27/03/2012 President
"Through their action and their courage, the winners of the North-South Prize, Boris Tadic and Souhayr Belhassen, have helped to shape today's world, with democratic debates in the southern Mediterranean and with peace in the Balkans which are now involved in the process of European integration," according to Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), speaking today at the prize-giving ceremony in Lisbon.
He referred in particular to the personal commitment of President Tadic, thanks to whom "South-Eastern Europe is no longer an area of instability, but a region where most players have the political will to co-operate for the peace, stability and prosperity of all the Europeans who live there". He also reminded the audience of Ms Belhassen's fight for human rights in the southern Mediterranean, pointing out that she had been the first woman and the first representative of the Arab world to become President of the International Federation of Human Rights.