Check against delivery

Speech by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Minister Mirzoyan,
Ambassador Papikyan,
PACE President Bayr,
Excellencies,
Members of Armenia’s delegation,
Colleagues,

Some gifts are presented.

Others are entrusted.

They are a reminder of what endures.

When all else feels uncertain.

At a time when the global order is shifting before our eyes.

Armenia marks twenty-five years in the Council of Europe.

And it brings a text written eight and a half centuries ago.

The Book of Judgment of Mkhitar Gosh.

The first words are disarming:

“It is natural to begin with justice.”

Eight centuries on, that still feels radical.

Because justice is where our peace project began.

And it is where Europe must start anew.

Not by setting law aside.

But by putting justice first.

Across Europe, the same conviction has returned across centuries.

The Magna Carta.

La Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen.

And, after the Second World War, the European Convention on Human Rights.

Each, in its own time, has put justice into words.

Armenia adds its voice to Europe’s long legal conversation.

Just a few months ago, Prime Minister Pashinyan said right here:

“The Council of Europe is Armenia’s home, where it finds its address as a democratic state.

A home where the human being is the end, never the means.”

Those words are matched by action.

By pursuing reform and aligning its laws with shared European standards.

From fighting corruption to combating domestic violence.

Twenty-five years on, in a shifting world, this is where we hold.

For Armenia

For the South Caucasus

And for all of Europe.

Mr. Minister, thank you for this gift.

It has found its place here, at the Council of Europe — Armenia’s home.

With its first words intact.

And with their meaning unchanged:

“It is natural to begin with justice.”

Thank you, Armenia!

Shno-ra-ha-loo-tyoon, Hay-as-tan!