Speech by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

        Mr. President of the Parliamentary Assembly,

        Madam Secretary General of the Council of Europe,

        Esteemed members of Parliament,

        Ladies and Gentlemen Ambassadors,

        Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be able to address this Assembly, which express in the broadest terms the sentiments of the peoples of Europe.

It is a great satisfaction for me to undertake my first trip abroad to Strasbourg – the seat of several European institutions – since the Italian Parliament and the representatives of its Regions wished to reappoint me as President of the Republic.

I pay tribute to the Council of Europe, to its Institutions, to you who are the expression of the Parliaments of 46 member countries, representing 700 million European citizens.

Allow me to express my special thanks to President Tiny Kox for this opportunity that he gives me and allows me, for his very kind words; and thank you all for the welcome.

I extend a warm greeting to the Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, whose leadership in this Organisation I consider invaluable, as I had the opportunity to tell her at our meeting last November, at the Quirinal Palace, and to reiterate in the meeting we had this morning.

The Council of Europe has always had the vocation of being the “common European home” and has been able to develop his vocation in the decades since its creation, as its current broad representation testifies.

A home that, if it has been a faithful mirror of the divisions and difficulties between the different national communities, has also been able to be, above all, an expression of Europe’s courage for unity, often foreshadowing what could later be built, in other respects and in other areas, such as the European Union.

Many have been the civilizational achievements of the Council of Europe. These include the abolition of the death penalty, the fight against racism, freedom of expression, the protection of the cultural diversity, the protection of children’s rights and the development of youth policies.

Furthermore, paraphrasing the miller of Potsdam, in our Continent we can say: “there is a judge in Strasbourg”, with the activity developed by the Cedu, outcome of the European Convention of Human Rights, signed in Rome. In other words, the Council of Europe has been able to consolidate the prerogatives of citizens, adding to the protection of the individual state system that deriving from the application of the convention, in cases of the violation of rights by states. Because there is no reason of State that can hold in the case of violations of personal rights.

Freer, safer, more cohesive. And I am thinking of the European Social Charter against inequality and poverty, launched in Turin, Italy, in 1961.

These are unparalleled results of the tenacious construction of a common house such as the Council of Europe. Progress for hundreds of millions of European citizens, who are proud to increasingly find themselves in a single demos.

The Council of Europe is the child of the drive for the multilateralism that characterized the years following the Second World War, together with the United Nation system. A drive based on an elementary consideration: collaboration reduces oppositions, counteracts the conflict, increasing the chances of a positive settlement of disputes.

It was not easy to take the road to reconciliation. Just as it was not easy to share a common heritage; to have the courage to move, in relations between States, from the law of force to the force of law.

Building a lasting peace has been a slow and gradual process that has prevented the risk of a third world war, which came close with the Korean War and the Berlin blockade, and has been able to pass, in those distant years, through the regulation of Austria’s condition under the neutrality clause and the overcoming of the Cuba crisis.

As much as war pretends to be a lightening war - and it does not succeed – so much so that peace is the result of the patient and unstoppable flow of the spirit and practice of cooperation between peoples, of the ability to move from confrontation and the arms race, to dialogue, control and the balanced reduction of weapons of aggression.

It is a laborious construction, made up of consistent and continuous behaviour and choices, not an isolated act. It is the outcome of a stubborn faith in humanity and a sense of responsibility towards it.

As Robert Schuman reminded us, “World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts, proportionated to the dangers which threaten it”.

If we pursue common goals, it is no longer necessary for someone else to lose in order to “win”. We all win together.

The example was contagious, so much so that Strasbourg became the compulsory destination for those who achieved freedom and independence, in order to strengthen and consolidate them. This has been the case in several cases; but, of course, in order to stay together, one must respect the rules one has set.

This justifies the interlude in Greece after the military coupe

Decades later, the peoples of Central Europe, the Baltics and the Caucasus were able to choose to join the Council of Europe and, with this decision, to stand up for the protection of human rights, the rule of law and the development of democracy.

As pointed out by the President of the Italian Republic, Sandro Pertini, speaking before this assembly exactly 39 years ago, on the 27^th of April 1983, it is sometimes necessary to be able to exercise the “courage of renunciation”, when the separation of a member Country of the Council of Europe appears necessary in order not to betray the inspiration that gave birth to this institution.

Hitler’s aim leading up to the Second World War was to male Germany the prevailing power with a dominant role over other peoples and countries.

It was a design that involved regimes of many other nations – the kingdom of Italy among them – and was beaten by the international civil conscience.

But the record of history reminds us that stability and peace are not guaranteed once and for all: dramatic and sad events in the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Black Sea bear witness to this.

Peace does not impose itself automatically, by itself, but is the result of the will of men.

Today we are once again living the nightmare – unexpected because it is unpredictable – of war on our Continent.

We practice and we would like to impose the backwardness of history to the era of power politics, of the overpowering of one over another, of the pitting of one people – sometimes disguised under the expression national interest – against another.

Imperialism and neo-colonialism no longer have any right to exist in the third millennium, whatever the guise behind which they disguise themselves.

 It is no longer the time for a late-nineteenth century, and later Stalinist, vision of a hierarchy of nations to the advantage of the militarily stronger one. It is no longer the time for countries to claim to dominate others.

The option has long since been made with the shift in international relation from the alienation of legal aspects to the civilization of law.

In face of a war-torn Europe, no equivocation, no uncertainty is possible.

The Russian Federation, with its atrocious invasion of Ukraine, chose to place itself outside the rules to which it had freely adhered and helped to enforce them.

The decision of this Parliamentary Assembly – of the Council of Europe – to take note of the break that has occurred is consistent with the values underpinning the organization’s Statute, which points the way to a closer union of the common aspirations of the peoples of Europe.

The responsibility for the sanction adopted lies entirely with the Government of the Russian Federation. I would like to add: not on the Russian people, whose culture is part of the European heritage and who are kept in the dark about what is really going on in Ukraine.

There can be no retreat from the trenches of the defense of human and peoples’ rights.

These are principles that have been embodied in the history of the second half of the 20^th century and, all the more so, must be consolidated today.

The firm and active solidarity with the Ukrainian people and the appeal to the Government of the Russian Federation to stop, to withdraw its troops, to contribute to the reconstruction of a land that has been devastated, is a consequence of these simple considerations.

The international community has one task: to achieve a ceasefire and to start again with the construction of a respectful and shared international framework leading to peace.

A great intellectual, Paul Valery – who had been through two world wars – called on his fellow Europeans to became aware that they were living in a “finite” world. “There is no more free land”, he wrote, “no more of the globe to be discovered”.

If no one is a stranger to anyone, President Pertini wondered, is it not time for people to learn to be at peace with themselves?

We might add today: in an increasingly interconnected world, in which distance have essentially disappeared, in which each person can communicate, and often does communicate, in real time with interlocutors all over the world, there is no place, it is anachronistic to speak of territorial spheres of influence.

The international context presents contradictions, starting with the Russian Federation, which is responsible for violating all the main charters defined within multilateral bodies, and which finds itself paradoxically invoking the intervention of the World Trade Organisation against the sanctions imposed by the international community.

While the conflict has further weakened the international system of shared rules – and the world, as a consequence, has become much more insecure – the only way out seems, without fear of contradiction, to be cooperation and recourse to multilateral institution.

This seems to be the conclusion also of those countries that, while refusing to recognise the jurisdiction of the international Criminal Court, are now calling for its intervention, so that trials can be held against those responsible for undeniable and horrific crimes against humanity, such as those committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, thus recognising the necessary role of that Court.

If the voice of the United Nations has been clear in its denunciation and condemnation but, unfortunately, ineffective on the ground, this means that its action must be strengthened, not weakened.

It means that initiatives, such as the one promoted by Liechtenstein and 15 other countries, to avoid paralysis of the UN Security Council must be taken seriously.

War is a voracious monster, never satiated. The temptation to multiply conflicts is the backdrop to the belligerent action undertaken by Moscow.

The devastation wrought on the rules of the international community could spread its effects if we fail in stopping this drift now. We must be able to avert the danger of an escalation of warlike adventures that, as experience teaches us, would be difficult to contain.

We must be able to oppose all this with a resolute will for peace.

Otherwise, we will be overwhelmed.

For a moment, let us practice – borrowing from the language of the so-called “cold war” – spelling out words that we thought had fallen into disuse, to see if they can help us get back on track, however difficult it may be.

Détente: to break off hostilities.

Repudiation of war: returning to the status quo ante bellum.

Peaceful coexistence, between peoples and between states.

Democracy – as the valuable work of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe teaches us – as a condition for respect for the dignity of each individual.

Finally, Helsinki and not Yalta: we want dialogue, not shows of strength between great powers that must realise that are increasingly less great.

To envisage an international forum that would renew the roots of peace, that would restore dignity to a framework of security and cooperation, following the example of the Helsinki Conference that led, in 1975, to a Final Act that heralded positive developments. And of which the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was offspring.

It is a question of strongly affirming the rejection of a policy based on spheres of influence, on weakened rights for certain peoples and countries, and instead of proclaiming, in the spirit of Helsinki, equal rights and equality for peoples and for people.

According to a new architecture of international relations, in Europe and in the world, shared, involving, without prejudicial privileged positions.

Security, peace – this is the great lesson that has emerged since the Second World War – cannot be entrusted to bilateral relations – Moscow versus Kyiv – all the more so if this takes places between unequals, between large and smaller states.

Ensuring security and peace is the responsibility of the entire international community. The international community can and must be the guarantor of a new peace.

As I draw to a close, I would like to emphasize that the possibility of addressing you in person – thus being able to express the basic need for direct communication – is certainly an advantage.

We went through a long difficult phase because of the pandemic, with dramatic moments. The virus is not yet eradicated, but we have learned to fight it, to mitigate its effects.

I would like to pay tribute here to all those who, at the cost of personal risk, sometimes with the sacrifice of their lives, have contributed to achieving the results we enjoy today.

I am thinking first and foremost of the medical and health staff, to whom all our gratitude goes, the researchers and scientists, but also of the many workers, volunteers, and professionals who in various ways have helped us to overcome this ordeal.

Once again, we have seen the value of international cooperation. The international scientific community has been working across borders, exchanging data, knowledge, experience, and research progress.

It was hoped that this example of collaboration against a common enemy of mankind would be taken up by the governments of the states, leading to the search for dialogue, sharing and cooperation.

All this does not make us forget that, if today we can hope that the worst is behind us, it is thanks to the civic mindedness of our fellow citizens, to the sense of responsibility they have shown to their cooperation in measures to mitigate the spread of the virus and in ensuring the success of the vaccination campaigns. Without their contribution it would not have been possible to defeat not only Covid-19 but also the pernicious virus of misinformation and distrust of science.

Our institutions have shown the ability to react quickly, our societies have shown a reassuring resilience.

I would like to express my appreciation for the contribution made by the Council of Europe to its member state to ensure that the response to the pandemic is carried out within a framework that respects fundamental rights and freedoms; always putting the human person and his or her irrepressible dignity at the center.

This is something we should never take for granted, a European success of which we can be justly proud.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Italian Republic has strongly contributed to the birth of this Organisation, to its growth and full affirmation as an essential reference point in the multilateral system in defence of the values of freedom and affirmation of the principles of the rule of law.

It is a function that continues to be valuable, to which all Council of Europe bodies, and member states, are called upon to contribute.

This is what we aimed to responsibly reiterate during this eighth Italian presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The founding generation has been able to build this multilateral community on heaps of material, moral and legal rubble, looking to the future. We trust that we have faithfully preserved this heritage; that we have defended it as a precious asset.

But if the task is not exhausted, it is up to us to respond to today’s challenges by developing and implementing its principles.

All the best to all of us and thank you for your attention.