Check against delivery - Speech by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Presidents,
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,

Political violence is rising.

Culture wars are replacing debate.

Traditional parties are losing ground.

Politics is no longer about what we stand for — only what we stand against.

Anti-immigration. Anti-elite. Anti-system.

This is the breeding ground for extremism.

At the Council of Europe, we call the antidote “democratic security.”

Because lasting security depends on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

The old divide between “hard” and “soft” security no longer fits our time.

Real security means institutions people trust, laws that protect everyone equally, and the stability that allows democracy to grow.

Even as we face challenges like cyberattacks, terrorism, and climate change.

We invest billions in military defence.

It is time to invest with the same resolve in democratic security.

And here is the test.

When governments curtail freedoms in the name of safety, they hand extremists their victory.

But where rights are protected, institutions trusted, and societies inclusive — extremism has no oxygen.

We see the stakes clearly.

This Sunday, Moldovans will vote under a storm of hybrid disinformation campaigns.

Too often, online platforms reward clicks over trust.

Outrage may be a business model for platforms.

But outrage cannot be the business model of democracy.

That is why Europe needs clear rules.

And why we are advancing work on a Council of Europe Convention on Disinformation and Foreign Influence.

Already, our Counter-Terrorism Strategy tackles online radicalisation and the misuse of new technologies head-on.

But the fight against terrorism must never become a fight against freedom.

This work is part of the shared effort behind a New Democratic Pact for Europe.

Its goal: to confront backsliding, resist polarisation, and restore trust in democracy by making it tangible in people’s daily lives.

This Pact is already taking shape.

But resilience cannot be built by governments alone.

Education is democratic security in its most durable form.

Teaching young people to navigate information, to debate, to resolve conflict.

This is how we close the space for radicalisation before it opens.

And we must defend the essential infrastructure of democracy: a free and pluralistic press.

Just as no city stands without bridges and roads, no democracy stands without independent media.

Excellencies, colleagues,

Extremism knows no borders.

Neither must our response.

With its 46 member states, the Council of Europe offers a platform.

To act together.

To learn from one another.

And to protect our citizens without betraying our values.

The choice is clear:

Security with democracy — or no lasting security.

Thank you.