Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly today, the Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, has highlighted the progress made in recent months to reinforce Europe’s democratic security and adapt the organisation’s capabilities to the new geopolitical reality.
The Secretary General mentioned as significant steps the agreements in Chișinău on 15 May by the Council of Europe Ministers of Foreign Affairs concerning the enlarged partial agreement for the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, work towards a Framework Convention on foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), the Political Declaration on migration, and a new Council of Europe External Action Strategy.
Europe’s common legal space: the cornerstone of peace
These outcomes, he said, reinforce Europe’s common legal space: a system of standards and monitoring with the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights at the centre. This common legal space, he stressed, is “a guarantee of stability and of peace” and what makes the Council of Europe a geopolitical force, a force that “Europe is not yet using to its full potential”.
Replying to a question about migration policies in Europe, the Secretary General highlighted that the Chișinău Declaration had brought the migration debate back within the Council of Europe. “It strikes the right balance”, he said, “by acknowledging member states’ concerns while reaffirming their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, including non-discrimination and respect for the independence and authority of the Court.”
Protecting Europe’s democratic societies
Regarding threats to election integrity in Europe, the Secretary General said that the New Democratic Pact for Europe, the strategic and political process launched in 2025 to identify integrated responses to democratic backsliding and to renew democratic governance, should equip European societies with tools to counter FIMI, as well as other hybrid threats that undermine democratic trust and public debate.
Concrete tools are needed, he said, to protect elections and civic space, support independent media, and accompany the democratic use of technology.
Helping Ukraine on its European path
Providing an update on the Council of Europe’s work on Ukraine, the Secretary General said that we are entering a “decisive phase” for the framework of accountability for Russia´s war of aggression against Ukraine. With the Register of Damage fully operational, 39 countries and the EU have already signed the convention establishing a claims commission, and six countries have ratified it.
As regards the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, 36 states and the EU have expressed their intention to join the enlarged partial agreement on the management committee, with securing political and financial commitments as the next priority.
He also explained that the new Action Plan Democratic Security for Ukraine 2027-2030, to be adopted at the end of this year, will support a future peace framework, strengthen democratic resilience and advance Ukraine’s European path.
In a Q&A with parliamentarians, Secretary General Berset replied to questions about various issues, including the importance of upholding social rights as a factor of stability, synergies with other multilateral organisations, in particular the OSCE, or the political situation in Georgia, Hungary, Serbia and Türkiye.
