Strasbourg, 25.09.2009 – “We cannot take peace for granted, even on our continent,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, closing a two-day PACE forum on early warning in conflict prevention held in Strasbourg. “The Assembly owes it to itself to put peace, and maintaining peace, at the very heart of its work [...] We have a duty of vigilance.”
Participants at the forum, which was created partly in response to the war between Georgia and Russia one year ago, recommended that parliamentarians focus on what political action they could take to head off conflicts, and said the Council should create a mechanism bringing together all those involved in different forms of “early warning” work.
The forum was only “a point of departure” which would lead to concrete steps in due course, the President added.
