As delivered by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

President of the Parliamentary Assembly,

Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly,

Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe,

Excellencies,

Distinguished members of the Parliamentary Assembly,

INTRODUCTION

This week, we commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. And we remember the darkest years of our shared European history.

However, this year, we will also be marking the 75^th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. And in so doing, we will celebrate one of Europe’s greatest successes.

These moments provide us with an ideal opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror of history, to see ourselves as we are, to see what we have been and what we have become.
And to work out together where we want to go.

I would like to begin, this afternoon, by talking to you about the people who live on our continent. I want to speak to you about their actual experiences and, above all, their expectations.

SITUATION I: Yahidne

And to do this, you have to make regular visits outside Strasbourg.
You have to go to places in the field. To Yahidne, for example, a village two hours’ drive north of Kyiv, not far from Chernihiv.

I will never forget the little staircase I saw there, leading down to the basement of the village school. This is the place where, in March 2022, 300 inhabitants including children, pregnant women and elderly people, were crammed in by Russian soldiers and forced to stay for 27 days.

Taking this staircase was like entering another world. The people who were there described their ordeal.

• No electricity.
• No heating.
• Nowhere to sit down.
• No air.

Many died of suffocation and were left on the ground among the living. The basement walls are covered in their names. And the survivors tell us that despite the cold outside, the heat down there was unbearable, appalling.

Appalling. There is no other word to describe the suffering endured by Ukrainians for the last three years. Oradour-sur-Glane. Srebrenica. Yahidne. These are names which force us to look ourselves in the face. And, being aware of our shared history, these are what explains our steadfast support for Ukraine.

SITUATION II:

The questioning of democracy

Expectations in Ukraine are high, but they are also high throughout Europe. A lack of progress and an inability to work together is causing a loss of confidence in institutions and their representatives. And this is prompting people to question democracy itself.

Meeting in Reykjavík in 2023, the Heads of State and Government of our member states pointed out that democracy is “the only means to ensure that everyone can live in a peaceful, prosperous and free society”. And yet, the facts speak for themselves. Everywhere we look, democracy is retreating.

What worries us the most is the reason for this decline:

• Less room for civil society and open public debate.
• Opponents silenced.
• Independent courts and media under pressure.
• A rise in populist rhetoric.

And this is precisely the context in which certain findings need to be placed. For example, one fifth of Britons under forty-five believe that the best way of governing a country properly is, and I quote, “a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections”.

A strong leader who does not have to bother with elections. Of course, this goes beyond the confines of the United Kingdom and Europe.

The youngest people seem the most disillusioned and the question is what this means for Europe’s future. However, before we judge, we should recall that many of these young people’s experiences have been shaped by:

• Climate disaster.
• The Covid-19 pandemic.
• And the war in Ukraine.

We should also remember that the past 15 years have been marked by the following events:

• The far-reaching impact of the 2008 financial crisis.
• A rise in inequality and populist rhetoric.
• The hunt for scapegoats.
• And the sneaking feeling that a democratic system is clearly not enough to provide prospects for oneself, one’s family and one’s entourage.

For the younger generations, who did not experience the period of optimism, almost of naivety, of the 1990s and the 2000s, these repeated crises have become the main point of reference.

SITUATION III :

The threat of disinformation
 

And in this context, rendered difficult to interpret by repeated crises and their impact, we also have to deal with the lightning-fast development of new technologies and, in particular, of artificial intelligence. 

In Davos, where I was last week, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, referred to this as “ungoverned expansion”. And if we also consider cyberattacks, deepfakes and disinformation campaigns, we realise how much of a threat this poses to democracy.

And it makes everything possible. For example, people can claim in a debate that Hitler was a communist, showing the most brazen disregard for history. Orwell would have talked of “doublethink”.

Added to this affront is a dangerous form of revisionism. And this rewriting of history is made all the more shocking by the fact that it coincides with the moment when we are commemorating the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

These are major challenges. But we have the means to meet them.

Values:

Our beacon in the dark

When we feel that we are losing our bearings, we must always come back to values. The values which unite us, those on which our Organisation is built. We should never forget why the Council of Europe exists.

It exists because, following a world war which caused massive suffering and a regression of humanity, our predecessors took action – action to ensure that the world and the functioning of societies would be based:

• On democratic choices.
• On foreseeable relationships based on law.
• And on the protection of human dignity and human rights.

These values guide our work. They are our beacon in the dark.

THE METHOD:

DIALOGUE – the example of Georgia

This is why I believe that dialogue is key. And I mean true dialogue – dialogue which involves all the stakeholders.

Because dialogue means many things:

• It means exchange.
• It means pitting arguments against one another.
• It means debate.

Ultimately, it means trying to find what is right in another’s argument, the thing that will enable me to improve my understanding of things – the thing that will enable me to say that I do not agree, and to say why.

This is what helps me to try to convince people.

Difficulty and tensions should not hold us back or frighten us. Quite the opposite in fact.
It is precisely when tensions exist and things are difficult that dialogue is most important. It is not as necessary, nor as beneficial, when all is well.

It is when problems are multiplying that that we have to intensify our contacts. Not by hurling posts at one another on social networks or taking stances on the Internet. No, what we need to do first is to meet up and say things clearly to one another around a table.

At the origin of all wars, there lies firstly, not only, but firstly, a lack of dialogue.

And then, we must always state things as they are. And do so honestly and objectively.

This is the mindset with which I travelled to Georgia last December, with a large delegation from the Secretariat. This was the mindset of your rapporteurs when they went there in recent weeks. This was the Commissioner’s mindset when he went there in recent days.

My visit to Tbilisi in December yielded results:

• The release of imprisoned demonstrators.
• A commitment to refrain from disproportionate use of force.
• A guarantee of independent, transparent and effective investigations into allegations of police violence.
• The appointment of a joint working group including Council of Europe experts to make substantial amendments to the so-called “foreign influence” law.

2025: a key year in Ukraine

A new year is beginning.

In 2025, Ukraine will be at the top of our list of priorities.

Our resolve is to do everything in our power to establish a claims commission and a compensation mechanism, based on the success of the Register of Damage for Ukraine. The Council of Europe must play a leading role.
Expectations are high and we must act without delay.

The same applies to the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. For reconstruction of the country is dependent not just on financial resources to repair damage but also on justice to restore minds.

The Council of Europe’s commitment and role should be to guarantee that impunity will not prevail.

For Ukraine, I have also set up a Council of Europe task force to ensure that our work will be as efficient as possible.
I have also announced that I will be appointing a Special Representative of the Secretary General for the children of Ukraine. This appointment will be made shortly.

Europe’s external dimension

In this highly confused multilateral context, this world of unprecedented levels of impunity, the greatest challenges we face know no bounds.
The only effective response lies in multilateralism and co-operation with other international organisations. This is what has prompted us to set up an office in New York. I mention this here because I know this is a matter which has been widely discussed in the Assembly.

Our world is in perpetual motion.
Our gaze must extend beyond the frontiers of our continent. Among recent events, we just have to think of Syria. The fall of Bachar al-Assad’s regime has reshuffled the deck and redefined the geopolitical balance. This situation places Türkiye, a Council of Europe member state, in a crucial strategic position. And this is only one of many examples.

We should be looking to the Mediterranean, Africa, the members of BRICS and beyond. We must remember that Europe can only be strong if it is strong internally and externally.

An Action Plan for Democracy

Ladies and gentlemen,

To build the Europe of tomorrow, we have above all to restore democracy to its rightful place. To achieve this, we must:

• Guarantee free and fair elections.
• Preserve the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
• Champion freedom of expression.
• Ensure that everyone can participate fully and equally in public life.

With this goal in mind, we have devised an Action Plan for Democracy. We have only just begun. PACE must play a leading role in this, as must the Reykjavik Principles. Democratic backsliding is not inevitable.

Conclusion

The great French author and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Albert Camus, reminds us at the end of The Plague that the germ of the plague never truly disappears and we must always remain vigilant.

In less than a month now, the war in Ukraine will enter its fourth year.

During this time, we have been witness, in Europe and in the world:

• To the backsliding of democracy
• To a loss of bearings.
• To a decline in dialogue.
• To a redefinition of the balance of geopolitical powers.
• To a technological boom.
• To the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation.

A call to action
 

This calls us to remain vigilant in the face of these tensions which contribute to the fragmentation of society.

The collective amnesia which Camus talked of must give way to a real sense of fellow-feeling. This European fellow-feeling must guide our every action and our every decision. This is our role. This is our ever-present duty.