17/05/2024 President
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has hailed the “revolutionary spirit” of the Council of Europe – marking its 75th anniversary this month – and pledged that the Assembly would be true to its founding mission of giving form to the aspirations of the peoples of Europe.
“We are vested with the revolutionary ambition to let the voice of Europeans be heard,” the President said in an opening address at a special commemorative ceremony held in Strasbourg last night. “We should shoulder this responsibility with greater resolve. We should invest greater energy and time to engage with Europeans, and let them become aware of the impact of the Council of Europe on their daily lives,” he added.
“The past few years have reminded us of many lessons, which the founders of the Council of Europe had already understood: that human rights, democracy and the rule of law are interdependent, and one cannot be guaranteed without the other; that prosperity cannot be ensured without peace; that the security of each European State depends on the state of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the others. These lessons shall guide our political work, in our countries and in Strasbourg,” the President declared.
“We should live up to the revolutionary spirit of the founders of the Council of Europe, and spare no effort to deliver on our citizens’ expectations,” he concluded.
Other speakers at the commemorative ceremony were Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the President of the Committee of Ministers and Liechtenstein’s Foreign Minister Dominique Hasler, and Council of Europe Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić.
