14/10/2016 President
The President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Pedro Agramunt, today congratulated António Guterres on his election as the Secretary General of the United Nations. “It gives me a special pleasure to address our congratulations to a former colleague, member of the Parliamentary Assembly and Chairman of our Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography”, Mr Agramunt said.
“The unanimous vote in the General Assembly gives you a strong political mandate to lead the UN at a particularly challenging moment. As we are facing conflicts and instability in many parts of the world, United Nations need leadership, vision and commitment to universal fundamental values”, he added.
Pedro Agramunt invited Mr Guterres to address the Parliamentary Assembly during one of its future part-sessions. “Your visit to Strasbourg and your address to the Assembly will be an opportunity to discuss synergies and concrete co-operation projects that we could implement together, in particular in areas covered by the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”, Mr Agramunt underlined.
“In today’s interconnected world, the UN has to rely on the support of regional actors and I would like to assure you that the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly stand ready to provide full support to the UN’s actions, as a key regional pillar of co-operation and expertise on the Euro-Asian Continent. We are particularly keen to share with our global partners the standards and best practices of our 47 member states in a number of areas, in particular combating terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism, building inclusive societies, ensuring respect for human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, guaranteeing good governance and the rule of law, as well as promoting inter-cultural dialogue and its religious dimension”, he concluded.