The protection of human rights cannot be taken for granted, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark told the Assembly today, stressing the need for the principles and values underlying them to be passed on to new generations.
“Although human rights are inherent to us all, they are also fragile… we must never take them for granted, nor expect that they will always be granted,” she warned parliamentarians in Strasbourg, speaking in the context of Denmark’s six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe.
“They are the basic freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth to death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe, or how you choose to live your life.”
The Crown Princess praised the achievements of the Council of Europe, which “set high standards for the rest of the world to follow”, but acknowledged that enormous challenges still remained in securing rights around the globe.
