As Secretary General Alain Berset addressed the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, he discussed how fear has entered our democratic system. Rarely can he have had an audience with as sharp an understanding of the problem.
“Across our continent,” Mr Berset said, “mayors are being threatened, harassed and stalked, in person and online.” This, he noted was not just a question of private individuals being targeted, as it was a “blow to a principle: that of democratic debate.”
Threats to democracy, and hopes for it, were very much the theme of his speech to this Congress session. The session, entitled “Four decades of promoting local self-government in Europe” marked the anniversary of the opening for signature of the European Charter of local self-government. Mr Berset, addressing Congress representatives directly, said “You experience [the threats] every day in your cities, your schools, your hospitals. Wherever democracy comes to life ... Wars, division, the anger of the world are knocking on our doors.”
The Secretary General – who has direct experience of local government having been a local politician in the councils of both Canton Fribourg and the commune of Belfaux – was clear on the importance of Europe’s regions and local areas in our democratic societies: “Democracy does not play out just at international summits, but in municipal councils too, the ground where elected women and men serve their communities.”
Mr Berset recounted a story around how the perception of democracy had changed – for the worse – which occurred during a forum in Kazakhstan. There a head of state had said to him that “I was the only person who talked about democracy. I asked him ‘Why?’ And he replied:
‘That word has become woke.’”
The Secretary General was able to see the signs of optimism amid the difficulties for democracy on our continent. He praised Congress’s work with the authorities in Ukraine, including “essential reforms, such as decentralisation, [and] on helping towns to rebuild, to strengthen their institutions, and to involve their citizens.” Indeed not just in Ukraine, “Hope springs everywhere that Congress is acting: in the Western Balkans; in Armenia; in Cyprus; in Estonia; in North Macedonia.”
The great work of Congress in monitoring elections and against foreign interference “illustrated perfectly the spirit of the New Democratic Pact for Europe,” Mr Berset stated. Moving towards a New Democratic Pact for Europe is the Council of Europe’s collective response to the threats to democracy, to reinforce its foundations and to make it tangible for everyone. In this, “Congress,” Mr Berset continued, “plays a vital role, particularly with regard to deliberative democracy.” Indeed, for Mr Berset, if we cut the link between high politics and local authorities, we deprive democracy of oxygen.
In his closing remarks, the Secretary General urged the assembled representatives from local communities across Europe to unite and show resolve, emphasising that when “faced with fear, withdrawal, and disinformation, there is only one path: that of democratic courage. Not tomorrow. Not elsewhere. Here. Now. Together.”
Read Secretary General Berset’s speech in full (French only)
Watch Secretary General Berset’s speech in full
New Democratic Pact for Europe
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
