07/11/2022 President
“As this Forum intends to get to the heart of what has gone wrong, but also to assess the impact of the most promising initiatives presented over the last decade, let me express the hope for democracy to genuinely come back on European soil and elsewhere,” said PACE President Tiny Kox addressing the World Forum for Democracy today in Strasbourg.
This 10th edition, the PACE President said, coincides also with “the resurgence of the greatest threat to democracy one can imagine. As we are meeting in Strasbourg, a war is ongoing in our member State Ukraine, waged by an authoritarian, terrorist regime in total disrespect of international law, brutally violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Every day this war lasts, lives are destroyed, crimes are committed.”
There should be “no impunity, neither for the President and Government, nor for the Parliament of the Russian Federation. Our Parliamentary Assembly supports the creation of a system of international justice, including a special ad hoc tribunal to deal with the crime of aggression,” Mr Kox added.
“Let us bring together diverse voices from around the world to debate visions for a future which will successfully secure peace and multilateralism, based on respect for our fundamental principles and freedoms,” the PACE President concluded.