22/09/2009 Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 22.09.2009 - Peace is the principal precondition for the genuine enjoyment of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The realisation that peace between Council of Europe member states cannot be taken for granted has led the Bureau of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) to organise in Strasbourg on 24-25 September 2009 a Forum on early warning in conflict prevention, with the aim of taking stock of existing mechanisms and exploring whether and how they could be further enhanced.
The forum will bring together academics, parliamentarians from the 47 member states who have a keen interest in conflict prevention issues, be they PACE members, members of other international assemblies or national parliamentarians, as well as representatives of international governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in conflict prevention, such as OSCE, EU, UNDP, International Crisis Group and International Alert.
Part of the reflection will also be on how the Council of Europe, and PACE in particular, could play a greater role to prevent tensions between European states from erupting into violence, while ensuring co-operation and co-ordination with other international actors.
The Forum is open to the press.