PACE recommends holding the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe

PACE recommends holding the fourth summit of the Council of Europe - with the participation of heads of states and governments of all 47 countries participating in the organization.

As stated in a resolution adopted on Wednesday at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, political changes in Europe and abroad are threatening the integrity and unity of the continent countries. The daily threat of terrorist attacks, the growth of Euroskepticism, nationalism, populism, xenophobia, the presence of open and frozen conflicts, the facts of the annexation and occupation of the territories of other countries - all this threatens the security of the continent and leads to the appearance of huge masses of refugees.

Given all these factors, PACE believes that the Council of Europe and the values on which it is based is needed as never before, and that the need to convene a wide European forum at the highest level in order to discuss ways to strengthen the interaction of all structures of the organization in the new conditions.

The central topics of the summit can also become: strengthening the effectiveness of human rights protection systems, the basics of democracy, strengthening the positions and the influence of the European Court of Human Rights, and ensuring the implementation of its decisions by participating countries.

The previous summit took place in Warsaw in 2005.

The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 and is the oldest international organization in Europe. One of its most significant achievements is the adoption of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.