Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the decoration on the glass facade of Strasbourg railway station marking the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, the Deputy Secretary General, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, highlighted the importance of this project, which is both a “work of art and a symbol, expressing on a grand scale what the Council of Europe is working towards, the values it embodies and the diversity of the 47 member states, from which it derives its strength”.
“The history of the Council of Europe is one that we all share. It is a wonderful story, which tells us how we moved from mutual suspicion to trust and from peace to democracy, thanks to the vision of a handful of people who drew up the Statute of the Council of Europe seventy years ago, acting on behalf of millions of their fellow Europeans”, she said.
“Today we pay tribute to these remarkable people, who showed us that when we summon up our courage, our hope and our faith in the future, we can achieve what this decoration now reflects – our rights, our freedoms, our Europe”.
The Deputy Secretary General also pointed out that this project was the product of co-operation with young people, who were one of the major focuses of the Organisation, and, in particular, of a competition held in co-operation with the art school, the Haute Ecole des Arts du Rhin, through which the design for the 70th anniversary poster was chosen.
It is also the result of a partnership between the Council of Europe, the City of Strasbourg and the SNCF, with the support of Strasbourg événements and Réseaux Gaz naturel de Strasbourg.
