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

Acting President Shipman,
Provost Olinto,
Executive Vice President El-Sadr,
Professor Cooley,
Members of the faculty,
And above all, dear students,

[OPENING]

We think we know democracy.

We are wrong.

I learned that recently at a meeting of world leaders in Kazakhstan.

When it was over, one head of state turned to me and said:

“You were the only one to speak about democracy.”

I said: “I see, but why?”

Then, almost casually:

“That word? It’s become woke.”

This says more about our time than a hundred speeches.

If democracy has become a dirty word, then everything we call security is already at risk.

[I. A Perfect Storm]

We are not facing one crisis, but a perfect storm.

At its core, three forces.

The first is war.

And in Europe, the frontline is Ukraine.

One of our forty-six member states — and the Council of Europe’s top priority.

Ukraine, where each new strike makes peace feel more distant.

Where every Russian drone crossing a neighbour’s airspace is escalation.

This war — the worst in Europe since the Second World War — not only redraws borders.

It redraws principles.

But not all threats come from outside. 

Opposition leaders sit in prison — some in our member states.

In Serbia, months of protest erupt in clashes.

The UK just saw the largest far-right protest of its history.

In Germany, a top candidate claimed Hitler was a communist.

A once career-ending lie now travels the world in seconds.

Culture wars replace democratic debate .

And double standards — real or perceived — destroy trust.

This is the second force: erosion from within.

When trust is gone, so is democracy.

The third is systemic shocks.

Climate change, artificial intelligence, and disinformation.

Present dangers already shaking the foundations of life, liberty, and justice.

On Sunday, Moldovans will head to the polls in decisive parliamentary elections.

For months, they have been targeted by hybrid disinformation campaigns — claiming Russian speakers will be dragged into war, their land sold to foreigners, their Church banned.

None of it true. All of it designed to divide.

When lies spread, violence follows.

Political violence is rising — here in America and in Europe.

In our headquarters in Strasbourg just days ago, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu warned:

“Democracy is under attack across the globe — not only on battlefields, but increasingly in our minds.”

[II. Speaking to a new generation]

It is in our minds that democracy takes root and grows.

But you, young students today, you have never known full stability.

A financial crisis. A pandemic. Climate change. Climate crisis. And now, war and disorganisation.

So as you graduate, or vote for the first time, you may wonder:

Can democracy still deliver?

You are not alone.

Across Europe, more and more young people say they have lost faith in democracy.

Some believe their country would be better off with a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament and elections.

This keeps me up at night.

Because if we do not respond to this loss of trust, others will.

And they will not speak for our values.

[III. a new doctrine]

That is why we need a new doctrine: democratic security.

This divide between “hard” and “soft” security is outdated.

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

And as our societies face new pressures, it also means confronting cyberattacks, terrorism, climate change, and other challenges.

We see this in Ukraine, where the Council of Europe is creating tools of accountability — the Register of Damage and a future Claims Commission for reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine, among other initiatives.

We see this also in the South Caucasus, where the Washington Declaration between Armenia and Azerbaijan offers a real chance for reconciliation.

But too often, we mistake democratic security for the security of democracy.

Freedoms curtailed in the name of protecting them.

Rules bent under the pretext of urgency.

Courts facing political pressure.

Even our Court — the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg — has been challenged, with some governments questioning recent rulings on migration.

The answer is not to weaken the courts, but to strengthen democracy itself.

Europe must define a strategy for democratic security — one that puts values at the very heart of our defence.

If the European Union can commit eight hundred billion euros to military defence, then democratic security demands the same urgency and commitment.

In other word, we need a kind of reset: a New Democratic Pact for Europe.

This conversation has started, and the Pact is already taking shape.

With, among other elements, a proposed Convention on Disinformation and Foreign Influence.

Rapid support for democracies under attack.

Institutions built to face threats that no state can confront alone.

[IV. 24-Hour Democracy]

Some say democracy is dying.

I say it has only just begun.

Imagine all of human government history compressed into one day.

For almost the entire day, power belonged to the few: pharaohs, emperors, kings.

Then, late at night, Athens tried democracy.

It was fragile.

But in the final minutes of the day, something extraordinary happened.

America declared self-rule.

France demanded liberty and equality.

Independence movements swept across continents.

Women won the vote.

Walls came down.

[CLOSING]

Eighty years ago, in 1945, survivors at the extermination camp of Buchenwald scrawled two words on a sign:

Never Again.

Out of that moral pact, Europe rebuilt itself.

On democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Today, the old world is gone.

The new one not yet arrived.

Europe can rebuild again.

Not by looking backward.

But by renewing the European order on enduring principles.

Justice through accountability.

The protection of rights.

The resilience of our democracies.

That is the task before us.

It is our collective responsibility.

This is the age of democratic security.

Thank you.