Check against delivery

Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

President Petra Bayr

Mr Sergiy Vlasenko, Chairperson of the Committee on the Election of Judges,

Judge María Elósegui, Spanish judge of the Court,

Dear Friends,

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

It’s quite a mouthful.

We know it better as the European Convention on Human Rights.

I would say that nearly everyone here was born after it was opened for signature in 1950, and ratified in 1953.

We have never known a Europe without it.

It seems so obvious, to us, that there should be such a Convention.

Fundamental Freedoms.

The right to life.

The right to liberty.

The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

These are vital to all of us, and to our way of life.

And yet…

And yet, my friends, we see these rights being questioned, if not undermined, throughout Europe and the world.

War and racism, misogyny and all kinds of discrimination.

The shrinking of civil space and erosion of fundamental freedoms.

Even here in Europe.

And even the European Convention on Human Rights,

• an instrument that grew out of the ashes of World War II, eventually uniting 46 member states in its embrace —.

Even this crucial Convention seems to be under threat.

And that is why an exhibition such as this one reminds us that the Convention is not a luxury, something that is nice to have, a convenience.

But a bare necessity – and the very foundation of the Council of Europe, and of Europe itself.

Dear friends,

The European Convention on Human Rights has been interpreted by a European Court of Human Rights since it came into force.

An entire body of international law has been built on our values, because of the existence of this Convention.

We here — we understand what it means.

But a recent poll across five of our member states found that seventy-five percent of people surveyed knew “not very much” to “nothing at all” about the Convention.

Many did not even know it existed!

I am sure that these same people really do care about the values it represents.

And initiatives aiming at reaching out to the general public throughout Europe, including exhibitions such as this one, can help us all learn, not only about the Convention, but how to spread the word about this living document.

About how our fundamental rights are protected in Europe today.

I warmly welcome this exhibition, and I congratulate all who have been instrumental in bringing it to the Council of Europe.

I thank you.