In her opening address at her last plenary session, the PACE President made a fervent plea for maintaining order in what she described as “our common home” and for “constructive dialogue, even in the gravest crisis situations”.
“Whenever the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are called into question, we must react and find the courage to take firm positions, without hesitating to denounce anti-democratic backsliding and violations of human rights,” she said.
“But we must never close the door to dialogue. When you live under the same roof, it is necessary to talk to each other in order to understand each other better, to listen to each other and to find solutions that are always aimed at better protection of the environment people are living in on the European continent,” she added.
“If I had to draw a lesson from the crisis that our Organisation has just gone through, I would again, without hesitation, mention the importance of dialogue and co-operation. Indeed, confronted with an unprecedented situation, we lived up to our responsibilities,” said Liliane Maury Pasquier. She invited all members of the Assembly to work actively in the years ahead “in this wider pan-European platform for dialogue” because “this is the role of the Parliamentary Assembly”.
