24/02/2025 President
“Peace must not only be lasting; it must be just. Justice for Ukraine has been at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mission over these past three years. And today, with the controversies that surround possible peace talks, more than ever, we must stand firm in upholding it,” the PACE President said today on the third anniversary of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
“Europe’s commitment to a just peace in Ukraine is not just an act of solidarity, it is a continuation of a tradition deeply embedded in our continent: the tradition of living in a rules-based order, the tradition of abiding to international law and justice, born right here, in Europe,” Theodoros Rousopoulos added.
Europe’s history, he added, “reminds us that our commitment to a just peace was not born in a vacuum. It was forged in the fires of war, out of the pain and suffering that once divided our continent.”
“A just peace is not a noble declaration but a concrete necessity, one built upon the lessons of our painful past, and one upon which our shared future must rest,” the PACE President concluded.
The President of the Assembly was participating in Strasbourg in a “United for Ukraine” ceremony, organised by the Luxembourg Presidency of the Committee of Ministers on the forecourt of the Palais de l’Europe.
