Check against delivery – Speech by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Martin Eichtinger, Direktor der Diplomatischen Akademie Wien,
Carsten Schneider, Interim-Präsident und Rektor der Central European University,
Exzellenzen, meine Damen und Herren,
Ich möchte auf Deutsch beginnen, um der Diplomatischen Akademie Wien, dem österreichischen Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten sowie der Central European University für diese Einladung zu danken.
Es ist mir eine Ehre, an einer Institution zu sprechen, die so tief in der Geschichte Europas und der Welt verwurzelt ist.
Ein Ort, der Generationen von Diplomatinnen und Diplomaten geprägt hat – und Ideen hervorgebracht hat, die bis heute Frieden und Sicherheit auf unserem Kontinent beeinflussen.
INTRODUCTION
Demokratie. Sicherheit. Erinnerung.
Multilateralismus. Verantwortung.
Diese Worte prägten einst die Nachkriegsordnung.
Doch heute werden sie als elitär, „woke“ oder sogar tot abgetan.
In dieser neuen Welt gilt Demokratie als Schwäche, Wahrheit als Meinung, Gerechtigkeit als Option.
Kann Demokratie sich selbst noch verteidigen in einer Gegenwart,
in der die alte Welt vergangen ist,
die neue Welt noch nicht angekommen ist und das Konzept langfristiger Verantwortung vor unseren Augen zu verschwinden scheint?
Can democracy still defend itself in a present where the old world is gone,
the new world has not yet arrived,
and the idea of long-term responsibility seems to be vanishing before our eyes?
This is the question we need to answer as we look back on thirty years of democratic security in Europe.
democratic security as a destination
It all started right here in Vienna in October nineteen ninety-three.
It was the first summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe.
They spoke of the end of Europe’s division.
Of the historic opportunity to secure peace and stability across the continent.
For them, Europe was poised to become a vast area of democratic security.
They saw democratic security as a destination — not yet as a daily defence.
It is hard to put ourselves in their shoes.
So allow me to see their Europe through the eyes of my two advisors who are with me tonight.
Through Their Eyes
Julie was starting Kindergarten in Switzerland.
That year, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed the Oslo Accords.
Tensions were rising in Rwanda.
And the United Nations designated Srebrenica as a UN “safe area.”
Which brings me to Krešimir.
He was a ten-year-old boy growing up in a Balkan region at war.
As for me, I was at the University of Neuchâtel.
A young student interested in politics and economics.
It is the year the Maastricht Treaty came into force, paving the way for the Euro.
I knew there was more to this Europe than markets, currency, and economic integration.
A Continent Rearmed
All Julie, Krešimir, and so many other young Europeans have known for most of their lives is a continent at peace.
A peace that rests on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
The very values the Council of Europe was created to protect.
But this is about to change.
Eight hundred billion euros in planned defence spending is a lot of money.
In just five or ten years, Europe could be stronger militarily, but weaker democratically.
A continent rearmed — yet a society divided.
Divided by the politics of anti-politics, by polarisation and extremism.
Driven by social media, artificial intelligence, and disinformation.
This is the trajectory we are on today.
What if one day an extremist group came to power in one of these highly militarised states?
We cannot afford a short memory.
How would they use those weapons?
And against whom?
That question keeps me up at night.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY 2.0
We have been naïve.
We thought democracy would simply expand — generation after generation.
That peace in Europe would simply endure.
But we were not ready for a world of disinformation, deepfakes, and hate speech.
Nor did we expect governments to challenge the authority of the European Court of Human Rights.
But there is no way back to the old world.
Only a way forward.
And that means having a new version democratic security.
Call it “Democratic Security 2.0” [two point oh].
One that transcends the outdated divide between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ security.
To confront cyberattacks, terrorism, climate change, and hybrid threats.
And to place our values at the heart of Europe’s collective defence.
UKRAINE: THE FRONTLINE OF DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
We must understand security in a more comprehensive way.
Not just as military power.
But as strong institutions, and solid political and democratic processes.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Ukraine.
There, we have launched the most ambitious Action Plan in our history.
To prepare for elections that are free, fair, and transparent.
We are supporting reforms to fight corruption, to strengthen the judiciary, to make institutions resilient.
It is an enormous project, with around a hundred people working in Ukraine.
The slow, essential work of democratic reform — which is the foundation of reconstruction.
And of course, our action in Ukraine does not stop there.
We have created the Register of Damage and are preparing a future Claims Commission.
We are also advancing work toward a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression.
Not to mention the European Court of Human Rights — the only international court hearing human rights cases linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Together, these are the building blocks of democratic security.
Because without accountability, without strong institutions, there can be no peace.
And without peace — can there be a Europe?
The Age of Disinformation is here
Ukraine is the frontline of democratic security.
But another front is opening — in our minds.
The challenge is no longer getting information.
It is knowing what to believe.
In this parallel reality, truth is treated as a commodity.
Disinformation is one of the fastest-growing threats to democracy.
Its scale is staggering.
Elections in Moldova and Czechia were flooded with coordinated fake news.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fake news in Czechia has risen to five thousand articles a month.
The sixteen largest disinformation sites now publish more than all traditional media combined.
And the poison spreads further.
TikTok videos of Hitler’s speeches go viral — his voice recreated by AI.
The captions: “Just listen.” “What if he had won?”
And we cannot be complacent, even when one of our closest allies says:
“If your democracy can be destroyed by a few hundred thousand euros of digital advertising, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.”
That raises a deeper question about the kind of democracy we want.
Do we want one that waits until it is too late?
Or one strong enough to act.
To regulate the platforms.
To challenge the business models.
And to defend the public space, even when it is hard?
a New Democratic Pact for Europe
The greatest danger is not collapse.
It is the slow, quiet slide into a system that restricts liberty in the name of protecting it.
That weakens institutions out of calculation — or cynicism.
That bends the rules under the guise of sovereignty, security, or emergency.
We must not sleepwalk into that future.
We need a New Democratic Pact for Europe.
The Council of Europe has launched this idea: a pact for a new era of democratic security.
This is not theoretical exercise.
We are exploring tools to counter disinformation and foreign interference.
Drawing on lessons from many of our member States.
It could take the form of a Convention.
One that would help democracies confront vote-buying, online manipulation, and digital interference in elections.
Its shape will be defined together.
With all member states — and all those who choose to take part.
The technological and geopolitical context has changed.
And with it, the very conditions for democracy itself.
Our system must adapt.
But beyond democracy itself, what is at stake is our European way of life.
If we care about it, we must commit to defending it.
With patience, with persistence, and with a long view.
CONCLUSION
Thirty years ago, in this city, Europe saw the end of its division.
And the beginning of a vast area of democratic security.
But history does not travel in a straight line.
The world we knew is gone.
The new one is uncertain.
Yet the Council of Europe was not created for moments of calm.
It was built to hold firm when others waver.
Today, Europe’s order cannot rest on fear, force, or division.
It must be renewed through democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
To make democratic security the heart of Europe’s new order.
And our first line of defence.
That is the road ahead.
Thank you.