The summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) opens in Strasbourg today, June 21, 2010.

A debate on the flare-up of tension in the Middle East, as well as reports on the handling of the H1N1 pandemic, on Islamophobia and on legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus are among the highlights.

There will be addresses by the President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Gjorgje Ivanov, the President of Croatia Ivo Josipovic, and the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Dukanovic. The head of the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio will speak during the debate on Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia, and French actress Fanny Ardant, patron of the Council of Europe’s Dosta! campaign, will take part in a debate on the situation of Roma in Europe.

Antonio Milososki, Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, will present the traditional communication from the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s executive body, to the Assembly and answer questions from the parliamentarians.

Other highlights include a debate on the situation in Kosovo and a series of debates on the state of democracy in Europe, as well as reports on combating sexist stereotypes in the media, on the functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, and on prohibiting the marketing and use of the Mosquito youth dispersal device.