, especially, local elections, until such an investigation was over.

Member of parliament and former minister of New Democracy, Theodoros Rousopoulos stands on the brink of assuming the presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, having gathered 73% in Thursday's vote among European People's Party members from the Council's 46 member countries. 

Deputy Sports Minister Giannis Voutsis introduced new measures to combat fan violence on Wednesday which include restricting each team to a single fan club, mandatory electronic security systems in Super League and Basket League stadiums, and €10,000-€100,000 fines for "low-level fan violence."

Deputy Sports Minister Giannis Vroutsis introduced new measures to combat fan violence on Wednesday. 

Proposals include restricting each team to a single fan club, mandatory electronic security systems in Super League and Basket League stadiums, and fines ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 euros for "low-level fan violence."

The financing needs of Cyprus for next year amount to 1.3 billion euros, largely to be covered by the issuance of a €1 billion European medium-term note (EMTN), the Cypriot Finance Ministry's Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) said last week.

BELGRADE - Serbia has fulfilled all 40 recommendations issued by the Council of Europe body on fighting financial crime and money laundering, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Wednesday.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government said on Friday Serbia's success in fulfilment of recommendations issued by the Council of Europe's anti-corruption watchdog GRECO was a result of engagement on strengthening rule of law and ensuring judicial independence following the adoption of constitutional amendments, a set of judicial and other laws and bylaws and procedures.

Greece has made progress in combating violence against women but serious concerns still remain, particularly over shortcomings in victim protection and attitudes among the authorities involved in dealing with such cases, an expert report has found.