“It is totally contrary to our vision and our values that the cradle of our civilisation should become the grave of those aspiring to be part of it”, said Didier Reynders, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, today in his statement to the Parliamentary Assembly, referring to last weekend’s serious incidents in the Mediterranean.
He stressed that the human tragedy is part of the wider crisis in the Mediterranean and that this represents a real challenge not only for the countries of origin and receiving countries, but also for European organisations such as the Council of Europe. “Refugees should be entitled to the human rights set out in the Convention as soon as they are on European territory”, he said.
With regard to Ukraine, the Belgian Minister for Foreign and European Affairs emphasised the role that the Council of Europe, and especially the Venice Commission, can play in supporting the Minsk agreement, particularly in connection with constitutional reform, decentralisation and the holding of local elections.
He added that the Council of Europe’s instruments for monitoring human rights should play their full part not only in Crimea and the Donbass, but also in other regions outside the effective control of the national authorities concerned, such as Transnistria, Abkahzia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Lastly, he reminded the Assembly that the prevention of radicalism and extremism is one of the Belgian Chairmanship’s top priorities, as reflected in the holding of a high-level conference in Brussels on 8 May on the theme “Tolerance trumps hate” and in the planned adoption, at the Ministerial Session in Brussels, of an additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism aimed at criminalising recruitment, training and the funding of travel for terrorist purposes.