06/09/2011 President
Strasbourg, 06.09.2011 – In a speech before the Political Affairs Committee, meeting today in Caserta, Italy, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has underlined that the request for “Partner for Democracy” status with the Assembly, submitted by the Palestinian National Council, came as “a logical development” as the Assembly had been co-operating closely with Palestinian representatives for a number of years. He expressed his hope that the committee would give its green light to this request, so that the Assembly could discuss it at its October session in Strasbourg.
With regard to Morocco, whose parliament became the first to obtain “Partner for Democracy” status in June, he underlined that developments there prove, once again, that the new status was a powerful tool to engage with neighbours of the Council of Europe who are ready to subscribe to its standards and values. He also recalled that he had been actively promoting the Partnership status during his recent visits to Kazakhstan and Kirghizstan. With regard to Egypt, the President said, a visit to explore possibilities for co-operation could be scheduled after the elections.
Referring to the Arab Spring, the PACE President stressed that the biggest challenge was to make sure that the slogans of freedom, dignity and democracy were translated into concrete actions: the holding of free and fair elections, provision of real guarantees for basic rights and freedoms, establishment of well-functioning democratic institutions and an independent judiciary, fight against corruption, support for free media and civil society. He stressed that the situation in Syria was becoming an issue of great concern. “A political solution, based on profound democratic reforms, is necessary in order to stop the ongoing human rights violations,” he said.
Finally, the President warned against the rise of extremism, intolerance, xenophobia, racism, anti-semitism and islamophobia in Europe: “This summer’s tragic events in Norway show how fragile our European society can be in the face of new challenges to multiculturalism.” He recalled that the most efficient tool to combat extremism and intolerance was intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. In this context, he welcomed the preparation of a report on violence against religious communities by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD).