All extremist political movements, an imminent threat to our core values, democracy, of human rights and rule of law

Written declaration No. 821 | Doc. 16232 | 21 August 2025

Signatories:

Mr Cristian-Augustin NICULESCU-ȚÂGÂRLAȘ, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Marek BOROWSKI, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Christophe BRICO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Ms Klotilda BUSHKA, Albania, SOC ; Ms Zdravka BUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Benjamin DALLE, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Ms Natalia DAVIDOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, ECPA ; Mr Ion GROZA, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Pablo HISPÁN, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen LEYTE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA-FEDORENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Andreas MINNICH, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Octavie MODERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Christine PASQUIER-CIULLA, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Marko PAVIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Gonzalo ROBLES, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Ingjerd Schie SCHOU, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Robert-Ionatan SIGHIARTĂU, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Elena-Simona SPĂTARU, Romania, ALDE ; Mr Georgios STAMATIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Nicos TORNARITIS, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Ms Albana VOKSHI, Albania, EPP/CD ; Ms Elly van WIJK, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Yelyzaveta YASKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We firmly condemn any extremist political expression, whose aim is to overthrow established democracies through legal means and to enforce totalitarian regimes that promise radical and undemocratic solutions to the increasingly worrying challenges that our societies are currently facing.

A recent survey revealed that more than half of Romanians believe the communist regime was rather a good thing for Romania, while another survey conducted this year in the United Kingdom revealed that the majority of young people are in favour of turning their country into a dictatorship, with a strong leader “who does not have to bother with parliament and elections”.

In order to reverse this democratic backsliding in Europe, there is a need to act vigorously against radical and extremist political movements that are taking advantage of the growing frustration among our citizens.

Therefore, we urge the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly to continue to be a first line of defence for our fundamental values and to support the member States and their parliaments to promote democratic resilience in States vulnerable to political extremism by building more inclusive societies where all the voices are heard and the interests and needs of all our citizens are properly taken into consideration.