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

President Khatchatourian,
Prime Minister Pashinyan,
President Macron,
Minister Mirzoyan,
Excellencies,
Dear participants,

It is a pleasure to join you at Yerevan Dialogue after the successful European Political Community summit hosted by Armenia.

Mr Prime Minister, dear Nikol, this was a testament to Armenia’s rightful place in the European family and its critical role in the South Caucasus.

And it comes at a decisive time for Europe’s future, as Armenia is gearing up for this June’s parliamentary elections.

Monsieur le Président Macron, cher Emmanuel, je saisis cette occasion en Arménie, membre de la famille francophone, pour saluer en français votre engagement infatigable au service de la grande famille européenne, celle des valeurs partagées, celle d’une histoire dense, celle d’une histoire exigeante.

Et il nous revient aujourd’hui d’en faire un récit d’avenir.

Et c’est aussi la grande famille européenne de la culture. Vivante. Fédératrice.

Je dois vous dire… Vous voir si proches, Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Premier Ministre, vous voir si proches – je vous ai vus chanter ensemble – cela me fait penser au phénomène physique de l’intrication.

Cette propriété mystérieuse par laquelle deux particules demeurent liées instantanément quand bien même la distance peut sembler les séparer.

Entre l’Arménie et la France, les ponts sont nombreux.
Ils sont faits d’histoire, de mémoire, de danse et de chansons.

Vous en êtes à la fois tous les deux les passeurs et les héritiers.

***

The upcoming elections in Armenia will be yet another test of democracy’s strength in a Europe under huge pressure, both from outside and from within.

That is why Europe’s security was at the center of this EPC summit, and rightly so.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its fifth year, with no end in sight.

Even worse, the war in Iran is pushing Ukraine into the background while emboldening Russia on global markets.

And not a day passes without another crack in the transatlantic relationship.

Europe is caught between conflicts it did not start and consequences it cannot escape.

With each unchallenged threat or use of force, the international legal order gets closer to the brink.

***

This is not the first time Europe has been in this situation.

We have faced a rupture before.

President Macron just spoke about that.

After the Second World War, a generation of Europeans dared to make power answer to law.

They had seen what happens when power goes unchecked and brutal force is all that is left.

So they turned to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

And they created the Council of Europe and other institutions.

I mention it because it is exactly today that we mark the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Council of Europe.

Then they gave Europe a Convention on Human Rights and a Court to make it real.

Together, these are the cornerstone of Europe’s legal order.

It was the very beginning of this common legal space that unites all the countries of the European continent.

The Convention and the Court have played a key part in Armenia’s democratic history.

And you, Prime Minister, dear Nikol, you know that better than anyone.

Having been imprisoned. Having patiently awaited the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, and ultimately to be vindicated.

And the same is true throughout Europe.

I saw this again just last week.

In Ireland, where the Convention helped underpin the Good Friday Agreement.

And in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it has been central to the country’s constitutional order since Dayton.

***

Armenia, Ireland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all show that lasting peace depends on more than force alone.

This is one of the hard lessons of the last rupture.

We cannot afford to forget it.

Not when Europe is rearming at a scale we have not seen since the Cold War.

And not while democratic trust is falling.

We should ask ourselves: who might one day control that force, and what values are we really defending?

***

We cannot spend hundreds of billions on defence and leave democracy, human rights, and the rule of law for later.

Because it is simply very dangerous.

Yet some would have us believe that partnerships do not require agreement on all values.

That we need to rely on the value of our strength, not just the strength of our values.

And that middle powers must adopt a new approach.

They call it realism.

But realism cannot be a blank check for double standards.

Nor can security become an excuse for treating legal constraints as optional.

That is a false choice and a dangerous gamble with Europe’s security and stability.

When force begins to replace law between states, it finds its way back into our democracies, weakening the rule of law from within.

That is where the current security model falls short.

And that is where democratic security must begin.

***

Democratic security goes beyond the old divide between “hard” and “soft” security.

That distinction belongs to the last century.

It no longer fits the Europe we live in.

We need not only military security. We do need military security. But we also need security that starts with institutions people can trust.

Independent courts.

Transparent elections.

Free media.

Security that can also confront cyberattacks, terrorism, and foreign information manipulation and interference.

***

Armenia’s upcoming elections bring this new reality into full view.

They have been the target of hybrid threats, including disinformation.

We have observed the same interference patterns in the Republic of Moldova, Czechia and other recent elections.  

And much of it is spreading online, in the middle of the AI revolution.

The answer is not to fear technology.

It is to protect democratic choice without policing speech.

That is why the Council of Europe is developing a framework convention on foreign information manipulation and interference.

It was an interesting discussion yesterday on FIMI at the European Political Community summit.

Thank you again, dear Prime Minister, for this wonderful event that you have organised, bringing together 46 countries.

This new legal instrument must be a cornerstone in our common legal space.

To combat disinformation and foreign interference.

We will do so in Chișinău next week.

We will say stop to manipulation in our elections, courts, schools, and media.

***

Democratic security is not a luxury for calmer times.

It is what holds societies together when war, technology, migration, climate change, and disinformation put our institutions under pressure.

It is what keeps power accountable in an age of permanent crisis. 

Nowhere is this more evident than in Ukraine.

Monsieur le Président, cher Emmanuel, I thank France for its intention to join the Management Committee of the Special Tribunal that we will also create very soon.

***

***

The new order that we need requires military security. It is obvious.

It needs energy security.

And we see exactly what that means today.

It needs economic security.

But above all, Europe’s next order needs democratic security.

Without it, no other form of security will last, and no order will hold. 

***

In the face of rupture, our shared European task is not to settle for what is politically achievable.

It is to build what Europe needs.

A legal and democratic framework lasting security, stability, and peace can depend on.

Peace – this word has been used many times this morning in this hall.

Here in Armenia.

Thank you, dear Prime Minister, dear Nikol for your strong dedication and your courage in this situation.

For the region. For the South Caucasus.

And across Europe.

Thank you for your attention.