Working to overcome differences in today’s Europe, upholding the rights of all people, recommitting to principles of democracy and the rule of law is the best tribute we can pay to those who lost their lives in the Second World War, said the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, today at the ceremony in Strasbourg to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Europe from the Nazism.
“We must pay tribute to every life given for our freedom, every innocent civilian, every soldier who marched into the sound of gunfire, every nation which has borne the scars of this conflict,” he said. “We would not be here as free and equal citizens if it was not for them.”
“Our continent could not have been liberated from the grip of fascism without the profound sacrifices of the Soviet people: more lives lost were lost in the siege of Leningrad than by British and American forces during the entire war. These facts must be remembered.”
Jagland stressed that the conflict gave rise the European Convention on Human Rights and to the Council of Europe that was founded shortly after the Second World War, in 1949.
“Out of the rubble of war, Europe’s leaders managed to lay new foundations for our societies: democracy, human rights, the rule of law. Today we should recommit to those values. We should promise to keep working with one and other in order to overcome our problems.”
“We can never undo what happened 70 years ago. But if, on this anniversary, we can say that our nations will continue to work to overcome our differences, striving for a Europe that is stronger, more united, more prosperous and safe, where we uphold the rights of all people, no matter where they come from, or who they are, I believe it will be a fitting tribute – and the best that we can pay, “ he concluded.
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Anne Brasseur, and the Chair of the Ministers’ Deputies of the Council of Europe, Ambassador Dirk van Eeckhout also delivered speeches and laid flowers in memory of those who lost their lives in the fight against Nazism.
