12/11/2024 President
The Council of Europe can be proud of its achievements, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has said at a special ceremony to mark the 75th anniversaries of the Council of Europe and NATO as pillars of democratic security.
Speaking at the event yesterday, organised in Rome by the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the President traced the early history of the Council and summarised its achievements as an engine of European unification, a custodian of shared values and a guarantor of dialogue on the European continent: “The values it establishes and promotes through its various bodies set moral and political benchmarks not only in Europe but around the world.”
Mr Rousopoulos recalled that the Council of Europe still serves as “an essential gateway for any country aspiring to join the European Union”, listing its achievements in many different areas. “Membership in the Council of Europe does not grant a place in a club of flawless democracies forever, but rather places one in a community committed to safeguarding and advancing the achievements of democracy,” he said.
The organisation “does not turn a blind eye to violations of its founding statute”, he pointed out, recalling its expulsion of Russia in 2022 – the only international organisation to take such an uncompromising step – and its decisive support for the people of Ukraine.
The Council of Europe and its Assembly are well-equipped to address “the new, multifaceted challenges facing European democracies in the years ahead”, he underlined. “As Shakespeare wrote in Cymbeline, we ‘meet the time where it seeks us’, meaning that we are prepared to face unforeseen events and challenges not with fear, but with courage and an open mind.”
Other PACE members took part in a parliamentary debate at the event, while in closing remarks, PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis hailed the shared aims of both organisations and their complementary work to build democratic security: “We have the common goal of the pursuit of peace.”
Other speakers included the Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, the Vice-President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Nicu Falcoi, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and the Full Professor of the History of Political Institutions at the LUMSA University of Rome Francesco Bonini.
