Democratic security as a response to street protests across Europe, the young driving change, reforming the Council of Europe to make it fit for today’s challenges, and the key role of local authorities in detecting and countering democratic backsliding were among the main themes of today’s address by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Youth in Europe today: the Serbian moment
Berset said that last Sunday’s elections in Serbia sent a message to the Western Balkans and to all of Europe and argued that Serbia can serve a model for the movement of young people across the continent.
“When young people protest, it is tempting to see only a problem of public order, to answer it with curfews and bans – or to look for a foreign hand behind every crowd,” the Secretary General said. “The answer cannot be less democracy in the name of security – it must be security that protects people, their rights and the institutions that serve them.”
This democratic security does not replace military security, he argued. “But if we pay for Europe’s rearmament by cutting schools, hospitals and social rights, the very things young people are marching for, we will end up better armed and less secure,” Berset warned.
Local democracy starts at the heart of democratic security
“Democratic security cannot be imposed from the top down; it is built in town halls and regional assemblies, by mayors and councillors – by you,” Alain Berset told the members of the Congress, making reference to his own experience in local government in Switzerland. “Local democracy is Europe’s early warning system. It is where we feel the rupture first, and where we can begin to repair it. It is our first line of democratic security”, he stressed.
The address by the Secretary General preceded a joint debate on early warning instruments against democratic backsliding. Secretary General noted that the risk-alert dashboard built to detect backsliding before it takes hold could serve for the whole of the Council of Europe and remarked on the relevance of the checklist on preventing corruption and promoting integrity at local and regional levels, which turns standards into practice. The joint debate held as a contribution to the New Democratic Pact for Europe will also focus on the status of national and international observers in local and regional elections.
New Democratic Pact for Europe: warning before a crisis arises
Seeing the crisis coming while there is still time to change its course is the rationale behind the New Democratic Pact for Europe, as well as the ongoing work to reform and strengthen the Council of Europe in the face of new challenges.
The Secretary General expressed his appreciation for the support provided by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities for these initiatives. The Congress is expected to propose a list of democratic initiatives as a contribution to the New Democratic Pact for Europe, as well as its input for the Council of Europe's reform process, in March 2027.
Read the address by the Secretary General to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
