As delivered by Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

 

Dear friends,

 

Firstly, my congratulations to Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul –

And everyone at the DDLD Living Archive –

On winning the Democracy Innovation Award.

In any democracy –

Any peaceful democracy –

Journalists must be free to go about their work without fear, intimidation or violence of any sort.

But over recent years, the trend of violence towards journalists –

Including murders –

Has been on the rise –

But in gathering, preserving, and presenting the words of those journalists who have been killed –

DDLD is keeping their ideas and contributions alive.

It is a strategy of innovative, moving and democratic defiance –

Highlighting not just the cruelty and wickedness of the crimes that have been committed –

But their futility.

Freedom of expression is something to be treasured –

And we are inspired by DDLD’s work to defend it –

And to confront the violence that undermines it.

All the projects presented were inspirational and encouraging.

At a time when some opinion polls suggest that younger people are losing faith in democracy –

Your ideas, enthusiasm and presence here at this World Forum show that the fatalists are wrong.

That a democratic future is yours – ours – for the taking –

And, with it, the promise of peace.

Recent events show fragility of that peace.

From the return of war to Europe –

To the terrible violence in the Middle East –

To the horrific surge in acts of religious persecution that have accompanied it at the national level.

Worse still, these comprise just a part of the broader national and international unrest that continues to disfigure our world.

The quest for peace was - and remains – central to the Council of Europe.

Our Statute seeks it “based upon justice and international co-operation” –

Steeped in the “principles which form the basis of all genuine democracy”.

That aspiration –

For democratic peace, for democratic security –

Remains as real now as it was when our Statute was signed almost 75 years ago.

Founded in the wake of two devastating World Wars –

And on the promise of “never again” –

The Council of Europe has worked ever since to replace the madness of war, violence and conflict –

With the logic of human rights, democracy and the rule of law –

And make no mistake, this has been a success.

Our Organisation has grown from 10 founding member states then, to 46 now.

Each has committed freely to our core values –

And, within that membership circle, Europe has experienced a greater degree of peace and co-operation than would otherwise have been possible.

Every single member state has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights –

Guaranteeing the rights to life, liberty and security, and a fair trial –

To freedom of expression, assembly and association, and thought, conscience and religion ‒

And so on.

Rights that belong to everyone who sets foot in our member states –

To every one of you sitting here, right now.

Even so, in Europe today, we feel the same tremors under our feet that are causing such alarm in so much of the wider world.

An upsurge in extreme populism, nationalism and authoritarianism is shaking the foundations of our democracies –

Calling democratic processes and institutions into question –

And threatening to erode the rights of individuals –

And of minorities, ranging from women and girls and LGBTI people –

To migrants, refugees and religious communities.

The breakdown of democracy starts this way –

Eroding the rights that are fundamental to individuals’ safety and security –

And ending in outright violence within borders – and across them –

As we have seen with the Russian Federation –

Whose break with democratic values led to its brutal and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine –

And its exclusion from this Organisation.

 

*****

 

Les dirigeants européens ont décidé de relever ces défis –

D’inverser le recul de la démocratie sur notre continent –

Et de renforcer les fondements de la paix.

Ils l’ont fait lors de notre Sommet des chefs d’État et de gouvernement qui s’est tenu en mai dernier à Reykjavík –

Où ils ont réaffirmé leur engagement en faveur de nos normes et valeurs –

De la mise en œuvre de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme –

De l’exécution des arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme –

Et du soutien à l’Ukraine –

Notamment par le biais d’un Registre des dommages –

Qui recensera les pertes et préjudices causés par la Russie sur le terrain –

En tant que première étape indispensable pour la mise en place d’un mécanisme d’indemnisation.

Ce registre repose lui-même sur l’idée que, pour les Ukrainiens, la paix ne peut être durable que si elle est juste –

Et il ne saurait y avoir de justice sans responsabilité pour les actes commis.

Le Sommet a également été pour les dirigeants européens l’occasion de convenir d’un ensemble de Principes de Reykjavík pour la démocratie –

Insistant par exemple sur les droits de participation démocratique –

La séparation des pouvoirs –

Et la lutte implacable contre la corruption –

Afin que nos sociétés se caractérisent par l’égalité, l’inclusion et une participation effective –

Et leurs populations, par la confiance et la volonté instinctive de résoudre les désaccords par le débat pacifique –

Plutôt que par le conflit et la confrontation.

Notre monde ne manque assurément pas de défis considérables.

L’essor de l’intelligence artificielle –

La triple crise planétaire de la pollution, du changement climatique et de la perte de biodiversité –

Et les difficultés actuelles liées aux déplacements d’un grand nombre de migrants et de réfugiés –

Souvent liés à des violences ou des traumatismes qu’eux-mêmes ont subis.

L’ampleur de ces défis, parmi d’autres, conduit certaines personnes à douter de la capacité des démocraties à leur apporter une réponse.

La démocratie est pourtant notre meilleur espoir –

Car sans le dialogue et la coopération qui la caractérisent –

Comment les gouvernements – ou les organisations de tout type – peuvent-ils se rencontrer –

Et trouver le terrain d’entente commun indispensable pour surmonter ces défis existentiels et transfrontaliers –

Et ces menaces pour la paix ?

Les dirigeants du Conseil de l’Europe ont promis de nouveaux instruments dans ces domaines –

Et d’autres organisations internationales agissent elles aussi de leur côté.

Certains affirment que les progrès sont trop lents, ou qu’ils ne vont pas assez loin.

Mais ces instances sont notre meilleur espoir –

Et si vous voulez qu’elles en fassent davantage, faites pression sur elles –

Ou rejoignez-les –

Peut-être même pour un jour les diriger.

Tel est votre droit démocratique.

Lors de ce Forum –

Vous avez évoqué toutes ces questions –

La démocratie en tant que source de paix –

La voie vers des sociétés pacifiques –

Et le rôle de la communauté internationale –

À la lumière de votre expérience – vaste, diverse et profonde – en provenance du monde entier.

*****

It is also true that the plenary sessions in particular have flushed out ways in which the challenges to democracy –

To peace –

And to the relationship between them –

Have evolved in different parts of the world.

In Democracy Untended you heard about how the diffusion of power –

From the centre and towards non-governmental structures has complicated the picture –

And how local, national and global factors all impact on the prospects for democracy and peace.

In Peaceful Societies? you reflected on the fact that while democracy –

And the rule of law –

Are designed to protect people’s rights –

Where governments fail in that aim –

Or fail to pursue it –

Faith in democracy can be undermined.

And in International Community for a Democratic Security you considered the current strengths –

And clear weaknesses –

In protecting democracy at the international level –

And about the need for local and national governments –

As well as regions –

To build the movement for democracy from bottom up.

I hope that these plenaries, and the talks and labs have opened your eyes to new ways of thinking about democracy –

How it might be strengthened in the modern era –

And what the foundations for further action might be.

We will certainly be reflecting on all of this.

But, above all, I hope that you leave here with a sense that democracy can still deliver peace –

And that you can be part of that success.

Thank you for attending this World Forum –

I wish you all the very best.