18/05/2018 President
PACE President Michele Nicoletti, addressing a gathering of Council of Europe ministers at Hamlet’s Castle in Elsinore, Denmark, has called on the organisation to “concentrate on our core mission, which is defending human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.
Speaking to ministers and other dignitaries, he said: “We must loudly denounce human rights violations. Our role here is to protect individuals rather than governments, and if the Council of Europe does not focus on this core mission, who will?”
“Europe is more than the sum of its 47 parts; it is a way of living together, a common heritage, a collective legal area, a shared human rights haven and a home of culture which, for the moment, still remains a beacon for the rest of the world.”