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

Prime Minister Mickoski,
Minister Limani, 
Minister Mucunski,
UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Smith, 
UNECE Executive Secretary Molcean,
Excellencies, colleagues,

I want to thank the Government of North Macedonia and UNFPA for bringing the Council of Europe into this conversation.

And for asking us to look ahead at the demographic changes that will shape Europe and Central Asia for years to come.

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Most of Europe’s attention right now is consumed by what is next.

The next crisis. The next election. The next blow to the international order.

And for good reason.

But it can make us short-sighted.

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Today’s conference forces us to take a longer view.

Ageing populations.

Youth looking for opportunity.

Labour markets pulled in different directions.

Shrinking rural areas.

Healthcare and pension systems stretched to their limits.

Migration reshaping politics.

These are demographic realities.

But behind them are people asking fundamental questions.

Will I find work?

Can I afford a place to live?

Can I see a doctor when I need one?

Does my voice count?

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Societies can only adapt to change on this scale when people trust the institutions guiding it.

This is where demographic resilience becomes democratic resilience.

That is the democratic security challenge Europe must meet.

To protect the institutions, rights, and freedoms that keep societies together.

To respond to modern threats, from cyberattacks and terrorism to foreign information manipulation and interference.

And to do so at a time when Europe’s focus and resources are devoted to strengthening its military security.

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Let me be clear: Europe’s rearmament is urgent.

I do not need to remind anyone here that attacks on Ukraine continue unabated, with Russia’s full-scale invasion already in its fifth year. 

And tensions with our closest ally have made Europe’s dependencies impossible to ignore.

But lasting security will require more than military strength alone.

Just as demographic resilience needs more than population policy alone.

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We need a shift in how we think about security and stability.

For too long, we have dismissed social rights, health, education, and institutional trust as “soft” security.

But there is nothing soft about accessible healthcare, affordable housing, children protected from poverty, and rights respected at work.

These are not secondary issues.

They are the foundations of a stable democracy.

Without them, the so-called “hard” security begins to crack, even when it looks strong.

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The distinction between “hard” and “soft” security belongs to the last century.

It does not capture the Europe we are living in.

Tens of millions of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

Minority groups turned into scapegoats.

Young people hit hard by insecure work and unaffordable housing, even as their share of the population declines.

And digital technology and artificial intelligence transforming work, public debate, and trust faster than democratic safeguards can keep up.

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We have the tools to act, including the European Social Charter.

It protects the social rights that help societies adapt to demographic change.

And it places social justice where it belongs: at the centre of democratic security.

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I am here today to reaffirm the Council of Europe’s commitment to strong cooperation with UNFPA and with all our partners, in the United Nations system and beyond.

Resources are harder to secure. Needs are harder to meet. But the cost of inaction is far greater.

When every day brings another crisis that tears multilateralism apart, we have to make every act of cooperation count.

Count for a future people can trust.

Thank you.

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