Month: February 2019

José BADIA, President of the External Relations Commission, and head of the delegation, Brigitte BOCCONE-PAGES, Vice-President of the National Council, Guillaume ROSE, President of the Commission for the Negotiation of the Negotiation with the European Union and Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO, National Councillor, participated as members of the Monegasque delegation from 21 to 25 January at the first part of the Annual Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

At the opening of the Session, Liliane Maury Pasquier, re-elected President of PACE for a second term of one year, recalled that, 70 years after the creation of the Council of Europe, the promotion of peace and reconciliation, “the foundation of the success of the largest pan-European organization”, remains at the heart of this Organization’s mission.

In a brief plenary session, PACE members pledged to take action in their national parliaments to eliminate sexism, harassment and violence against women, following the initiative #NoInMyParment.

Brigitte BOCCONE-PAGES said, “Monaco fights against all forms of violence and discrimination against women.”

During the Session, there was also a joint debate on public service media in the context of misinformation and propaganda, and on the freedom of the media as a condition for democratic elections.

José BADIA affirmed that “a pluralistic press is the only guarantee of a diversified and balanced information, which allows the voters to exercise their choice in an enlightened way, at the time when the false information circulates faster than never.”

Beatrice Fresko-Rolfo added: “Although favorable to a press of opinion, I consider that it must be able to be clearly identifiable. Transparency must be the rule. The readers, listeners, must know to which opinion the support is related. Only this display is the guarantee that the broadcast messages are received in their context.

Responding to the invitation of the Archbishop of Monaco, Monsignor Bernard Barsi, a group of elected officials, led by the President of the National Council, Stéphane Valeri, went to the Vatican for a study trip, during which Pope François granted them an audience.

At this audience, and in response to Archbishop Barsi’s message, the Holy Father praised the commitment of HSH Prince Albert II, especially on the theme of the environment.

Pope Francis also emphasized the Principality’s commitment to the great principles of solidarity, both in terms of international cooperation and the demand for its social model.

He asked the elected representatives to have “always at heart to promote a future for every inhabitant”.

For Stéphane Valeri, who had already been received by Pope John Paul II, “these moments of intense joy are all the more important for us Monegasques, that the Catholic religion is a state religion and that, of course, we we all have great esteem and affection for Pope Francis”.

Returning to the messages of solidarity of the Holy Father, the President said: “Our social model is exemplary, that it leaves no one on the side of the road and that it is important to preserve and adapt it constantly. I believe that we are all coming out of this meeting with the Pope, strengthened by the idea that, more than ever, Monaco must be a model of solidarity.”

On the occasion of this meeting, the President had the pleasure of offering the Pope a watercolour depicting the church of Saint Devote.

During these two days, several meetings, to better understand the functioning of the Holy See, were organized.

The Monegasque elected representatives met Msgr Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for State for Relations of the State Secretariat (the equivalent of the Vatican Foreign Minister) and Msgr Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery for the service of integral human development.

Stéphane Valeri said: “Pope Francis is a Pope who strives, with simplicity and humility, to allow the Church to respond to the challenges of our time. We, elected Monegasques to the National Council, are, in accordance with our Constitution, co-legislators, with the Sovereign Prince.”

AS Monaco conceded a 91st-minute goal after leading Montpellier 2-1, to finish with one point from the game.

Monaco took the lead in the 14th minute, through Gelson Martins, and the score stayed the same until Montpellier’s Gaetan Laborde equalised in the 66th minute.

Radamel Falcao put Monaco back in front in the 82nd minute and the game looked secure when, with three minutes to go, manager Jardim substituted striker Falcao for Carols Vinicius.

Three minutes later, defender Kamil Glik was shown the yellow card that led to a penalty for Montpellier, which Andy Delort converted.

With the score at 2-2, there was still more action before the final whistle as Vinicius was shown the yellow card and Jemerson was shown a red for a second booking offence.

Monaco now sits on 19 points, still in the relegation zone with enough games to go to lift themselves to safety.

At the joint invitation of Juan Ferrando Lopez-Aguilar, Member of the European Parliament, and HE Sophie Thevenoux, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of Monaco to the European Union, the representatives of the European institutions and the diplomatic corps in Brussels attended a presentation by Mr. Thomas Fouilleron, Director of the Archives and Library of the Palace, entitled “building a sovereign, Monaco in European History (13th-21st Century)”.

During his speech, Mr. Fouilleron returned to the milestones of Monaco’s assertion as a sovereign state on the international scene, which in particular helped to make the particularities of the Principality and its institutions better known.

Some fifty guests attended the event, which was followed by a cocktail offered by the Monaco Mission to the European Union.